Brisbane Broncos coach Kevin Walters has reaffirmed that Adam Reynolds will remain the captain for the remainder of his career, despite recent criticism from Broncos great Gorden Tallis and a series of poor performances by the team.
Revered but highly outspoken, Tallis criticised the direction within his former club, suggesting a possible change in captaincy was needed.
"The team is lacking leadership," Tallis said, indirectly undermining Reynolds' effectiveness.
"If he's the captain and he's not doing it, there might be a chance to put Pat Carrigan there. Maybe there should be a change with who gets the 'C' next to their name."
Walters quickly dismissed the commentary and offered a strong endorsement of Reynolds.
"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 declared.
"(Tallis' 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."
The Broncos' recent loss to the Bulldogs intensified scrutiny on both Reynolds and Walters, prompting an internal honesty session to address the team's form issues. Reynolds described the session as a pivotal moment for the team.
"We had a soul-searching meeting and got a lot out of it. The response is what we're looking for now," Reynolds said candidly.
"We've trained extremely well and had the honest conversations behind closed doors."
"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," declared Walters.
Walters' coaching has also come under fire, with questions arising about his future with the Broncos met with firm rebuke.
"I am not even going to answer that. That is ridiculous. Who has been critical? They haven't been in here and looked at what we are doing. That is a silly question," he said.
Walters quickly redirected the messaging back to defending his under-pressure captain.
"When he (Reynolds) is playing well and gets his own game moving well he has a huge influence over our team. We saw that against Newcastle and we will see that again tomorrow against the Titans," he asserted.
