Broncos halfback Adam Reynolds has made a bold claim about his new NRL club: anything less than a place in the 2022 finals is “a failure” for the team, especially considering how Brisbane ended their campaign this year.
Reynolds has high hopes for the next chapter of his rugby league story, claiming his big move to Red Hill will pay finals dividends as soon as the 2022 NRL season.
According to the no.7, anything less than finals is “a failure” for the club.
“I look around the squad and I get some confidence out of players that I’ve been lucky enough to play against. I’m lucky enough now to stand beside these boys and call them my teammates. For us, finals is an expectation,” Reynolds proclaimed.
“We [the team] haven’t even sat down and spoken about it yet,” the 31-year-old added soon after, “but the potential that the team has next year… I’m getting excited thinking about it.”
The Broncos have struggled to compete in the past few years, finishing dead last with a 3-17 record in a COVID-struck 2020 season that saw alleged Brisbane saviour Anthony Seibold fired. 2021 offered some respite — and, importantly, no wooden spoon — as Kevie Walters took the reigns, guiding the team to 14th, 7-17 in results.
All in all, however, it’s been dark days at Red Hill since the turn of the decade.
That will be coming to an end next year though, Reynolds promises, especially considering the young cohort the Broncos have put together in their rebuilding years under Seibold and more recently Walters.
“There’s a load of talent here Jake Turpin has been outstanding. Jordan Riki, Payne Haas, TC Robati – there’s a number of blokes I could mention because they’ve all been pretty impressive,” the incoming halfback said of his maroon lineup.
Reynolds, who reported to Broncos training this week, went on to pledge: “We’re working pretty hard this pre-season to get things right. We’ll continue that into the new year and build on that.”
There’s only question mark hovering over Reynolds’ big claim — who fits into the picture alongside the 31-year-old? The Broncos boast the young cattle in their backs and forwards, but have struggled to find a guiding light in the halves for the squad in recent years. There’s candidates, but picking the best one has been the trick.
Brisbane’s three choices are Tyson Gamble, Billy Walters, and Albert Kelly.
According to Reynolds, all three are still in the frame for the spot alongside him, with Kevie Walters taking the club’s Christmas break to put the pieces together and settle on his Brisbane partner.
“I’ve been training with Billy, I’ve got a good relationship with Albert, Tyson’s obviously another one. He’s pretty experienced. There are a number of candidates that can do the job Obviously when we come back in the new year we’ll get a clearer picture.”
He continued: “I’ll play to [the other playmaker’s] strengths. I’m an unselfish player. I like to get everyone involved and make their job a lot easier and take a bit of pressure off them. There’s a number of blokes who can certainly play a different brand of football to me so any one of those boys complements my game.
“I’m a bit of a talker and steer the boys around the park and they do the rest.
“Whatever team I’m in, where ever I am, my job is to call the plays, organise a team and steer them around the park,” the former star Rabbitohs playmaker explained. “That’s simply my job.”
