Souths left to wonder ‘what if’ as Adam Reynolds gets down to business for Broncos

When Adam Reynolds ran onto Olympic Stadium on Thursday night, South Sydney fans were flummoxed. The local boy who had grown up a spiral kick from Redfern Oval, won a premiership with Souths in 2014 and captained the Rabbitohs to the 2021 grand final, had come home in a once-unthinkable form: captain and talisman of the Brisbane Broncos.

It was a year since Reynolds announced he was trading Redfern for Red Hill. After nine years bleeding red and green the club had deemed him fit for only a one year extension. Reynolds believed he had more to give so took a three year $2.4m deal with Brisbane. “I had four young kids and my salary was about to be cut in half,” he told reporters this week. “I was fine with that, but I wanted two years. There are no hard feelings. A decision had to be made [and] I made the decision to look after my family… it’s business at the end of the day.”

But to Souths fans who greeted the “Reyno” return with groans it was far from business. It was like seeing a photo of your ex on another’s arm. You couldn’t begrudge them happiness, you respected their evolution and wished them well, but your heart asks your brain: what if? What if Souths chiefs had prioritised making a local junior and club leader a one-club man? What if Reynolds, having banked almost millions in contracts, had put loyalty ahead of lucre? And what if Reynolds’ last act as a Rabbitoh had been landing that grand final conversion to level it up at 14-14, then nailing a two-point field goal with a minute left to win a premiership?

But there are no “ifs” in history. Reynolds missed those kicks, and the title, and is a Bronco.

Having sat out the team’s round one match-up in March with Covid (a game the Broncos won 11-4), Reynolds ran out to face his old team – and their 30,456 members – for the first time on Thursday night. On paper, it was sixth playing ninth and two teams with a 4-4 win-loss record facing off. But really it was Adam Reynolds versus South Sydney and everyone knew it.

At the kick-off Reynolds stood as close as he could to his old teammates, the arrowhead of his team’s attack. It was a statement. As play got underway he dropped behind the line, daring Souths forwards to come at him, while steering his side upfield, a jockey tucking low and whispering in the ear of his mount.

Rugby league is a power game but it’s the little guys like Reynolds who make the magic. With a blacksmith’s wrists Reynolds was soon shooting bullet passes and floating cut-outs with deadly effect. With his boots he bombed, stabbed and grubbered kicks for teammates who leapt and dove at his signal. Some actions created pressure, others produced points. Each put Brisbane further in front and made the Reynolds-less Souths look rudderless.

Adam Reynolds looks to offload a pass during Brisbane’s win over South Sydney. Photograph: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Between the big plays, the vision to try and the power to execute, was guile. As the Bunker ruled on a Souths no-try, Reynolds spoke calculatedly with the referee and linesmen. Where his opposite number and heir Lachlan Ilias took a penalty near the sideline and clunked a kick two metres upfield on the same side, Reynolds reefed it to the far side and made 25 metres. Embarrassed by an enemy of their own making, Souths lost the plot, coughed up more possession playing catch-up, and Reynolds calmly turned the screws and cashed in.

Having set up two tries already – one with his hands, another with his feet – Reynolds scored one of his own with simple support play, running with a buffalo and scooping up the offload then shimmy-shimmying under the posts. It was a mouse pounce manoeuvre he’d pulled many times for Souths but now he triumphantly banged a chest that sports a Broncos crest.

As Reynolds lined up the conversion, Souths fans razzed him but their heart wasn’t in it. The club’s greatest point scorer, whom they’d loved for 231 games was mastering, nay monstering, his old team and all they could do was ask what if? Brisbane won 32-12 despite Souths’ 54% possession and 43 tackles to 13 inside the opposition 20. The difference – with a hand in four tries, one of his own and six goals from six attempts – was Reynolds.

When the dust settled on his young, unfancied team’s third straight win and their entry into the NRL top eight, Reynolds embraced old teammates Cody Walker and Latrell Mitchell. As young Trent Peoples celebrated with family after debuting as Rabbitoh No 1,179, Reggie the Rabbit shyly moved in and gave Reynolds a long hug. Eventually the little No 7 moved to the fence and a young Souths fan in The Burrow whose banner read: We Still Love Reynolds. Kids in red and green and maroon and gold flocked to salute this little man standing tall.

Half an hour after the siren, Reynolds was still out there. He gave his boots away to a girl, his socks to a couple of young brothers, and signed and selfied until everyone was happy. Finally, Reynolds waddled off, barefoot as the boy who’d learned his craft on Redfern Oval. In a parallel universe, this stadium might have hosted the 2021 grand final and Reynolds’ final game in his old colours. Maybe at the scene of so many triumphs he’d have kicked straight. Regardless, a champion’s return home should have been commemorated by his old club. As it was, Reynolds rendered his own farewells to the Souths faithful, quietly and humbly.

“Come back Adam!” yelled a kid as the little general shuffled to the exits. But he didn’t. He waved and disappeared up the tunnel and everyone moved on.