Bulldogs’ Michael Lichaa admits Josh Reynolds had every right to lose his cool

CANTERBURY’s Michael Lichaa admits Josh Reynolds had every right to lose his cool after a loose ball. But don’t ask James Graham what he would do.

Michael Lichaa warms up for the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs training session at Belmore Oval ,Belmore.Picture Gregg Porteous

CANTERBURY firebrand James Graham knows exactly what he would do if his stroppy teammate Josh Reynolds threw a ball at him.

“I’d chuck it straight back at him,” Graham said.

Reynolds was under fire for abusing and throwing a football at teammate Michael Lichaa during last weekend’s loss to New Zealand in Auckland.

Lichaa threw a loose ball from dummy-half which was dropped by Reynolds, who then chucked the ball straight back at Lichaa.

“I definitely deserved it — it was a shocking pass,” Lichaa said. “It probably looked worse on TV — he was angry that I threw him a bad pass.”

No one at Belmore would dare throw a ball in anger at Graham, the fiery, physical and highly respected skipper.

Asked what he would have done if Reynolds threw a ball at him, Graham said: “Probably chucked it back at him.

“We’re both confrontational, sometimes you get confrontation. That’s sport. It can be a violent game at times and you get confrontation. If he did it to me, I’d either laugh and probably give it back at him. Josh was just showing that he cares.”

Lichaa claimed he and Reynolds were tight mates, so close in fact they draw humorous barbs from teammates.

The Dogs hooker said Reynolds should have thrown the ball into his face.

“I told him after the game, he should have hit my face with the ball it was that bad of a pass. I was filthy at myself. I said to him, ‘you should have actually got me’.

“From the outside it doesn’t look great but there’s not much we can do about it now. Josh just wants to win. To be honest, I didn’t hear what he said. You kind of block that stuff out when you’re on the field,” Lichaa said.

Michael Lichaa and Josh Reynolds sort it all out during training.

“He is a really passionate player and we wanted to win. I just hope I don’t give him one of those passes again. Josh has been unbelievable this year — he has played every game, he has been one of our best. There was nothing to it, honestly.

“We definitely had our chances to win the game but me throwing that pass to ‘Grubby’ (Reynolds) didn’t help. That was why he was so angry. The boys give it to us all the time because me and Josh spend so much time together. It doesn’t bother me, it doesn’t bother him.

“We had a laugh — it’s been blown out of proportion. He’s one of my best mates — that’s why he blew up at me because we are so comfortable with each other.”

Graham said rugby league was played by “grown men”.

“It was a nothing, really. I don’t think it’s such a big deal. We are grown men out there. Lichaa doesn’t need looking after. I don’t think Josh needed to apologise but he has done so to the whole group, he put something on social media, which is very good of him,” Graham said.

“They are really good mates. It’s not a bad thing that they have that respect and relationship. I know when I was playing at St Helens, we would go off at each other quite often. It’s been and gone now, I don’t think Michael is going to hang onto it.”

Originally published as Bulldogs’ Michael Lichaa admits Josh Reynolds had every right to lose his cool