Adam Reynolds wants to keep playing next season, but whether the Broncos can afford to keep him is another question altogether.
The 34-year-old has made it clear he’s not ready to walk away, telling Triple M recently: “The plan is to play on. I will keep all options open at the moment. You never know what is around the corner.”
His form has justified that ambition. Even through injury setbacks, including a hamstring tweak while goalkicking last weekend, Reynolds continues to deliver when he's on the park.
But the club had already earmarked this season as his last, budgeting his $550,000 salary out of the books beyond 2025.
Coaching pathway clashes with player’s desire to stay on
Brisbane’s original plan was a smooth transition, phasing Reynolds out of the squad and into an assistant coaching role. But the veteran playmaker feels he has more left to give on the field, and with every strong showing, he’s convincing himself of just that.
“There’s still a lot to weigh up,” Wade Graham said on the Saturday Scrum podcast. “He has ambitions to still play footy — but is what comes next more important than that?”
The Broncos are caught in a bind. Star players like Payne Haas, Kotoni Staggs, Ezra Mam and Selwyn Cobbo are all due contract upgrades or extensions. And with Reece Walsh’s $4.4 million mega deal kicking in from 2026, Brisbane are scrambling to balance the books.
According to Brent Read, the club may look at offering Reynolds “$250,000 or $350,000” to stay, a significant pay cut for someone still performing at a high level.
Reynolds has also been linked to the UK, but Read noted, “I don’t think he particularly wants to go to England. I think he’d like to stay in the NRL.”
That preference adds to the conundrum. The Reynolds family is settled in Brisbane after a move north from Sydney in 2022, with the halfback recently telling Code Sports, “The kids absolutely love it here. They don’t want to go back to Sydney. They call Brisbane home now, and so do we.”