Coach Michael Maguire has called on Ben Te’o to lead the club’s next generation of stars as the back-rower contemplates a move away from the Rabbitohs.

Fairfax Media revealed this week Te’o is effectively a free agent despite having a year to run on his contract. The Queensland representative signed a three-year deal when he switched to South Sydney at the end of the 2012 season but has an option in his favour to decide if he would fulfil the final year of his contract.

A move back to Brisbane could eventuate for Te’o who spent four seasons at the Broncos. With Sam Burgess moving on at the end of the year, Te’o’s signature remains a priority for South Sydney. The club have sounded out Cronulla fill-in captain Wade Graham about a possible switch.

While Te’o may have been relegated to the bench recently because of defensive deficiencies, Maguire said he was an important player at the club.

“Benny is a massive fabric of us now at Souths,” Maguire said. “We are very honest about talking about everything that’s going on. Hopefully Benny is here to stay and we want that too. He is a big part of what we’ve created and doing moving forward.

“We just have to work through that negotiation period. Ben’s role has already increased. It increases all the time. he is a senior player and has a lot of knowledge of what we are trying to create here. It’s about evolving as a team and when one opportunity opens up Ben is a type of player that wants to take that on. He is showing great leadership.”

Te’o has already been given a leadership opportunity when he was handed the captaincy of South Sydney’s Auckland Nines side which also included regular skipper John Sutton.

Maguire said he wanted Te'o to help lead the young brigade of South Sydney players including Alex Johnston, Cameron McInnes and Aaron Gray. “Bringing those young kids through is really exciting,” Maguire said. “To have players like Te’o stay on and help lead those players is going to assist us.”

While McInnes, a hooker, made his NRL debut last week, Maguire said 19-year-old Johnston is on the verge of first-grade selection after impressing in the pre-season.

Johnston, an outside back, once starred as a young Greg Inglis in the NRL’s 2009 season advertisement. “[He is] very very close,” Maguire said. “He is doing some great things at training and obviously in the games he is playing. When the opportunity arises I’m very comfortable to put him out there.”

South Sydney ended a three-game losing streak with a more polished performance against St George Illawarra on Saturday night. Maguire said they’ll need to play better when they play an in-form Penrith side on Friday night. “They are a very improved team,” Maguire said. “We have to make sure we are right on our game. They’ve made a lot of changes and it’s brought a lot of life to them. They are playing really enthusiastic rugby league.”