Brisbane Broncos captain Adam Reynolds will end his NRL career sidelined by injury after failing a fitness test ahead of Thursday’s game against the Melbourne Storm.
The Broncos have two games left, but the Storm clash marks their final home game of the year.
Reynolds had hoped to overcome a calf injury to play on Thursday and bid farewell to the stadium he has called home since 2022.
“I trained today, obviously thought I’d be a chance to play one last home game and then hand it over to the rest of the boys to finish off the season,” he told Triple M.
“But it’s not to be. … I’m officially a has-been.”
Initially struggling with nerve issues in his left calf, Reynolds then suffered a strain in his right calf.
Reynolds said he “felt pretty good” during the training session, but the call was made for him to not play.
“I had some conversations with Madge [coach Michael Maguire] and the medical staff and they were quite concerned with the limited training I’ve done in the past couple of weeks,” he in a club statement.
Reynolds has endured a number of lower-body injuries over his career and has not played since suffering a concussion in round 22 against the Knights.
“You wanna play the game forever but that’s not reality,” the 36-year-old said.
“The reality is you get old and you get brittle and at the end of the day you can’t keep competing forever. I knew this day was coming, I knew in the back of my mind that I had to say goodbye at some stage and unfortunately it’s today.”
Reynolds confirmed 2026 would be his last year in the league before the season started.
The diminutive halfback played 323 NRL games over 15 seasons and is the league’s second-highest point-scorer with 2,598 points.
He leaves the game as a two-time premiership winner — in 2014 with South Sydney and 2025 with Brisbane — and a State of Origin player.
“I’ve had a great career,” he said.
“I’m extremely fortunate I get to carry some great memories moving forward.”
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