Adam Reynolds started to spot the good things happening at Wests Tigers about 12 months ago.
That was around the same time his old teammate and Tigers coach Benji Marshall had reached out about joining the club on a two-year deal worth around $1.5m.
From what he’d learned by playing against these Tigers a few times, Reynolds knew a handful of the younger players oozed talent, and they just needed game time and experience.
Marshall explained to Reynolds why he thought he would be the perfect halves partner for Jarome Luai. It was not lost on him that he had the opportunity to reunite with Api Koroisau, whom he won a premiership with at South Sydney more than a decade earlier, and someone Reynolds described as “one of the most underrated players in our game”.
Former Tigers CEO Shane Richardson flew to Brisbane and went to Reynolds’ home to pitch him the idea of finishing his career in Sydney.
Naturally, Reynolds started to keep closer tabs on the Tigers than most other clubs.
But a deal with the joint venture club didn’t eventuate and the Brisbane skipper re-signed with the Broncos for one more season. He captained the team to a premiership last season and is now in pursuit of another before he hangs up the boots.
He could not bring himself to uproot the family again, and he loves his new life north of the border.
Two years after Reynolds was cheered by Tigers fans in the eastern grandstand at Campbelltown when he cramped, then leapt to his feet to make a try-saving tackle, there will be no such love for the Broncos and Reynolds at the same venue. It will be standing room only on the hill.
The halfback told this masthead the Tigers were never going to remain at the bottom of the NRL ladder for too long, especially with Marshall in charge.
“It was only a matter of time before Benji got the boys firing,” Reynolds told this masthead.
“Benji saw the game in a different way to most when he was playing. He’s one of the smartest tactical players I’ve ever come across.
“Benji was also great with team morale, and I knew he’d galvanise this group and get them playing the sort of football good enough to win games and challenge for premierships.
“I spoke with Benji a few times last year about joining the club. He thought I’d be a good fit, and I thought the same. ‘Richo’ [Shane Richardson] also flew up and came to my home and pitched the idea.
“They both spoke about where they saw the club going. They spoke about how I could work with Jarome.
“When you play against people, you can sense where they’re at in their careers, and where they could end up.
“I didn’t know how long it would take a few of those Tigers boys to turn into good footy players, but it was never going to be far away.”
Reynolds noted the Tigers were now excellent at making sure they turned up for each other in defence. As for their attack, it all starts with chief architect Koroisau.
“He’s their heartbeat, everything starts with him, he’s crafty, tough, and you can tell the boys playing with him,” Reynolds said.
Koroisau replaced the suspended Isaac Luke in the 2014 grand final win over the Bulldogs, played finals’ football with Manly, and then won two premierships with Penrith before he landed at the Tigers.
For his part, Koroisau denies success has seemed to follow him in the NRL.
“I don’t know about that. I also won two wooden spoons in my first two years here,” he said this week.
“What I have liked about us this year is our composure. We’ve been under pressure, we’ve been down by 10 points in games, but we haven’t panicked. We don’t look to change things. We’re happy to stay in the grind.
“I also like the overall culture we’ve built. The boys are training really well, they come out every day, cross that white line, switch it on, and switch off the outside [noise] as well.
“That has to be driven by the senior boys. I take my hat off to Alex Twal, who has been massive for us, [and] Terrell May and Adam Doueihi. Those guys have taken the reins with that [leadership] stuff, and that’s really helped me and ‘Romy’, and so we’re not trying to do too much.”
Koroisau is even having an impact on the next generation of Tigers, including Latu Fainu, who has never forgotten the one key lesson from the co-captain he likens to a big brother.
“He always tells us to ‘pay the price’,” Fainu said about Koroisau.
“What that means is get the work done; at the start of the game, get in the cycle, do your job, and the points will come later. Whatever you’ve got to do, that’s your job.”
Koroisau is in the form that has him back in the Origin conversation. The Tigers welcome the return of Luai from a knee injury, as well as centre Taylan May (shoulder), whose individual match-up against Kotoni Staggs will be one of the highlights.
Marshall said on Thursday it was tough to drop Jock Madden, who had done an impressive job in the halves while Luai was out.
Samuela Fainu (knee) trained strongly, Heamasi Makasini is back on the left wing, where he trained all summer – and did his best to mimic All Blacks legend Jonah Lomu by running over the top of Dylan Edwards in the trials – and Patrick Herbert, who played his first game in four years last weekend, has retained his spot in the centres.
Michael Maguire, who was sacked by the Tigers midway through 2022, returns with the Broncos, and loves nothing more than having his teams written off before kick-off. The last time the Broncos started outsiders against the Tigers, they were thrashed 48-0 during a Leichhardt Oval horror show in 2020.
But this latest contest smells of a ‘Madge’ ambush.
The Broncos’ list of absentees cannot be ignored. Walsh has a fractured cheekbone. Ben Hunt has a knee injury. Hooker Corey Paix is out with concussion. Pat Carrigan is suspended. Even Reynolds suffered a grade-two strain to his adductor a few weeks ago, and will do well to play through the pain.
The good times look set to roll on in Tiger Town. The opposition No. 7 always knew they were coming.
