NRL 2023: Adam Reynolds considers coaching switch after new Brisbane Broncos contract
Brisbane have hatched plans to keep Adam Reynolds at the Broncos for life, as the club explores a surprise post-football career.
NRL
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Brisbane have hatched plans to keep Adam Reynolds at the Broncos for life by exploring a post-football job for the champion playmaker to join Kevin Walters’ coaching staff.
This masthead can reveal the Broncos have a blueprint to transition Reynolds from playing to coaching, ensuring the veteran halfback’s premiership-winning knowhow is never lost to the NRL glamour club.
Reynolds rammed home his value to the Broncos with a playmaking masterclass in Brisbane’s 36-20 thumping of his former club Souths on Friday night.
It is possible Reynolds could one day succeed Walters as Brisbane’s next head coach, depending on the skipper’s desire to develop as an NRL mentor.
Currently off-contract at the end of next season, Reynolds is in talks with Broncos bosses to ink a 12-month extension and extend his playing career for the 2025 season.
But once Reynolds retires, the Broncos want to keep his football IQ in their Red Hill system to help nurture Ezra Mam and Reece Walsh and educate the next generation of Brisbane NRL stars.
It is understood Brisbane’s post-career strategy would keep Reynolds at the club until at least 2028, with Broncos boss Dave Donaghy confirming the club has big plans for ‘Reyno’ to remain at the Red Hill coalface.
“’Reyno’ is keen to coach and it makes sense for us if we can find something at some point for Adam to do that,” Donaghy said.
“We would be crazy to lose Adam, so hopefully that (Reynolds staying on in a coaching capacity) happens down the track.
“Firstly, ‘Reyno’ is keen to go around again as a player, so he isn’t ready to retire just yet.
“Reyno is super happy and super settled at the Broncos.
“He is playing some of the best football of his career right now, so we don’t want to retire him off too soon because great playmakers like him are not easy to replace.”
Reynolds turned 33 a fortnight ago and a new one-year deal will see him play for the Broncos beyond his 35th birthday in 2025.
The man who engineered South Sydney’s first premiership win in 43 years in 2014, Reynolds has been a revelation since arriving at the Broncos last year on a three-year, $2.4 million deal.
Far from being a spent force, Reynolds’ shift from Redfern to Red Hill has been seamless. He steered the Broncos to the brink of the finals last year and has been in sublime touch this season in Brisbane’s charge to the top four.
Reynolds posted his 269th top-grade game against his former Souths club on Friday night and is already playing an active role in constructing game plans with Walters and his team of Broncos assistants.
While Matt Ballin, Lee Briers, John Cartwright and Darius Boyd have been key contributors to Walters, the Broncos coach says it’s only a matter of time before Reynolds makes the move into coaching.
In a huge statement of Reynolds’ value, Walters says the Broncos skipper is as influential as Brisbane’s legendary playmakers Darren Lockyer and Allan Langer.
“We’d love to keep him here at Brisbane for the long haul,” Walters said.
“Adam plays a massive role here. He is a bit like ‘Alfie’ (Langer) and ‘Locky’ in his influence at the club, when he plays well, he drags other blokes with him.
“I have no doubt Adam can coach here long term. That’s a great goal for him down the track, but to be honest, I think Adam is a long way from retirement, he is here for next year and we’re working towards having him for the following year and maybe even beyond that.
“He doesn’t have to retire to coach, he is doing it now with our guys.
“It might sound funny, but that’s what the players here love about Adam at this stage of his career.
“The senior players are on-field coaches and you have to have them in your team to be successful in this competition.”
Reynolds spent two decades in South Sydney’s junior and senior system, but Walters wants the former NSW Origin star to be a long-term fixture of Brisbane’s program.
“Adam has a great football brain,” he said.
“That comes with playing 270 NRL games.
“Where we get the big benefits of Adam is on-field in game situations. Sometimes you have a plan for how a team defends and they change it during a game, but Adam has the football IQ to see that change and he can adjust our game plan accordingly.
“I think a key to Reyno’s success here has been his mindset living in Brisbane.
“He loves the lifestyle up here, he is very settled in Brisbane with his family and I feel like he is looking after himself a lot more than he ever does.
“He is doing all the extras at training and making sure his body is ready for race day.”
Former Broncos skipper Corey Parker believes Reynolds would handle the pressures of NRL coaching.
“Reyno would be a wonderful coach,” he said.
“When you are a player approaching the back end of your career, you basically become an on-field coach.
“That comes with experience and his position.
“Reyno reads the game as well as anyone and he is smart enough at his age to know how to get a team around the field.
“If he wanted to move into coaching, I have no doubt that’s a career he could move into after his playing days are up.”
More Coverage
Originally published as NRL 2023: Adam Reynolds considers coaching switch after new Brisbane Broncos contract
NRL Rich 100: Walsh among nine snubbed Maroons stars
Reece Walsh is among a posse of Queensland Origin stars that didn’t make the 2024 Rich 100 list, in proof that big bucks doesn’t guarantee big-name performances. See the analysis of notable omissions and underperforming inclusions.
Coach unleashes blistering NRL attack
Outgoing Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett has taken aim at the NRL as he launched a scathing attack on the controversial Bunker system.