EXCLUSIVE: Adam Reynolds hits back at talk of Michael Maguire 'over-cooking' his players
There's been talk of new Broncos coach Michael Maguire overworking his team during the off-season and leaving them disgruntled because few players throughout the NRL have been "mucking up", leaving "not much to write about".
That was the view expressed by Adam Reynolds when Wide World of Sports asked the Broncos captain what he thought of the chatter, which peaked following a three-day army-style camp run by Maguire west of Brisbane.
Maguire rubbished talk of "over-cooking" his players as "bullshit" in an interview with Fox Sports ahead of the Broncos' season-opening clash, adding: "I have a grin on my face now when I hear that stuff".
READ MORE: Legend's subtle dig amid NRL relocation furore
READ MORE: Gould's simple fix to save Jillaroos from Vegas axe
READ MORE: 'He is a clown': Gillespie rips coach successor
Reynolds was similarly dismissive of the talk ahead of Thursday night's match against the Roosters at Sydney's Allianz Stadium.
"There hasn't been many players mucking up in the off-season this year, so there's not much to write about. We're all happy. We know that hard work creates success, and every team has gone through a hard pre-season," Reynolds told Wide World of Sports.
"I don't know if ours has been harder than the other [clubs' pre-seasons]. For us as players, we want to be the best we can be, and if that means hard work then we've got to go through it."
Maguire drew attention to the Panthers and Storm in his retort.
Broncos captain Adam Reynolds. Getty
"The two teams who've been rolling around in grand finals for however long it is, Penrith and Melbourne — everyone talks about how crazy their pre-seasons are," Maguire told Fox Sports.
"But someone else does it, [and people say], 'Oh no, you're training the players too hard'. I get entertained about it now. I just think, 'Here we go again'."
Driving a car unlicensed and with drugs in his system, star Broncos five-eighth Ezra Mam crashed into another vehicle and left two people injured.
One was a child and the other a woman.
Watch the 2025 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and 9Now.
New Broncos coach Michael Maguire. Getty
But the off-season encountered few controversies outside of the infamous Mam incident of October 18.
The hotel lift dust-up in Las Vegas between Raiders teammates Hudson Young and Morgan Smithies, blow-up baseball bat and all, was the biggest rugby league controversy of the summer outside of the Mam incident.
Maguire was announced as the Broncos' new coach on the last day of September, four days after the sacking of club legend Kevin Walters.
Reynolds sympathised with Walters but said he'd enjoyed reuniting with Maguire, with whom he tasted premiership glory at the Rabbitohs in 2014.
"I definitely felt for Kev. I've got a great relationship with Kev and I thought he was hard done by. I thought he did a lot of great things for the club and didn't deserve the way he went out," Reynolds said.
"In saying that, I know what Madge possesses, I know the success he brings to an organisation, and it was exciting to re-link and join up again.
"He's such a wonderful coach. He demands the best out of his players, he sets a very high standard in the professionalism around the place, and that rubs off on being better individuals, better athletes and better people."
