NRL 2024: Adam Reynolds urges Broncos to resist bringing Sam Walker back to club
Broncos junior Sam Walker is off-contract in November and has been touted for a Queensland return to reunite with the club. However, Adam Reynolds has urged Brisbane to resist bringing the young gun back.
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Adam Reynolds has urged Brisbane bosses to resist the temptation to bring Sam Walker back to the Broncos, declaring the club can snap its 18-year title drought without the Queensland whiz-kid.
The scrumbase showdown between the masterful Reynolds, 33, and the wily Walker, 12 years his junior, will be a feature of the Broncos-Roosters blockbuster this Friday night at Suncorp Stadium.
Reynolds made a sensational return from injury last week, setting up four tries in Brisbane’s 34-10 rout of the Tigers, while Walker was on fire in the Roosters’ 60-18 Anzac Day drubbing of the Dragons.
Walker came through the Broncos Academy and was being groomed for the No. 7 jumper when he dropped a bombshell on Brisbane in 2019, quitting the club to chase his NRL dreams at the Roosters.
Now 21, Walker is a free agent from November 1 and there is a view the Queensland Origin hopeful could one day return to Brisbane to succeed Reynolds, who is off-contract next year.
Reynolds has enormous respect for Walker’s talents, but has backed the likes of Ezra Mam, Jock Madden and Broncos Academy teenage halfback Coby Black to deliver Brisbane’s first premiership in 2006.
Asked if the Broncos should make a big-money play for Walker for 2026 and beyond, Reynolds said: “I think we have enough quality here.
“Jock Madden has done a fantastic job stepping up in my absence (through injury) and we have young Coby Black and Ezra Mam.
“We also have Reece Walsh who can play in the halves.
“It’s pretty clear that Sam Walker is happy down there at the Roosters
“We have some great young talent coming through at the Broncos, so we should stick to what we have.”
Walker, tipped to succeed Daly Cherry-Evans as Queensland’s next Origin halfback, has a commanding record against the Broncos.
The Roosters shot-caller has won four of five matches against the Broncos, with the 2021 NRL rookie of the year’s personal winning streak against Brisbane extending to 995 days heading into Friday night’s round 9 clash.
But Walker faces a master versus apprentice-style duel with Reynolds, the talismanic Broncos playmaker who is relishing trading tactical blows with the Ipswich product.
“He is a big part of their team and the No. 7 in a very star-studded side,” Reynolds said of Walker.
“He has certainly got the world at his feet.
“Sam is a talented kid and showed that on the weekend (against the Dragons).
“It was not his best game.
“I think he has played better than that and has been in some big moments for that club and delivered.
“In a blowout game to say it was his best is hard. In a tight contest when they have been down by four or six and he has done something to get them back in the game is what I see as more important.
“You always look forward to playing against the best teams and the Roosters are one of the best teams in the competition.
“These matches you always want to be involved in.”
Reynolds has battled knee and hamstring injuries in the opening two months, but insists his ageing body can handle top-of-the-table assignments such as the brutal clash Walker’s Roosters will present.
“It (his knee) is the best it can be,” he said.
“We have worked long and hard for hours in the physio room. The physio is probably sick of me every morning giving me a rub. It feels good. I wear the taping because it’s a bit loose still, but other than that it’s back to normal.
“I just turn up and try and do my job to the best of my ability every week.
“I am not trying to get out there and make line breaks and all that sort of stuff myself.
“I know what my strengths are and what my weaknesses are and I try to play to that every week.”
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