Calls are growing louder for Broncos coach Michael Maguire to make a difficult call and drop captain Adam Reynolds. And a fresh hamstring injury for the 35-year-old might mean he’s forced to spend some time on the NRL sidelines anyway.
The Broncos were embarrassed by South Sydney on Thursday night, losing 48-6 for a sixth-straight loss. Maguire’s side were without State of Origin players Payne Haas, Kotoni Staggs and Reece Walsh – as well as the injured Pat Carrigan, Deine Mariner and Corey Jensen – but were very poor at Accor Stadium.
Reynolds failed to finish the game due to what the Broncos called a hamstring ‘cramp’, but the veteran halfback was seen with ice on the area after the game. Ezra Mam also injured his shoulder and was forced from the field in the second half.
Before Reynolds’ injury, fans had been calling for him to finally face the axe. The 35-year-old was chased down by a forward after taking an intercept in the first half and didn’t have the legs to go all the way.
He was then completely burned by Jye Gray and failed to lay a hand on him when the Souths fullback streaked away to set up a try for Alex Johnston. Reynolds then kicked out on the full in the second half to cap his nightmare game.
Broncos could make difficult call on Adam Reynolds
Broncos legend Gorden Tallis said this week that Reynolds was looking “old” and doubted his ability to get the Broncos out of their hole. One person wrote on social media on Thursday night: “Drop Reyno to the bench. Mam has injected more past 2 weeks from the pine then Reynolds has.”
Another wrote: “Madge needs to take Reynolds out the back and have the conversation that needs to be had if there is to be any hope of saving this season.” While a third commented: “Adam Reynolds getting done again. Not even close to making a tackle. DROP HIM.”
Speaking after the game, Maguire refused to concede their chances of making the finals are cooked. “We’re still well and truly alive and people will probably think I’m mad,” he said.
“I know I’ve got a number of guys not on the field at this present moment… but they’ll all come back and there’s a lot of quality there that I know that can come back into the team. We’re probably in a bit of a tough hole at the moment and we all know what this team’s capable of doing. We don’t like going through it but it can also be the making of us.”
This article originally appeared on Yahoo Sport Australia at https://au.news.yahoo.com/calls-for-broncos-champion-to-face-the-axe-after-embarrassing-scenes-against-south-sydney-211559782.html
