Broncos legend Gorden Tallis believes the club should re-sign young gun outside back Selwyn Cobbo over veteran halfback Adam Reynolds.
Both players are currently contracted to the end of the season and it looks increasingly likely Brisbane will only be able to fit one of them into their 2026 salary cap.
Cobbo, 22, wants to stay but also harbours ambitions to be an NRL fullback and at the Broncos he’s stuck behind Reece Walsh who is signed until 2029.
Reynolds, 34, wants to play more season and doesn’t want to uproot his young family who have been settled in Brisbane since he joined the club at the end of 2021.
“I think Cobbo is the one that they keep… every day of the week, twice on Sunday,” Tallis said on NRL 360.
“Who is going to win more competitions for them? If Reece Walsh doesn’t come back and be Reece Walsh, who is fullback for the Broncos?”
“It’s a fair question but I watched that game against the Bulldogs last Thursday night and it was like watching Alfie Langer the way that Adam Reynolds played,” James Hooper responded.
There has been plenty of debate this week about how much the NRL should value Reynolds on the salary cap, with reports it could be as low as $300,000.
But if rival clubs table higher offers then the NRL will be forced to increase that figure which will create problems for the Broncos’ tight cap.
“The NRL places an evaluation on every player’s head when they are off contract and are about to hit the negotiation stage,” Dave Riccio said.
“For example, they’ll put a valuation on Adam, they’ll assess his age, is he still playing State of Origin, how much experience he has.
“But there’s also a $300,000 veteran allowance that clubs can apply for. I would be shocked if the Broncos don’t apply for a $300,000 exemption on Adam Reynolds.
“But he will only be allowed to stay at the Broncos for around $300,000 if there is no other suitor in the game.”
But Tallis wouldn’t cop that as the panel debated the figure after host Braith Anasta asked where it would land.
Tallis: Surely other clubs are going to make a phone call, surely. How do we get our fans to believe (in the system) when Ben Hunt was on $1 million and he goes to (the Broncos for) $600,000 and now we’ve got a premiership-winning halfback (Reynolds)… DCE didn’t want to sign for $700,000, (Jamal) Fogarty has just signed for $2 million (over three years) and we go ‘he’s gonna stay for $300,000’. This opens a can of worms.
Hooper: I get it Gordie, it doesn’t necessarily pass the pub test but in Adam’s case he wants to stay at the Broncos, he loves life in Brisbane. And on top of the contract that Adam is going to get, there’s also third-party deals, no question, he has a couple of those already. So he’s going to end up on around 600-700 to play for another season. It does look a bit awkward and the rival clubs are blowing up, they’re not happy about it.
Riccio: If the rival clubs are whinging about it, well do something about it and make a play for him?
Anasta: What I think will happen here is the Broncos will have to pay more for him at sign-on, I don’t think they’ll allow it at 300, I reckon they’ll go to 400 possibly 500 and get him third parties and he’ll end up on 700 or 800 and he’ll stay there. There’s got to be some sort of leeway here, he’s a player who is only going to play one more year, his family are settled, he’s happy, he doesn’t want to play somewhere else, he could go get $1 million somewhere else but he doesn’t want to. I understand why clubs would get frustrated but this is different circumstances in my eyes.