Roll up, roll up. Now showing at arenas across the country, ‘The Calming Effect’, starring Adam Reynolds and Chad Townsend: two men who know what it takes to make it to a grand final and how to seal the deal once they get there.
Born just six months apart, they tasted premiership glory 24 months apart at Souths and Cronulla, and now the crafty veterans find themselves well positioned for another title charge at their new clubs.
A week shy of his 32nd birthday, Reynolds has the Broncos humming as they go in search of a first title since 2006, while 31-year-old Townsend has engineered a stunning turnaround in Townsville to have the Cowboys in sight of a second premiership to go with their 2015 triumph.
Recruited to their new clubs at great expense to the management, Reynolds and Townsend are repaying the investment in style as they transform the Broncos and Cowboys from easy beats to easy on the eye.
The Cowboys sit third and the Broncos fifth ahead of a Queensland derby every bit as tantalising as their epic clashes in 2015-16, when three consecutive games were decided by a point and a fourth in extra-time.
Adam Reynolds was the difference
The winner of Saturday’s showdown in Townsville takes bragging rights and huge momentum into the remaining nine rounds, and when game goes on the line it’s seasoned playmakers Reynolds and Townsend their team-mates will look to for guidance and guile.
From the moment Townsend arrived at the Cowboys, coach Todd Payten has spoken glowingly of his composure, the ability to keep his head while those around him are losing theirs.
"Chad is an out and out professional and he has enhanced our capabilities with his talk and direction," Payten said on the eve of the season.
"He's a good voice for all the group, not just the halves. He has added a bit of class and leadership and experience so it has been good to watch.
"Chad is driven on and off the park. He is well rounded and worldly and I think other guys can learn from watching how he does things.”
Down south in Brisbane, a similar theme was emerging as Reynolds settled into his new surroundings at Red Hill and set about making the Rabbitohs regret their decision to let him go after 231 games in cardinal and myrtle.
After missing the first-up win over his old club due to COVID, Reynolds returned to lead Brisbane to victory over the Bulldogs in round two before they hit the skids with four losses on the bounce.
Not surprisingly the criticism of coach Kevin Walters grew louder but a seven-game winning streak silenced the knockers and restored confidence that a seventh premiership was a realistic dream.
Chad shows his class
Fronting the media after a 38-0 drubbing of Manly in Magic Round, Walters paid tribute to his No.7 who had come up with two try assists, 438 kicking metres and a perfect seven from seven with the boot.
“I don’t want to embarrass Adam too much but for the last few years we haven’t been able to finish our sets off the way we would like to for different reasons,” Walters said
“And he is one of the best kickers in the game so that really helps your defence. Where you turn the ball over and how you turn the ball over.
“I think you saw in the first 20 minutes of the game tonight his influence over where we turned the ball over. It has got a big say on things.”
Looking back at the 2014 grand final
When the whips are cracking in September and cool heads are required, the wisdom gathered by Reynolds and Townsend during a decade in the big time will be worth its weight in gold rings.
A quick glance at Reynolds’ CV shows 21 finals appearances for Souths, including the 2014 decider when a 43-year premiership drought was broken.
Townsend’s 207-game career includes 10 finals matches, the highlight coming in 2016 when he steered the Sharks to an emotional title after 50 years of waiting.
With all that experience in their kit bags, both men headed to the Sunshine State in 2022 seeking a new challenge, a chance to bring direction to powerful clubs that had lost their way.
“It’s becoming increasingly apparent that teams need an experienced halfback to be successful – if there’s an experienced voice there in the halves that transforms a team,” said league historian David Middleton, who has spent a lifetime chronicling the deeds of the game’s premier playmakers, from Fulton and Sterling to Thurston and Johns in the Official Rugby League Annual.
“Down the ages it has always been the same – the experience wins out.
“Team mates know ‘he knows what he’s talking about’ because he has done it. He has won titles.
“It’s an authenticity. They are franked with a premiership so whatever they say it comes with a substance behind it.
“If you look at players like Cooper Cronk, who won three premierships in a row at the age of 33, 34 and 35, and Jim Craig, who led Western Suburbs to the 1930 premiership as a 35-year-old, they are figures of great respect among the players.
The final moments of the Storm-Sharks GF
“You imagine that Craig had the same respect among fellow players as a Cronk or Thurston, Reynolds or Townsend.
A lot of the qualities they bring are timeless – they can transfer to any era.
David Middleton
“The Broncos have struggled for years without that on-field presence, the experienced voice, the coach on the field, but he has brought so much confidence to the side that they can win games even when he is out injured.
“And plenty of people were critical of Cowboys signing Townsend. They said it was a retirement home for him but he has made a monumental difference.”
All hail the ageless warrior with the timeless qualities: the men who hold the key to the Cowboys and Broncos turning a good season into a great season, a turnaround into a triumph.
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