36-year-old Brisbane Broncos captain Adam Reynolds announced at the club’s season launch on Monday that the 2026 season will be his last.
Widely considered as the greatest Broncos recruit of the decade, Reynolds joined from South Sydney in 2022 and went past the 300-career game mark in 2025 whilst becoming the competition’s second-leading all-time points scorer, overtaking Bulldogs legend Hazem El Masri and trailing only Cameron Smith.
Reynolds says he has been “thinking about it (retirement) since the (2025) Grand Final” and has opted for a transition into the Broncos’ coaching staff from 2027, where he’ll be imparting his wisdom on some of the club’s most talented youngsters.
One of them won’t be 26-year-old Payne Haas, who at the weekend made a shock defection to Reynolds’ former employers South Sydney from the 2027 season onwards.
Nonetheless, Reynolds harbours major ambitions to go out in style with back-to-back Premierships.
“Obviously, when you get to my age, it starts coming to an end. It felt like it was the right time to just get it over and done with before the season starts,” Reynolds said on Monday.
“I’ve been very fortunate enough to get to two Grand Finals here and win one. It could have been two, but there’s a possibility obviously to win another one, and we’re trying everything possible to make sure that happens.”
Adam Reynolds riding off into the sunset after the 2026 season for the Brisbane Broncos. #NRL pic.twitter.com/GER2DXWnHn
— NRL Hynesight (@Hynesight7) February 8, 2026
“It’s something I’ll reflect on later on in my career, but I still want to achieve more success (in the meantime).”
The Broncos are favourites to win the 2026 flag and will be hoping their captain can get through the full campaign unscathed after some absences in both 2025 and 2024.
