Broncos captain Adam Reynolds has opened up on his “mixed emotions” following the club’s decision to sack Kevin Walters and appoint Michael Maguire as the club’s new head coach.
In his first interview since Maguire’s signing was confirmed, Reynolds told Triple M’s Rush Hour that the playing group need to take some accountability for what happened to Walters.
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“A bit of mixed emotions, to be honest,” he said when asked how he felt about the changes.
“I’ve got a really good relationship with Kevvie. I feel terrible about what’s happened. It’s not the news we wanted but that’s above us as players.
“I’ve got a good relationship with ‘Madge’ from over the years but I think as players we need to take some sort of ownership and put our heads down and work hard throughout the pre-season to change the results.”
Reynolds revealed he has “briefly” spoken to Walters, who fought back tears during an emotional press conference last week following the shock news.
“(He’s) obviously disappointed with everything that’s unfolded but first and foremost just making sure he’s OK,” Reynolds said of his conversation with Walters.
“I’ve got a good relationship with him, he gave me an opportunity to come up to Brisbane and play for this great club and I’ll be forever grateful for that.
“I had belief that we were going to be better next year. We had a lot of problems that did go wrong, a lot of injuries and other stuff that was out of Kevvie’s control.
“It’s sort of out of the players’ hands. We found out Friday — or whatever day it came out — and obviously we were just scrambling together to see what was next.”
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Walters’ sacking came after an internal review following the Broncos’ fall from 2023 grand finalists to a 12th-place finish.
As part of the review players were required to submit feedback anonymously — and Reynolds revealed his responses were in favour of Walters.
“It was all anonymous so (I) don’t know what anyone said but I was certainly a big supporter of Kev,” he said.
“I liked his coaching style, I thought he was a great coach, I played some of my best football I believe under him… still mixed emotions about it all.”
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As part of the fallout from Walters’ sacking, Broncos legend Alfie Langer is reportedly contemplating not returning to the club to fulfil his role as trainer in 2025.
Reynolds conceded it would be a major blow to the club if Langer were to walk away.
“Alf is an integral part of the club, he’s got a legacy on and off the field,” he said.
“He’s certainly great to have around the group and well-respected amongst all the boys so hopefully he goes away and has some time to himself to think about it.
“But we’d love to have him there, he’s great to have around, he’s fun for the group. (In) rugby league it’s important to enjoy the other side of the game so he’d be a massive loss if he was to leave.”
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Reynolds will reunite with Maguire — who he won a premiership with at the Rabbitohs in 2014 — when the squad returns for pre-season in November.
And the 34-year-old warned of what his teammates can expect from notorious taskmaster Maguire.
“He’s a winner, he demands success straight away and he holds everyone accountable to their actions both on the field and off the field,” Reynolds said
“He has had success at both club and representative level. No doubt the boys will get a bit of a shock but we need the hard pre-season, we obviously didn’t have a good season.
“No matter who the coach was we need to bunker down, come together as a group and have a big off-season.”
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