Broncos sweating on Reynolds’ fitness for NRL finals opener

Brisbane Broncos halfback Adam Reynolds could be racing the clock to be fit for the club’s first game of the 2023 NRL finals in three weeks’ time.

Reynolds will miss Saturday’s penultimate game of the regular season in Canberra to rest a niggling calf injury.

The club says it is only precautionary to make sure its star playmaker is right for the round 27 blockbuster against Melbourne at Suncorp Stadium on August 31.

The official line from both Brisbane and Reynolds is that he will be right for the first week of the NRL finals.

But calf injuries can be fickle and hard to manage, so they won’t really know for sure until he puts his leg under load.

You only have to look at how long it took South Sydney star Latrell Mitchell to return from the calf injury that kept him out of the first two State of Origin games earlier this year.

The 33-year-old Reynolds is considered pivotal to Brisbane’s chances of breaking a 17-year premiership drought, but his injury may be slightly worse than just a week or two on the sidelines.

Brisbane will finish top two even if they drop their last two regular-season games against Canberra and Melbourne.

They will most likely play whichever team finishes third in a home final on Saturday, September 9, giving Reynolds 16 days to get over his calf complaint.

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There were rumours circulating this week that Reynolds’ injury, while not as serious, was similar to that which plagued Matildas captain Sam Kerr during the recent FIFA Women’s World Cup.

If that is the case, Reynolds will need every one of those days to get himself right for the first round of the finals early next month.

Reynolds, as expected, was absent from training this week, receiving intensive treatment on his calf while being restricted to a few weight sessions in the Broncos’ Red Hill gymnasium.

Reynolds, who at times has been unfairly subjected to claims he is injury-prone, saddled up for 20 games last season and has played 20 games so far this season for 16 wins at a strike rate of 80 percent.

In the previous four years, he played 97 games for South Sydney.

The last time he had a season strike rate of over 80 percent, Souths made it all the way to the grand final before losing to the Penrith Panthers.

Reynolds joined Brisbane on a three-year deal worth nearly $2.5 million in 2022 after knocking back a one-year extension offer from Souths.

His gamesmanship, experience, deadly kicking game, goal-kicking, and general leadership around the field have helped lift the Broncos from their first and only wooden spoon in 2021 to be fighting with Penrith for the minor premiership.

This year, he has missed just two games: the 15-4 loss to Penrith in round 12 and the 30-12 hammering of Parramatta in round 23.

Brisbane fans will be hoping Reynolds recovers in time to lead them to the promised land.

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