A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature, American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote.
The story of how Adam Reynolds came to Brisbane is a touching tale of old-school football loyalties centring on how a former Broncos premiership player, aware what was needed to save the coaching career of his mate and Broncos boss Kevin Walters, drove a deal after consulting with two of rugby league’s greatest leaders and confiding in a player manager from a bygone era.
Chris Johns and Walters are more than teammates from the Broncos’ 1992-93 premiership years.
They were business partners back in 2005, each holding a one-third share in a booming Brisbane car wash business, along with former Australian cricketer, Ian Healy. But Walters’ ambition was always to coach and in 2008 he surrendered his share to Johns’ brother, Cameron.
Walters, widely known by his good bloke Kevvy name, accepted assistant coach’s roles with the Broncos (three times), Melbourne and Newcastle, while earlier taking charge of the Ipswich Jets and France’s Catalans in Super League, before being appointed Queensland Origin coach and working for Fox Sports.
Yet, as the car wash business grew to five franchises, Walters was punished by the sin of ambition, failing to secure a top NRL position. Johns agonised, calling me, as his former coach at St George, to check on Walters’ progress with the Storm.
As president of the Broncos’ past players association, Johns lobbied hard for Walters to be appointed head coach, annoying chair Karl Morris with furious late-night text messages.
Anthony Seibold won the job but delivered the Broncos their only wooden spoon.
So, after the longest coaching apprenticeship for a five-time premiership player, Walters finally won the job he always craved. But he didn’t do much better than Seibold in his inaugural season of 2021, coming 14th.
Johns has footy smarts, being the Storm’s inaugural CEO as well as a Kangaroo. He was convinced an organising halfback could save his mate’s coaching career.
Three potential names had been mentioned – Parramatta’s Mitchell Moses, Cronulla’s Shaun Johnson and South Sydney’s Reynolds – but no one at the Broncos, still a club in turmoil, had seized the initiative to commence negotiations.
The tenacious Johns, despite having no formal role at the Broncos, is not one to stay silent.
“I said to them, ‘You’ve got to get Reynolds. He’s exactly what we need.’ But they were not convinced.”
He threatened to fly to Sydney and sign Reynolds himself, only to be told by Walters, sensitive to club politics, “You can’t do that.”
Johns called his former Broncos coach Wayne Bennett, then at the Rabbitohs, and asked which of the three halves Brisbane should choose. Bennett nominated his own playmaker, with all parties aware Reynolds had only been offered a one-year extension at Redfern.
“But the thing that pushed me hard,” admitted Johns in reference to Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy, “was Bellyache.”
According to Johns, Bellamy, said, “You should be going for Reynolds but it’s not about what I think, or what Wayne thinks, or what the board thinks. It’s what the players think. They will know Reynolds will be good for them. They will know he’s the one who can run a game plan.”
Reynolds is managed by long-term agent Steve “Chimes” Gillis, universally held in high regard by ex-players, particularly those who have placed their son’s affairs in his care. Old-schoolers noted that when Brett Finch (son of Robert), Jarrod Mullen (son of Steve) and Jack De Belin (grandson of Fred) attended court, Chimes didn’t miss a day and didn’t hide from the cameras.
Gillis said, “Johnsie rang me and said he needed a favour. He said he needed to get Kevvy in front of Adam. He knew Adam was the man who could turn the place around.
“They came down on a Sunday night and I drove them to Adam’s house at Mascot. They chatted for an hour or so and Kevvy presented Adam with a Broncos jumper. It was old-school stuff. They flew back on a 8.30pm flight. A physio came down to give Adam the once-over and they did the deal only two or three days after the meeting.
“Johnsie was the man who put us all together. He was the one who flicked the switch.”
Johns defers credit to Gillis.
“I had no authority to sign Reynolds,” he said. “Chimes made it happen. Chimes always does the best for his clients. A few player managers could learn from him.”
However, Reynolds’ first year at the Broncos did not deliver success. They were in the top four by round 19, despite Reynolds missing four mid-season matches. The Broncos then lost five of their last six matches with him on the field. But, despite the mounting losses and the “Kevvy can’t coach” cries, he maintained faith with his talented but troubled team. Most coaches would have axed the many youngsters and brought back experienced players to secure a top-eight place. The Broncos finished ninth but the rookies gained experience.
Walters also gambled on the future at the end of this season.
Guaranteed the minor premiership if they defeated an understrength Melbourne team in the final round, Walters rested almost his entire squad and was beaten, gifting the Panthers the JJ Giltinan trophy. The Broncos, with their top side selected, then humiliated the Storm in the first week of the finals and now meet the Warriors, travelling back across the Tasman to play in front of a parochial Brisbane crowd on Saturday night.
Walters acknowledges John’s role in securing Reynolds, conceding, “he has always looked out for me.”
State loyalty is the only enduring difference between them, with Johns being the first Brisbane-based player selected in a NSW State of Origin team in 1990.
“We’ve had our differences over the years,” says Walters, “but the thing I like about him more than anything is his honesty.
“Sometimes it can be very brutal. When I was coaching Queensland, he rang me up the morning after we’d just picked the Queensland team. He said, ‘I just want to congratulate you.’
“I said, ‘What for?’ He said, ‘You just picked the worst Queensland team in history.’
“He’s always been honest with me. He hasn’t wavered.”
Both men know life is no scripted book. It’s page after page of rocks and diamonds, a volume of success and survival without a back cover to foretell the end.
Nor will their football relationship end with a premiership in 2023.
“My next challenge is to get Kevvy a halfback to follow Reynolds,” Johns said.
Sydey Morning Herald
