Kevin Walters insists Adam Reynolds will remain captain of Brisbane for the rest of his career and has lifted the lid on an honesty session that can get the side firing for the rest of the season.
Ahead of the away clash with Gold Coast on Saturday afternoon, the Broncos coach answered questions on Reynolds after former captain Gorden Tallis questioned his leadership credentials.
The outspoken Tallis said on NRL 360 "the team is lacking leadership" and highlighted how Reynolds was unable to get the side home in last year’s grand final or lift the team in last week's dismal 41-16 loss to Canterbury, which left the Broncos four points adrift of the top eight.
"If he's the captain and he's not doing it, there might be a chance to put Pat Carrigan there," Tallis said.
"Maybe there should be a change with who gets the 'C' next to their name."
Such a kerfuffle did the Reynolds saga cause, including back page headlines in the local daily newspaper, Walters assured the 34-year-old Reynolds his position as skipper was not in question. Reynolds is contracted to Brisbane until the end of 2025.
"I mentioned to him through the week that when (CEO) Dave Donaghy and I went down to sign him in Sydney that he was our captain. As long as he is still playing, he will be our captain," Walters said.
"(The criticism) was a tough thing for him to read but he is a tough fella and he has been around the game long enough to understand how important his captaincy is to our club.
"When he is playing well and gets his own game moving well he has a huge influence over our team. We saw that against Newcastle (in the 30-14 win in round 20) and we will see that again tomorrow against the Titans."
Reynolds said on Triple M the side had an honesty session on Monday about their form, which includes losing seven of the last eight games.
“We had a soul-searching meeting and got a lot out of it. The response is what we’re looking for now," he said.
“We’ve trained extremely well and had the honest conversations behind closed doors."
Walters said he was confident a response would be forthcoming as a result.
"We have spoken about some good honesty this week in our team meetings and in our team review," he said.
"The players are taking ownership of what happened last week and are making sure it doesn’t happen again this week.
"We’ve got everything to play for. We had everything to play for last week. We’ve had a good preparation and there is energy amongst the group."
Brisbane supporters and pundits have questioned Walters' inability to get the side firing in 2024 after reaching the grand final last year. If the Broncos fail to play finals again this year it will be three seasons out of four under Walters that they would have failed to finish in the top eight.
Walters was blunt when asked whether he was the right man to coach the club into the future.
"I am not even going to answer that. That is ridiculous," Walters bristled.
"Who has been critical? They haven’t been in here and looked at what we are doing. That is a silly question."
