NRL 2022: Rabbitohs fans were wrong to boo club legend Adam Reynolds
South Sydney fans should be booing the club administration over their decision to let Adam Reynolds rather than be having a crack at the player writes Travis Meyn.
NRL
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The supposed South Sydney Rabbitohs fans that booed club legend Adam Reynolds on Thursday night should be ashamed of themselves.
I had to make sure I wasn’t hearing things when Reynolds was on the receiving end of boos while lining up to kick goals at Accor Stadium.
Sure, he was wearing a Brisbane Broncos jersey and his new club was doing a job on the Rabbitohs at their home ground.
The fans may have just been trying to put him off his game, although it didn’t work as he kicked six goals from as many attempts.
Whatever it was, an exception should have been made for Reynolds.
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“I thought they loved me,” Reynolds said with a laugh to referee Grant Atkins.
But Reynolds deserved more respect than what he experienced from the supposed ‘pride of the league’.
A Redfern junior and as South Sydney as they come, Reynolds played 231 games for the Rabbitohs, including a key role in the club’s famous 2014 premiership triumph.
If he had it his way, he would have finished his career as a one-club legend, which he deserved to do so.
It wasn’t his fault the big wigs at Souths pushed him out the door by refusing to offer him anything more than a one-year contract extension.
The Rabbitohs’ administration made a decision and are now paying the price.
Reynolds, 31, has had some injury struggles throughout his career but he is far from a spent force and the Rabbitohs’ decision made little sense.
It is currently the leading contender for the NRL’s biggest recruitment-and-retention blunder of the year.
Souths fans should be booing the club’s administration that made the decision to let Reynolds go.
It has backfired spectacularly and they are now fighting to make the top eight, let alone challenge for the premiership like they did last year with Reynolds at the helm.
Reynolds proved how good a person he is by taking time to thank Souths fans after the game, despite their disrespectful actions.
“I didn’t get to say goodbye to the Souths fans last year,” he said.
“They have been a big part of my career and they have been so supportive of me for 10 years.
“It was only fair to go over and say thanks to them, there were a few boos as well. I expected that in the opposition team, it was all fun and games, but a lot of fans stayed back after the game and I am grateful for what Souths have done for me.
“That chapter is closed and a new one starts here at the Broncos.”
And Rabbitohs fans should be booing their own club for that, not Reynolds.
SOUTHS REVEAL BRUTAL TRUTH BEHIND REYNOLDS EXIT
- By Peter Badel
Wayne Bennett has likened Adam Reynolds to Broncos legend Allan Langer and revealed his futile fight to keep the champion South Sydney junior at the Rabbitohs for life.
Bennett opened up about the machinations of Reynolds’ Redfern exit - and why he has a Langer-like influence - as Brisbane’s $2.4 million recruit prepares to face his former Rabbitohs club for the first time on Thursday night.
Reynolds missed the Broncos-Rabbitohs premiership opener due to Covid, setting the stage for his round 9 Homebush homecoming at Accor Stadium - the scene of his NRL debut for Souths in 2012 and maiden premiership win two years later.
Reynolds’ big-money move to the Broncos was preceded by a protracted contract battle with the Rabbitohs, whose refusal to budge on a one-year offer convinced the pint-sized playmaker to chase the security of a three-year deal at Brisbane.
There is a view the Rabbitohs should never have lost one of their finest local juniors of the past 20 years and former Souths coach Bennett revealed his wish for Reynolds to finish his career in red and green.
“Souths had a tough decision to make and they made it, OK,” said Bennett, who, like Reynolds, left Souths after last year’s grand final loss to Penrith.
“Personally, I would have liked for Adam to stay at Souths.
“I fought for that - but I also had to understand that Souths had salary-cap issues and you have to take the reality with the bad medicine.
“The bad medicine was we might have to let him go and the reality is there is a salary cap in place, and if we tried to keep Adam, then we might lose this guy over here and that guy over there.
“It would have been nice to see Adam finish his career at Souths, but I also know keeping him would have impacted on their roster enormously.”
Reynolds has been superb in the past fortnight, spearheading Brisbane’s charge towards the top eight with wins over Cronulla and Canterbury, and Bennett sees parallels between the 31-year-old and the Broncos’ greatest halfback.
“He is very much like ‘Alf’ (Langer) with his character traits, his teammates love playing with him,” Bennett said.
“Adam is a bloody tough bugger. Like Alf, he has great courage. He is only a small bloke, but he has played 11 years now against the biggest and best players in the NRL and he has handled it all.
“Adam is the ultimate pro. One thing that pisses me off is people who question his training because he is committed to his preparation.
“He is a great team guy and you can already see what he has brought to the Broncos.
“Adam has been wearing the Broncos jersey for eight weeks now and he has brought a calmness to their side.”
Souths chief executive Blake Solly dismissed suggestions the Rabbitohs only offered Reynolds a one-year deal because of concerns his body was at breaking point.
“The truth is we could have kept ‘Reyno’ for a second year, but it would have meant letting go of someone last year,” Solly said.
“Wayne, to his credit, and we all agreed, we were in it to win it last year, so we shouldn’t let anyone go from our roster.
“We never had concerns about Adam’s body, that wasn’t right. Our challenges for the salary cap were in 2023. Adam’s body is the same as any other player at 31 or 32 in the NRL, we didn’t think there was an elevated risk of him breaking down.
“We offered Adam a deal to stay in 2022 and we were hoping we could have been in a position to offer him something at a later stage.
“Whilst it was unfortunate to lose Adam, we always respected his decision to seek the longer-term financial security offered by the Broncos and bringing up his family in Brisbane.”
Broncos coach Kevin Walters said Brisbane players are primed to ensure Reynolds earns bragging rights by sinking Souths.
“We need to play well for Adam, it’s a big thing for him going back there and we want to make sure it’s a special night for him,” he said.
“Adam has had a big influence over everything we do every game. He has got some knowledge on Souths, but everyone knows what they do and how they play.
“We have had our best start at the Broncos for five years and he has had a huge influence on that. Everyone is pulling their weight and that’s helped Adam.
“I feel he is putting his stamp on our team, certainly.”
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