‘That one stung the most’: Why no one knows preliminary final pain like Adam Reynolds

Adam Reynolds has seen too many photos of him looking dejected, exhausted – and occasionally injured – after an NRL preliminary final.

The diminutive halfback has a remarkable record on rugby league’s penultimate weekend: Sunday will be his ninth preliminary final in just 14 seasons.

Only Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk (11) and Cameron Munster (10) have played in more, while Dale Finucane and Jesse Bromwich also made it to the grand final qualifier nine times.

Many fans will argue that two of the preliminary finals Smith and Cronk played in came in seasons when they were stripped of their titles due to salary cap breaches. But that is not a story for today.

Reynolds knows he is fortunate to have gone so deep into September for the majority of his career. But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing: he has won three of eight preliminary finals, and has just the one premiership ring to show from three deciders.

Maybe that’s why he remembers them all like they were yesterday.

There was the 2012, his debut season, when South Sydney led Canterbury 8-4 only for Reynolds to go down with a hamstring injury just before the half-hour. Souths lost their way and the Dogs triumphed 32-8.

The following year, Souths led Manly 14-0 after as many minutes, but slumped to lose 30-20.

“That one stung the most because ‘Madge’ [coach Michael Maguire] lost his mother the morning of the game, and it felt even worse when we couldn’t get the job done for him,” Reynolds recalls.

In 2014, the Rabbitohs defeated the Roosters – “which was extra sweet, simply because it was the Roosters” – before breaking a 41-year premiership drought the following week in a memorable grand final against the Bulldogs.

Reynolds went on to play in four straight preliminary finals with Souths between 2018 and 2021, the last of those bringing a win over Manly while the competition was relocated to Queensland because of the COVID pandemic. The No.7 almost missed out after he injured his groin during the captain’s run the day before the game, and had to give up goalkicking duties to Blake Taaffe.

The Rabbitohs lost to the Roosters in the 2018 grand final qualifier, when Cooper Cronk played through the pain of a busted shoulder – which came courtesy of a Reynolds tackle – and then there was a defeat in Canberra in 2019 when the Bunnies were well and truly cooked.

“Those 2019 and 2020 years we lost the prelim we had no fit players left, and even if we had won, we would have struggled to field teams in the grand final,” he says.

“The 2020 loss to the Panthers, we were coming home a lot stronger and I thought I had kicked a 40/20, only for the bunker to rule I had a foot on the line.”

Broncos fans will have fond memories of the 2023 preliminary final, when the party started before the hour mark as Reynolds and Reece Walsh masterminded a big win over the Warriors.

“Walshy threw a cut-out pass that went about eight metres forward for a try, but they let it go,” Reynolds says with a laugh. “We were really good that night, and we always felt like we were going to get the job done.”

Which brings Reynolds, Maguire and Brisbane to Sunday afternoon, and what will be a heaving Suncorp Stadium for one of the most anticipated matches of the year against four-time premiers Penrith.

Walsh versus Nathan Cleary. Walsh versus Dylan Edwards. Reynolds versus Cleary. Payne Haas versus the entire Penrith pack. It’s box-office gold.

Forget talk of Penrith struggling in the heat – the Broncos trained at 4pm during the week, and most of Suncorp Stadium was in the shade.

Reynolds, for whom next season is likely to be his last, knows the importance of making the most of this opportunity.

“The chance to play in a ninth preliminary final, the word that comes to mind is ‘excitement’,” he says. “When you grow up as a kid, these are the games you want to be a part of. I’ve played in my fair share of them, and I’ve never taken any one of them for granted. Sunday will be no different.

“I feel like we’re a little more mature than a couple of years ago, and we only want to get our game on, rather than worrying about Penrith.”

Reynolds has missed the past six weeks with a hamstring injury, during which time Walsh has blossomed under the extra responsibility. It has led some to suggest stand-in halfback Ben Hunt is a better option when it comes to unlocking the fullback.

When you tell Reynolds, the club’s captain, about those comments, he says: “I sit back and laugh when certain people suggest I’ll try and do something different with Reece. I’ve always wanted Reece to be playing that free-flowing and attacking football. There are times in the game you need to be a bit more cautious.

“But a lot of great things happen off Walshy. Why would I stop that?”

Maguire, who made his NRL head coaching debut with Reynolds in 2012, knows exactly what is required to motivate a team this deep into the campaign. Look at what he did with the Blues after they dropped the opening game of last year’s Origin series.

“He still has the passion, he still lives and breathes the game of rugby league; he knows how to get the job done in big games – he’s just a winner,” Reynolds says.

NRL is Live and Free on Channel 9 & 9Now