Tears Flow As Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs Cult Hero Bids Emotional Farewell

The result mattered to few who were there.

Masks, limited edition t-shirts and flags declaring their thanks were unfurled for the man nicknamed ‘Grub’, who played his first grand final at Belmore as a seven-year-old.

You don’t have to have it all but if you have a crack you can get there,” a tearful Reynolds said.

“That’s what this club was built on. You (the Bulldogs fans) have always been there and I’ll be grateful for that.

“I don’t know what it is about this ground. Everywhere I’ve gone I’ve tried to chase this feeling but I’ve never been able to get it back. This feeling I’ve got right now is the best feeling.”

The bumper crowd sounded their appreciation as Reynolds was given a guard of honour as he came onto the field.

There was time for one last break from the veteran halfback to get the hill – renamed temporarily in his honour – off their feet before Norths ran the 34-year-old down on the 50-metre line.

“It’s completely bittersweet for me because even right now, I want to compete my backside off but I just can’t anymore,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds’ final act as a Bulldogs NRL player was to step out of the club’s top 30 squad to allow them the space to recruit Toby Sexton from the Gold Coast Titans.

He played in two grand finals for the club and helped snap NSW’s State of Origin drought in 2014.

The local junior was forced to leave the club in 2017 – he was chaired off at Belmore in his final game that year – heading to the Wests Tigers.

He moved to Hull FC before a romantic farewell at Belmore this year.

“They call me Elton John, I’ve had that many send-offs,” Reynolds said. “That’s all she wrote.”