Why Souths are reluctant to grant Reynolds long-term deal
South Sydney have no appetite to grant Adam Reynolds his four-year contract wish after a similar long-term deal for another senior player, Sam Burgess, left the club millions of dollars out of pocket.
The day after Reynolds expressed his
disappointment with the club’s one-year extension, sources with knowledge of the discussions said they were confident the skipper would stay put another couple of years, with Blake Taaffe the frontrunner to succeed him in the No. 7 jersey in the long term.
Reynolds is earning close to $1m but knows he will need to settle for around $600,000 to $650,000 to remain at Redfern in 2022 and 2023.
The club gave Burgess a four-year, $4m extension when he was nearly 30, only for the Englishman to be forced into medical retirement 12 months later. While Burgess’ payout did not count towards Souths’ salary cap, it seriously dented the club’s bottom line.
Reynolds himself said this week he had never felt physically or mentally stronger, but Souths are not prepared to take any similar risks.
The sticking point for Reynolds will be the length of his next deal, rather than money. Souths acknowledge the 30-year-old is one of the most-gifted goal-kickers to ever lace on a boot, and respect the fact he has not once caused them grief off the field.
There are also plans to move him into a coaching role and to help with the club’s pathways program, similar to the one another club legend, John Sutton, is now enjoying.
Reynolds wants three to four years based on how his body feels and the security it provides for his wife and four young children.
Parramatta have Mitchell Moses unsigned beyond this year, Cronulla are waiting to see how Shaun Johnson returns from an Achilles injury, while Reynolds won a premiership with Michael Maguire, the man now in charge at Wests Tigers and could easily accommodate his little mate by moving Luke Brooks into five-eighth.
Souths’ bitter rivals, the Sydney Roosters, would be aware Reynolds won a premiership with their own playmaker Luke Keary. But the Roosters are unlikely to afford a representative player like Reynolds, and are already drafting a decent extension for teen rookie Sam Walker.
Taaffe led South Sydney’s Jersey Flegg side to premiership glory in 2019 and he has been named on the bench for Saturday night’s Charity Shield against St George Illawarra. Taaffe has spent most of the summer training at fullback.
With Wayne Bennett leaving the club at the end of the year, the supercoach is not expected to have much input about Reynolds’ next contract. But Bennett’s opinion will still be valued by his successor Jason Demetriou and the club’s recruitment and retention committee.
What is not well known is that Bennett has given Demetriou plenty of say about the club’s roster the past 12 months given it will be Demetriou who ultimately has to get the best out of the players.
Reynolds has no interest playing in the Super League and quipped on Monday he was a better chance of heading to the US to try his luck as an NFL punter. So lethal is his boot that Port Adelaide coaching staff complimented him on his power and style during a hit-and-run pre-season training run a couple of years ago.
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/wh...-reynolds-long-term-deal-20210223-p5754u.html
signed sealed and delivered to Madge!
