Maroons plan to break spirit of Adam Reynolds by subjecting him to a defensive onslaught

QUEENSLAND have designed a game plan to torment Adam Reynolds and consign the NSW rookie to the dustbin of Blues playmakers who have failed to break the Maroons dynasty.

Maroons plan to break spirit of Adam Reynolds during game one. Picture Gregg Porteous

QUEENSLAND have designed a game plan to torment Adam Reynolds and consign the NSW rookie to the dustbin of Blues playmakers who have failed to break the Maroons dynasty.

The Blues have churned through 17 halves since 2005 when Immortal Andrew Johns retired and Queensland kickstarted a decade of dominance under Mal Meninga.

Now the Maroons are planning to break the spirit of another NSW youngblood by subjecting Reynolds to a defensive onslaught in Origin I on Wednesday night at ANZ Stadium.

Queensland’s training sessions over the past week have been punctuated by the catchcry “Reynolds” with the Maroons running drills targeting his defensive corridor.

At 173cm and 85kg, Reynolds will be the smallest player on the park in Origin I. The Souths halfback defends well for a small man but the Maroons believe constant defensive pressure can leave him fatigued in attack.

Former Maroons pivot and now Queensland selector Darren Lockyer says the challenge for Reynolds will be keeping a cool head for the entire 80 minutes of his Origin debut.

“Reynolds is pretty calm but Origin is a different beast and he will have to be prepared,” said Lockyer, a 36-game Origin legend.

“In club football, you have a fair amount of pressure on you but in Origin it’s another level ... the pressure is 80 minutes non-stop.

Adam Reynolds and James Maloney during a NSW Origin training session. Picture Gregg Porteous

“Laurie Daley (NSW coach) will have him well prepared and it always helps to be making your Origin debut in front of your home crowd.

“Kicking games win big games and Adam Reynolds has a good kicking game. Queensland can’t give him time to build pressure with repeat sets.

“If they force Reynolds into error, it will help Queensland benefit in terms of field position.”

The Maroons juggernaut have dispatched a litany of NSW playmakers to the Origin wasteland. In the past decade, only Blues pairing Trent Hodkinson and Josh Reynolds have successfully engineered a series victory.

The rest – such as Jarrod Mullen, Braith Anasta, Terry Campese, Peter Wallace, Mitchell Pearce, Brett Finch, Jamie Lyon, Jamie Soward and Todd Carney – have been spat out by the most ruthless unit in Origin history.

Statistically, Adam Reynolds is the second-best defensive playmaker in the league.

He has missed just seven tackles in six games this season at an average of 1.2 misses per game. That is superior to Maroons rivals Johnathan Thurston and Cooper Cronk, whose missed-tackle average is 3.3 and 1.6 respectively.

Queensland coach Kevin Walters admires Reynolds’ toughness but says not even a grand final win can prepare a debutant for an Origin baptism.

“Reynolds has won a grand final and that’s a big stage, but Origin is different again,” he said. “He doesn’t get flustered and has been waiting a long time for his chance, but it’s only natural to test out the debutant.”

Originally published as Maroons plan to break spirit of Adam Reynolds by subjecting him to a defensive onslaught