Brisbane Broncos coach Michael Maguire says he has spoken to superstar Reece Walsh about his liked social media post regarding skipper Adam Reynolds' immediate retirement.
Reynolds will take no part in the rest of the season after the club confirmed his immediate retirement on Monday.
Earlier that day, Reynolds spoke publicly about his fitness in a positive light and felt confident to play this weekend, but failed to convince Maguire and the coaching staff that he's overcome his calf injury.
Reynolds then swiftly fronted the media the next day, declaring it was his choice to sit out the remaining two games of the year.
Walsh was then caught in the crossfire after he was spotted liking a social media post criticising the decision to have Reynolds not play the final two games of his career.
It raises plenty of eyebrows, given Broncos forward Martin Taupau was sacked in May last year after he accidentally liked a post criticising Maguire's training methods.
Walsh's 'like' has since been removed, with Maguire saying he and his Clive Churchill fullback have cleared the air on the incident.
“I spoke to Reece this morning. We went through it. Two different scenarios (Walsh and Maguire incidents),” Maguire said.
“I understand that there's a ‘like' there on social media, but we've had that conversation and he realises that social media moves very quickly.
“Different circumstances, same sort of incident as you're discussing, but different.
“I'm not going to go into that (what was said with Walsh). I'm talking about now; not what's happened in the past. We move forward now. Reece and I have had that conversation.”
Maguire and Reynolds have won two premierships together in 2014 and 2025, and admitted it has been tough hearing the chatter surfacing that he denied him a swansong, given how close their relationship is.
“It's been an emotional one because I've had Reyno in my life for the last 14 years,” the coach said.
“I remember when he was a young 18-year-old, and then all of a sudden you get to the end point.
“To be able to experience the times we've had together ... He's a special human. So it's always emotional when you get to the end of your career.
“Unfortunately, I think he's got everything out of that little body of his. We'd all love to see him keep going. Me personally, I'd love to see him go on forever, because we've obviously had some great times in what we've done.
“But the time came, and he'll transition into the next part of his life. I'll always be a part of that, because he's a great human.”
The Broncos will play their final home game against the Storm on Thursday, then travel to Accor Stadium to close out their season when they face the Bulldogs next week.
