“Bumper is just very good at what he does. No one hides. Everyone listens and does their job.

“When we are all doing that collectively as a team, we are a strong unit and hard to break down.

“We are fortunate to have players in our team who can dominate the middle of the field, and on the edges it is all about making smart decisions.”

Reynolds pointed to the heavy contact and strong goal-line defence in Brisbane’s recent trial win over the Cowboys as evidence of players taking O’Farrell’s advice on board.

“In the trials we held teams out for multiple sets. The Cowboys were in the top four last year for scoring tries and we did a pretty good job on them,” he said.

“It was clear last year that our defence needs to be better so it is one key area we have worked really hard on.

“Our assistant coaches John Cartwright and Matt Ballin have also been keeping everyone accountable.”

Loading

New recruit Marty Taupau from Manly is thriving in O’Farrell’s drills. The powerhouse Samoan international has also impressed Reynolds.

“He has injected life into us already,” Reynolds said.

“It is rare to get someone of his calibre at this time of the year and I am very pleased to have him on board because his professionalism shines through. We have a lot of young boys in the forward pack who can learn off him.”

Meanwhile, Reynolds has trained strongly since missing the trial clash with the Cowboys on February 18 and said he was right for the Panthers showdown.

“My back is all good. I’ve got through a number of training sessions in the past week and I am feeling fine,” he said.

- AAP