Broncos star Adam Reynolds buries grand final demons, sets sights on more NRL glory
As Adam Reynolds officially closes the door on Brisbane’s heartbreaking grand-final collapse, the Broncos skipper and star halfback has vowed to get better, not bitter.
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Adam Reynolds says he has buried the mental demons of his grand-final nightmare as the Broncos champion outlined his final mission in rugby league — snapping Brisbane’s 18-year premiership drought.
Reynolds will officially close the door on Brisbane’s heartbreaking grand-final collapse last year when he leads the Broncos into a new season of battle in the historic 2024 premiership opener in Las Vegas on Sunday.
There is a view Reynolds cost the Broncos last year’s grand final. It is a harsh critique given the captain’s outstanding 2023 campaign, but halfbacks are the NRL’s equivalent of NFL quarterbacks. They own the result. While Reynolds copped brickbats for some questionable tactical plays, including three high-risk short dropouts, Penrith maestro Nathan Cleary stepped up to outpoint his Broncos rival and snatch the premiership from Brisbane’s grasp.
But Reynolds has vowed to get better, not bitter.
With a premiership ring already on his resume after piloting South Sydney to victory as a 23-year-old in 2014, Reynolds is ready to launch Brisbane’s 2024 title assault — starting against the Roosters at Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium.
“It’s in the past for me,” Reynolds said of his grand-final performance.
“You have to learn from your mistakes and grow and get better from it.
“If you don’t, you don’t go anywhere in this game, and you aren’t doing your team any favours.
“I’ve looked at it (his game in the grand final).
“I accepted what’s happened, but now I’m excited to move on and have another good year.”
The NRL fraternity talks about premiership windows and Reynolds knows Brisbane’s is gloriously wide open right now. They have a superstar fullback in Reece Walsh, the NRL’s No.1 prop in Payne Haas and the right fusion of experience, youth and roster depth to clinch Brisbane’s first title since 2006.
Ultimately, NRL teams don’t scale the title summit without a high IQ playmaker to execute in clutch moments.
Reynolds may be turning 34 in July, but as he prepares for his 275th top-grade game, and his first on American soil, there is not a shred of complacency. The Broncos No.7 is willing to pay the price again.
“I want to continually keep turning up and be the best possible version of myself,” Reynolds said.
“I want to make my teammates around me better.
“I am not one who chases individual accolades. I am more of a team man. I love the team and I love success. If my teammates get rewarded off the back of that, that’s my job done.
“The premierships ... we always chase them. They are so tough to win. From experience, the last couple of seasons shows it’s not easy.
“It takes a lot of hard work to get back there, but we have spoken about it as a team and we have to keep raising the bar.”
When the Broncos returned for pre-season, coach Kevin Walters called the squad to a meeting room. They reviewed the final 20 minutes of last year’s grand final, when Brisbane botched a 24-8 lead with 18 to play to lose 26-24.
Walters watched as Broncos players took charge of the post-mortem. Reynolds was as vocal as anyone.
“We watched footage back from the grand final,” he said.
“We were good in periods, but there were times where we didn’t play our brand of football.
“When we stopped doing that, we fell into a trap of errors and poor reads in defence and things that were uncharacteristic in this team.
“A lot of things motivate this team. Not all bad things can turn to motivation, good things can turn to motivation as well.
“There is a burning desire to get back there (to the 2024 grand final). Last year was a good learning curve that we have to be on for the full 80 minutes because that’s purely a preparation for the big dance.
“We want to be better than we were last year, perform every game, and if we do that, we give ourselves a chance to get back there.”
Reynolds inked a 12-month extension three days ago and teammate Billy Walters says the pint-sized playmaker continues to drive standards of excellence.
“It’s good to have ‘Reyno’ around for another year,” he said.
“He is a great man to have around the club, he is a great player and he hasn’t shown signs he is getting older
“Reyno is a pretty selfless guy and he will call it (retirement) when he thinks he is ready.
“As many years as he wants to play on, we will take him.”
Peter Badel travelled to Las Vegas courtesy of the NRL
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