“We know what he brings to the football field, [and] he’s a leader off the football field. He’s an X-factor amongst some of the game’s greats.”

Black’s Souths Logan coach, Karmichael Hunt, made his NRL debut as a 17-year-old, and said leaders in Darren Lockyer, Shane Webcke, Petero Civoniceva and Brad Thorn “protected” him and allowed him to blossom into a premier fullback.

Black could reap the same benefits under Reynolds and Hunt.

“My youth was balanced out by the leaders in the team ... the players who protected us young kids out on the field,” Karmichael Hunt said last year.

“It was definitely a calming influence on me – the leaders around you who had won premierships and played 200-plus games.

“Their calmness and conviction around how to prepare and what to do when you’re executing the game plan allowed me to be loose and calm enough.”

Reynolds has refused to confirm the forthcoming campaign would be his last, stressing “we’ll see how the body’s feeling halfway through the year”.

His injury-riddled 2024 – Reynolds played just 13 games last season due to biceps and hamstring setbacks – could present opportunities for Black to debut alongside Hunt.

Brisbane has four dummy-halves on the roster already, with Blake Mozer – tipped to be the club’s long-term No.9 – coming off contract in 2025 and fighting for regular game time.

Hunt believed he would not only inject vital experience into the squad’s youth, but forge one of the most lethal spine partnerships in the NRL.

“A couple of old fossils leading the young kids around, I’m really looking forward to that,” Hunt told 4BC.

“Having the opportunity to link with Reyno and start working on a plan on how we can really gel is something I’m really looking forward to.”

Ben Hunt

“My priority is to play in the halves, but hooker definitely isn’t an issue. Wouldn’t it be great to come back 10 years later and win a premiership with that great club?

“I do believe they’ve got the troops there to do it.”