NRL great Adam Reynolds forced into sad retirement: ‘It’s not to be’

Adam Reynolds’ NRL career is officially over after Brisbane’s medical staff pulled the pin on his planned return from a calf injury for the final two matches of the Broncos’ season.

After being sidelined for the past three weeks through a concussion and then calf issues, Reynolds had been hoping to return for the Broncos against Melbourne on Thursday night.

But Broncos staff advised the 36-year-old against coming back on Monday, concerned he could be underdone after limited training in recent weeks.

It means Reynolds has now played his 323rd and final game in the NRL, bowing out with premierships at South Sydney and Brisbane.

“All NRL careers come to an end and unfortunately mine is today. I won’t be playing this week or next week,” Reynolds said on Triple M.

“The left calf was giving me nerve issues, and then I had a little grade-one strain in the right calf which has not bounced back as quickly as I would’ve liked.

“I trained today and thought I would be a chance to play one last home game ... but it’s not to be.

“I felt pretty good ... but I had some conversations with (coach Michael Maguire) and the medical staff and they were quite concerned with the limited training I’ve done.

“You want to play the game forever. But the reality is you get old, you get brittle, and you get sore, and at the end of the day you can’t keep competing forever.”

Speaking on The Agenda Setters: Rugby League , panelist David Riccio said the Broncos medical staff made the final call.

“Now Adam has made some commentary today that he felt as though he could have played at least one more game but ultimately the Broncos medical staff and coaching staff decided that he was not fit to play,” he said.

“I still think that one will take a little bit of digestion for Adam Reynolds that to your point Woodsy that has been decided by someone else not him, but 323 first grade games, 15 seasons, two premierships, he scored over 2,500 points.

“It’s a remarkable career and yes there’s been debate about this season has been one season too long for Adam Reynolds but I don’t see it like that.

“I see it as he went to Brisbane and brought exactly what they wanted and that is the premiership.”