'Major concern' as Smith warns 'risk' of Reynolds injury

Broncos mentor Cameron Smith says Brisbane face a huge dilemma with Adam Reynolds' suspected rib injury amid their losing start to the season.

The much-maligned Broncos remain winless in 2026 and could be without Reynolds for an extended period after the veteran halfback stumbled from the field at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night clutching at his ribs.

The negative headlines that engulfed Brisbane this week are only going to multiply and grow uglier after the reigning NRL premiers slumped to a 40-32 defeat to Parramatta, in a match brimming with attacking brilliance but lacking severely in defensive resolve.

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Coach Michael Maguire doesn't only have a premiership hangover to mull over but the fitness of Reynolds after the two-time premiership halfback was crunched in a tackle with five minutes remaining.

The 35-year-old was in the motion of passing when Eels back-rower Kitione Kautoga put him on his backside.

Reynolds sat on the turf receiving medical attention for several minutes and then trudged off as his side crashed to a 0-2 start to the season.

"It's a major concern for the Broncos. He’s their main man. He's their goal-kicker, the No.7 and he's the one that steers the team around the park," Smith said on Nine's coverage.

"They want to try and get him out there as much as they can to be able to play and build combinations throughout this season.

"Fingers crossed they can find some pain relief for him. There's not much you can do about ribs. There’s no way to help them heal quicker.

"It'll just come down to: is he gonna be able to manage the pain?"

Either that or the Broncos will have to let him sit for a while, according to Andrew Johns.

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"If he has popped that rib cartilage, at the very least it's probably a month and at most he might be looking at eight to 10 weeks," Johns said on Nine.

The Broncos will meet the Storm in Melbourne next Friday night.

"Make no mistake about it, they'll be aiming some pretty big bodies towards him to make him put his body in front and continue to make tackles. Do the Broncos wanna run that risk? It's still pretty early in the season.

"I know they haven't got a result go their way this year, they're 0 and 2, but do they wanna run the risk of putting a guy out there with severely damaged ribs?

"And then, you know, putting him back even further throughout the year.

“So a couple of questions to be answered this week."

Reynolds cut a dejected figure in the sheds and during Brisbane's press conference.

He was tight-lipped when prodded on his injury.

"It's all right. A little bit sore, but [I'll put] a bit of ice on it and we'll see the staff on the weekend," he said.

Asked if he'd be right to face the Storm in Melbourne next Friday night, he batted the question away.

"[I'll] see the staff and go from there," he said.

The Broncos lost despite having shot out to a 20-6 lead inside the first 26 minutes.

Some of the tries Parramatta scored were on the back of terrific attack, such as the double scored by electric young fullback Isaiah Iongi and the try Jonah Pezet set up for Sean Russell with a smart grubber kick.

But as the scoreline suggests, the Broncos were awful in defence.

For the first of Parramatta's tries, Kelma Tuilagi brushed past Ezra Mam and Jack Gosiewski like he was playing Oztag, swerved around Reece Walsh, and held off a couple of other defenders from behind as he crashed over to score.

"It takes a team to have a strong defensive line," Maguire said.

"There's all little things that go on within, whether you're winning the ruck, whether you're getting your third man back, the adjustments, so we're definitely gonna have to have a look at that, and on both sides [of the field]. We've had a few issues there on the left.

"But as a group and as a team, they all help each other and that's what a defensive line is, and we're just not hitting the mark there."

Maguire was asked if his team had the drive to win this year, having reached the pinnacle last year.

"That's a question that you can ask, but what they're doing and what I'm seeing, they're a hungry group," he said.

"But the competition demands you to be hungry every single day."

How is Maguire feeling?

"Look, I'm just disappointed," he said.

"I know, as we showed for 20 minutes, what type of team we're capable of being, but at the end of the day, as we all say, it's an 80-minute game.

"Unless we want to dig in deep to get to that, then we'll go through, potentially, a bit of pain.

"But I know this group are working in the background, and if they stick to it, they'll find their way to what they are capable of doing, and we showed that for the first 20 minutes."

The Eels' upset victory was orchestrated by Pezet, the highly rated young playmaker who will join Brisbane on a three-year deal from 2027 after a one-year stint with Parramatta.