Adam Reynolds has seen too many photos of him looking dejected, exhausted – and occasionally injured – after an NRL preliminary final.

The diminutive halfback has a remarkable record on rugby league’s penultimate weekend: Sunday will be his ninth preliminary final in just 14 seasons.

Only Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk (11) and Cameron Munster (10) have played in more, while Dale Finucane and Jesse Bromwich also made it to the grand final qualifier nine times.

Many fans will argue that two of the preliminary finals Smith and Cronk played in came in seasons when they were stripped of their titles due to salary cap breaches. But that is not a story for today.

Reynolds knows he is fortunate to have gone so deep into September for the majority of his career. But it hasn’t all been smooth s

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