Wayne Bennett's "secret phone call" to Alfie after the Souths contact falllout:
“Alf, tell Kevin to sign Adam Reynolds. Tell him to just do it. Adam will not let you down.”
Bennett:
“It’s a great achievement for Adam to play 250 games. I never had any doubts he would do well for Brisbane this year. I’m glad they signed him actually. The one thing I learned a long time ago as a coach is you need great players. Adam is a great player. He is a real pro. He reminds me a lot of Alf in that he has the cheek of a halfback, but when he crosses the line there is no greater competitor. He wouldn’t have looked out of place in the 1980s and ‘90s with his character and the way he plays the game. We clicked straight away at Souths."
“I chose him as captain because I liked his calmness, his demeanour and the way he conducted himself in the change room. He was never outspoken. He never talked out of order. He doesn’t talk bulls***. Whatever Adam says he means, he only ever said things that he would deliver on. I like that in my captains - and that’s what he has brought to the Broncos.”
“One thing that pisses me off is people who question his training because he is so committed to his preparation. It’s a myth that he is injury prone. There was all this crap about him being on modified training at Souths. It soured him and it soured me. It was so far off the mark. Adam is a bloody tough bugger. He has great courage. He is not a big man yet he has played 11 years now against the biggest and best players in the NRL and he has handled it all. You can’t be his size, achieve what he has, and not be brave.”
Reynolds:
“I was obsessed with kicking the ball when I was young. I was probably a bit of a punish around the streets, whether I was hitting parked cars or missing the telegraph pole. We had a game we liked to play - me and my brother, my cousin and best mate - called two-on-two in pretty small spaces. We came up with new ways to play the game. We were pretty creative as kids and I think that pays tribute to where I am today. I think you have got to have those instinctive skills in the modern game ... look at how Nathan Cleary kicks the ball these days.”
“I had a knee reconstruction out of the under-20s and I thought the dream was over. But I got into the gym with guys like Mick Crocker and Roy Asotasi and I learned the professionalism of this sport. It was a blessing in disguise. I was small back then, but I put on a few extra kilos and after a really tough pre-season I got the opportunity to play first grade. The path I’ve gone on has shaped the character I am in the NRL.”
“My thought process this round will be the same as always. Parra are a good side and they are in great form, it’s a big game for both clubs and it’s a finals game come early. I’ve said to the guys, we have got to where we have this year for a reason. We turned up in games, we’ve had a lot of good results go our way and it doesn’t go away overnight. One bad performance against the Storm doesn’t justify who we are as a club. This is an important game for us ... and I have to be at my best.”
Langer:
“Adam has been wonderful for the Broncos, he has turned the whole club around. He is like another coach at the club. He works with young guys behind the scenes and teaches them so much. The boys love being around him and love playing for him because of what he puts into the group. He is very knowledgeable about the game. If we make the finals this year, he will be a big reason for it.”