PAYBACK TIME FOR REYNOLDS

BRONCOS skipper Adam Reynolds has rubbished suggestions he is a spent force and says his best years are ahead as he plots payback against the club he steered to last year’s NRL grand final.

Reynolds’ hyped ‘grudge match’ against his former team will finally become reality when the Broncos take on South Sydney on Thursday at Homebush in a clash that will entrench the victor in the top eight.

The NRL had scheduled Reynolds to face the Rabbitohs in a round-1 blockbuster in Brisbane in March, only for the marquee Broncos recruit to withdraw on match eve after falling ill with Covid.

This time, Reynolds is hellbent on bringing down South Sydney, motivated in part by his shock exit from Redfern last summer after the club refused to table a long-term deal to keep its premiershipwinning local junior.

The contractual dispute raged for months. Reynolds was happy to remain at his local club on a two-year deal. South Sydney bosses played hardball, with their meagre 12-month offer the final straw as Reynolds chased the security of a three-year, $2.4m deal at the Broncos.

It was a tribute to Reynolds’ professionalism that he was able to put aside the off-field saga to lead the Rabbitohs to last year’s grand-final loss against Penrith before packing his bags for a new life in Brisbane.

Reynolds insists there is no bad blood with the club he represented 231 times, but said he was never going to accept a one-year term that suggested he was on borrowed time in the

NRL. “They had their reasons (for offering only a one-year deal),” he said.

“There was a one-year deal on the table and I always told Souths it was two years at least or I had to look elsewhere.

“They couldn’t get to what I wanted, so I have a family to think about. I’ve got four young kids at home. I had to make a decision for my family and I made the right one coming to the Broncos. It’s been great to buy a house and settle in here. Brisbane is a great place to live.

“I’m not too sure of the exact reasons, but they only wanted to give me one year. I’m not too disheartened, it’s a business at the end of the day and Souths have to make sure they are looking out for themselves as well.

“There’s no hard feelings. I still talk to a lot of the guys down there and I have mates there for the rest of my life.”

Homebush has special memories for Reynolds. He made his NRL debut for South Sydney at Accor Stadium in 2012 and won his only premiership two seasons later, breaking the Rabbitohs’ 43-year title drought in their defeat of the Bulldogs in the 2014 decider.

Reynolds turns 32 in July and his outstanding past fortnight, steering the Broncos to wins over Canterbury and Cronulla, is evidence he could have soldiered on at Souths beyond this season.

Asked if Souths believed he was washed-up, Reynolds said: “I’m not too sure if they thought that, but I was always confident I could play more than one year.

“I know I can get through my contract whether it’s one, two or three years.”