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The absence of Adam Reynolds was felt more by his old team South Sydney than his new team Brisbane in Round 1 and the Rabbitohs’ controversial decision to let the club legend walk could have huge ramifications for their premiership hopes.
Former Kangaroos five-eighth Matty Johns labelled South Sydney’s call to only offer Reynolds a one-year deal a “crazy decision” while future Immortal Cameron Smith said star five-eighth Cody Walker looked disinterested in the upset loss to the Broncos.
Reynolds missed the match after contracting COVID-19 recently but will make his club debut for Brisbane in this Sunday’s road game against Canterbury.
Rookie halfback Lachlan Ilias was thrown his old red and green No.7 jersey in Round 1 and is likely to remain in the role to give him a few weeks to establish himself as a first-grader despite the 11-4 surprise defeat.
With star fullback Latrell Mitchell returning from suspension, New coach Jason Demetriou could have switched Blake Taaffe to the halves for Thursday’s trip to Melbourne but he has reportedly suffered an ankle injury which will keep him sidelined for a few weeks. Mitchell could have also been tried at five-eighth with Walker moving to halfback.
“What we saw again from Souths was the crazy decision to allow Adam Reynolds to leave the club,” Johns said on SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“It just changes the whole dynamic of the football side. Ilias is a very good player and he’ll end up going on to play 200 games. But it takes you 30 to 40 games to not just get used to the pace of NRL football but then on top of that to organise other guys into shape.
“They were saying he’s a very good talker and a good organiser, but this is another step up. It just puts a huge strain. You can see how much adjusting they have to do.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
“I couldn’t understand the Adam Reynolds decision back then and I don’t understand it now.”
Smith said Walker did not step up to the task of being the chief playmaker in South Sydney’s first NRL outing since Reynolds headed north in the off-season.
“You could actually see the frustration build with Cody as the game went on,” Smith said.
“He withdrew from the game even earlier than 10 minutes to go. He looked like he wasn’t interested.
“He’s going to have to learn how to adapt (because) the unfortunate thing is that Adam Reynolds isn’t coming back. He’s going to have to be a little more patient within those 80 minutes that he’s playing.”
Although the Storm suffered injuries to key trio Brandon Smith (out for a month with a broken hand), Christian Welch (Achilles, season) and George Jennings (ACL, season), they will be boosted by the return of Cameron Munster, Chris Lewis and Harry Grant from suspension as they look to go 2-0 after beating the Wests Tigers on Saturday night.
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