The Broncos are rugby league’s richest rabble, so who is to blame?

Reynolds deserved his farewell

Adam Reynolds earned one last run in front of the home crowd. Full stop.

This was a dead game. No finals spot at stake. No competition consequence. Reynolds believed he could play some minutes. The Broncos had just finished a match using only 16 players. Name him on the extended bench and, if the game allows it, give him the final five or 10 minutes. Where was the danger?

Instead, Michael Maguire chose the wrong hill. Coaches must be hard. They must also read the room. This was the moment to put an arm around a player who helped deliver a grand final and a premiership, not manufacture a pointless test of authority.

Players remember these decisions. They bleed together, win together and build bonds outsiders will never understand. They wanted to farewell Reynolds properly. Reece Walsh's reaction made that obvious.

The game is not a charity. Nobody is pretending otherwise. But humanity still matters. Letting Reynolds finish at home would have rewarded the player, respected his teammates and given the fans a moment worth keeping.

The Broncos denied all three. I reckon they got it badly wrong.

Queensland’s job nobody wants

Queensland’s coaching search has become an indignity, with seven coaches ruling themselves out and the eventual appointment looking less like a first choice than the last bloke still answering his phone.

Not all seven were probably genuine candidates, but the message is still brutal. Darren Lockyer, Cameron Smith and Johnathan Thurston are too busy, Kevvy is going to St Helens and Ben Te'o wants to coach club football. That leaves Darius Boyd, Matt Ballin and Wayne Bennett.

I think Bennett gets it. He is the old campaigner who understands the peculiar demands of Origin, and the role occupies three months despite involving only three matches. The preparation is long, the scrutiny savage and the excuses non-existent. Michael Maguire carried no other job when his team won, while Billy Slater and Laurie combined Origin with media work.

Bennett’s situation adds intrigue because next year is, at this stage, expected to be his last at the Rabbitohs, although he may re-sign. Te'o is heading there next year and may have his eyes on that club job for the following season. Queensland need certainty now. Bennett is the only remaining candidate who brings it automatically.

Gallen should charge the circus tax

Paul Gallen should demand every cent of his $1 million price to fight Nelson Asofa-Solomona because he would be supplying the crowd, the credibility and most of the boxing ability.

Solomona is big, dangerous and hits hard. His knockout of Jeremy Latimore produced a ferocious highlight, but the rest of that fight was dreadful, while I think he also struggled to finish George Burgess after Burgess appeared spent within 30 seconds. One frightening punch does not make a boxer.

Gallen was the Australian heavyweight champion, beat recognised boxers and defeated the well-ranked former world-title winner Lucas Browne. Solomona will never outbox him, even now. His chance is a roundhouse right landing clean, and Gallen knows precisely what is being built around him.

Solomona has completed three fights of a nine-fight deal, yet his previous outing attracted little interest at the gate or through pay-per-view. Gallen would generate the publicity and paying audience that Solomona cannot, while a Gallen victory could kill the whole project.

I will not pay to watch it. I paid for Solomona against Burgess and swore never again. If promoters want Gallen to rescue their attraction, $1 million is not greed. It is the circus tax.

Madden exposes Luai’s million-dollar problem

Jock Madden is the player smart clubs should chase because he keeps exposing rugby league’s favourite lie: salary and output are not the same thing.

Madden has never been regarded as a permanent starter, yet he continually does the job when called upon, including icing the winning field goal while playing opposite Jarome Luai. Luai is probably earning three times as much, the Tigers committed more than $1 million a year to him, and I would argue they have done their money on him this season.

Luai’s complaint that critics should walk in his shoes misses the point. Most people do not possess his talent and would gladly accept the opportunity, but elite players receive elite money because they are expected to deliver every week. I would argue Luai has not. Madden delivers value whenever the chance arrives, which is why I think he remains seriously undervalued.

Coaching matters here. Justin Holbrook transformed players who previously attracted little attention, while Andrew Webster helped turn Luke Metcalf and Tanah Boyd from journeymen into two of the competition’s best performers before injury struck. Sometimes the difference is probably a coach extracting everything a player has.

Astute clubs should look beyond reputation and ask what they are actually buying. Madden gives answers. Luai, for all the money and noise, has not given enough of them.