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The Broncos have broken tradition by naming a New South Welshman as captain for the first time but new recruit Adam Reynolds is the right choice in every way.
Brisbane made the announcement on Monday night with the 31-year-old halfback getting the nod even though he is yet to play a game for the club.
Despite his lack of Broncos or Maroons bloodlines, Reynolds was the smart choice as he has much more experience, particularly as captain, than any of the other candidates to replaced retired skipper Alex Glenn, who was also a non-Queenslander but the Kiwi forward had spent a decade at the club before getting the leadership gig.
Young forward Patrick Carrigan, hooker Jake Turpin, NSW prop Payne Haas and second-rower Kurt Capewell were the only other potentially viable options.
Reynolds, who made two Origin appearances for the Blues in 2016, captained his former club South Sydney for the past two seasons, culminating in last year’s memorable run to the grand final which ended in a narrow defeat at the hands of Penrith.
He was always the chief on-field organiser for Souths during his 231-game career but grew into a leadership role, earning the respect of his teammates and the Rabbitohs camp was highly emotional after the loss in the premiership decider, particularly for Reynolds, who uncharacteristically missed a late sideline conversion which could have forced extra time.
The Broncos have a tradition of Queensland legends as their full-time leader, starting with Wally Lewis in 1988, with the baton handed down to Allan Langer, Kevin Walters, Gorden Tallis, Darren Lockyer, Sam Thaiday, Corey Parker, Justin Hodges and Darius Boyd before Glenn in 2020. Another Sunshine State great, Ali Brigginshaw, has been the Broncos’ only NRLW skipper.
Reynolds said it was “an incredible honour to be asked to lead this great club”.
“In recent years, there was an opportunity for me to move into a leadership role and I’ve loved every minute of it – it can be challenging at times but also very rewarding.
Reyno will captain the club in 2022 ????
All the details ???? https://t.co/mVmT7qaUA7
— Brisbane Broncos (@brisbanebroncos) January 31, 2022
“You get to see the players around you grow and get better and I like spending time with other players and trying to improve them.
“Obviously experience is handy to have at this stage of my career and I tend to think that I lead through my actions and challenging others to improve.
“Coming up here to Brisbane, it’s a challenge, and being named captain adds to that challenge.
“I’ve heard a lot about the pressures and the outside influences but as long as your focus is within the team then that’s all that really matters.
“This Broncos team is an exciting young group of men – we’ve got a lot of steel, a lot of talent and it’s probably just the finer things that can be worked on and we’ll do that during the pre-season.”
Reynolds will be entrusted with helping revive Brisbane’s fortunes after they collected their first wooden spoon in 2020 and finished 14th last season.
Walters said Reynolds would mentor the younger future leaders like Haas, Carrigan and centre Kotoni Staggs.
“Adam is a proven leader and has already captained a team to an NRL grand final – he has a professional killer attitude and is a cool head under pressure and I like that in a captain,” the coach said.
“I’m looking forward to working more closely with Adam and getting to know him as a bloke because it’s important a coach-captain relationship is strong – In the conversations I’ve had with Adam, we are thinking along the same lines and see the game the same way.
“I like the fact Adam brings knowledge, leadership and experience, and he is a very strong character which you need to survive in the halves in the NRL.
“He will help a lot of us, but we have to help him too and make sure he is comfortable in his role and position here. I believe we have the right people here to take his game to a level that we expect from him.”