What’s the Buzz: Adam Reynolds pays the price for ‘poor’ Rabbitohs buys

There’s a reason Souths are only offering Adam Reynolds a 12-month extension — and it’s left a Rabbitohs great bitterly disappointed.

Rabbitosh halfback Adam Reynolds. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Former South Sydney boss Shane Richardson is being blamed for the contract uproar at the Rabbitohs that could force halfback and captain Adam Reynolds to walk away.

It was Richardson who signed former superstars Greg Inglis and Sam Burgess on multimillion-dollar long-term contracts at the back end of their careers before they broke down and had to be paid out.

As a result, the Rabbitohs have now banned multi-year contracts for senior players over 30 years of age.

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Adam Reynolds is considering his future at the Rabbitohs after he was offered a 12-month extension. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Former Souths halfback great Craig Coleman is bitterly disappointed about the treatment dished up to the 2014 premiership-winning No.7, the club only offering the ­rising 31-year-old a 12-month extension to his contract.

“Adam shouldn’t be paying for poor recruitment decisions made by the previous management,” Coleman said.

“It’s not his fault that mistakes were made and the club was left with big payouts.

“The former bloke (Richardson) stuffed up and Adam’s paying for it.”

Coleman was the man who discovered Reynolds more than a decade ago in park football in
Redfern as a rookie teenager.

“I was coaching him as a kid in the S.G. Ball side,” Coleman said.

“He was a year younger than everyone else. I made him captain at 15. He was the best goal-kicker I’d seen since Eric Simms, even at that age.”

There are so many similarities between Coleman and Reynolds.

“He’s a Redfern kid, the same as me,” he said.

“It’s so unlike the Rabbitohs to treat a local hero like this. It’s not the South Sydney way.”

Coleman said the club must ensure Reynolds plays out his career in a Souths jersey.

“The club has been a powerhouse for 10 years and Reyno has been the halfback,” he said. “For three-straight years he’s taken them to a game away from the GF. He must be doing something right.”