Broncos won't sign Star talent

[Bucking Beads]

Maybe i expect too much from the club. I just feel like if they had truly given their all to get the big signing it would have happened. Maybe it will happen this year I don't know. I do worry that the club just isn't appealing like it used to. It does seem like plenty of guys head to Sydney for the nightlife.

 

[Porthoz]

Yeah I think you're going at it a little too hard Porthoz, his comment is probably just a reflection of how our current squad just doesn't look that good there's no doubt with the reputation the Broncos have that we should have done better.

That may very well be the perception, but I am arguing that based on what I know, I cannot fathom how we could've done better with the stars of the game that have become available, and I can't agree with people bagging them, when they couldn't realistically have done better.

As far as retention, I'm not unhappy either. Unfortunately, the salary cap forces decisions that won't make everyone happy. Te'o out instead of Gillett is one of them. I happen to agree with it, but I have no issue with people thinking we should've gone the other way.

Where we probably can improve, is in the detection/attraction of talent. If we really try to and can't get Milford, especially with our cap room, I agree with Beads we are dropping the ball, but he is far from a big fish.
I think at this point, we do need to concentrate on the smaller fish with potential to turn into alpha predators. I definitely believe we should look at the Raiders and their youngsters, be it Milford or Cornish. Kevin Naikama would be a great buy too, and if he does become available, Shaun Johnson would be nice too...

If however, something unexpected happens and a DCE or Barba for example, do become available to snare, and they end up at a different club than the Broncos, I will stand at the front line of the protest at Red Hill!

 

[Mister Wright]

There was a great article in RLW by Steve Mascord declaring that the rise in the salary cap is making it harder for teams to recruit players. I'm sure that has something to do with it.

 

[tkday]

Widdop was one that got away. To be honest I am happy with that, but I know others think we should have grabbed him. Especially considering the family were fans of the Broncos.

 

[ningnangnong]

BURY your pride and buy a match-winner.

That is the advice from former stars Glenn Lazarus and Ben Ikin as the Broncos teeter on the brink of crisis.

Languishing in 11th at the halfway point of the season, the Broncos have lost four of their past five games, including Monday night's 56-18 thrashing by the New Zealand Warriors at Suncorp Stadium.

Lazarus said the club did not have the talent on its books to be a top-four team and must go into the market for a star.

"I don't know whether it's pride or what but at the moment they don't seem to be too active in the player market," Lazarus said.

"In past eras, they have gone out and bought marquee players. If they want to continue down this current path, they are not going to get a side that is going to challenge for the top four.

"It's the old saying: 'If you do as you always did, you'll get what you always got.'

"It gets proven week-in, week-out in the NRL that if you don't have quality halves and a quality No.9 and No.1, you are going to struggle.

"If Johnathan Thurston was playing for the Broncos, they would be a top-four side.

"While the two they have in the halves are good players, they are not the quality of Thurston or Cooper Cronk.

"Everybody knew Darren Lockyer was going to retire. They should have had somebody in place to replace him. Unfortunately they haven't and really struggle to score points now."

The Broncos have won six of their past 20 outings going back to the end of last season.

With their club in danger of missing the finals for only the fifth time in its 25-year history, fans are also concerned the future could be as dim as the present.

Once a recruiting juggernaut where stars flocked to play for below market rate, the loss of Greg Inglis in late 2010 signalled the end of that era.

The Broncos have lost their ability to lure stars to Brisbane while also struggling to retain their young talent.

Premiership-winning five-eighth Ikin said recruiting was the key to Brisbane's problems.

"They need match-winners. There's no doubt they need to strengthen their roster with a couple of key signings," Ikin said. "If they got Greg Inglis a couple of years ago and you put him in that side, it's a different looking team.

"All the good teams in the competition have genuine stars who have a big influence on the outcome of every game.

"They have been fairly solid on backing their own internal development system. If you've got players coming through the system, that is all good.

"But if you don't, you have to acknowledge that and go out and supplement what you've been able to develop."

Lazarus and Ikin agree the Broncos have lost the aura that made the club a force on and off the field.

"They call it brand erosion in the business world," Ikin said.

"It takes a long time to build your brand, build that aura but it takes half the time to see it erode.

"That's just how the world works but it can get arrested if they start winning again."

Lazarus said Brisbane no longer intimidated opponents.

"Sides used to panic against the Broncos knowing that they were going to be coming at them," he said.

"There's been evidence that maybe that's not the case any more. They are going to lose that aura very quickly if they don't start doing something about it."

http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport...y-a-match-winner/story-fniabjcr-1226659628030

 

[Big Pete]

Good to see the old boys weighing in.

Need more pressure though.

 

[vertigo]

The drums are beating louder and louder folks :thumbup1:

Lazarus and Ikin are right on the money, why weren't these guys hired by the club?

 

[Unbreakable]

Agree with everything they said, sack Gee and Griffin, hire Lazarus and Ikin.

 

[Son Edo]

#BringBackHenjak

 

[vertigo]

#BringBackHenjak

*run attacking drills only
*must read 'How to Win Friends and Influence People'

 

[Son Edo]

 

[Alec]

Help us OWayne-wan Kenobi, you are our only hope.

 

[LittleDavey]

I don't know if Wayne's the answer, Alec...I don't know what is, and believe me I'm one of Wayne's biggest fans, but I just don't know. Would love to see him back though.

 

[rnabokov]

Great to see Dugan beat the knights. I just can't believe we let him go.

 

[Unbreakable]

I know we let him go because he seemed like a massive risk.. but I mean.. was it really? Sign him on a year 1 deal with an option for the club to add another one after this season, how bad could it have gone?

Can't even imagine how much Dugan would've helped out attack.

 

[1910]

Paul White interview tomorrow in the Sunday Mail.

 

[Bull Shark]

I know we let him go because he seemed like a massive risk.. but I mean.. was it really? Sign him on a year 1 deal with an option for the club to add another one after this season, how bad could it have gone?

Can't even imagine how much Dugan would've helped out attack.

broncos would still be a sub .500 team if they'd signed him imo ... our issues run a lot deeper than one player

 

[Coxy]

Paul White interview tomorrow in the Sunday Mail.

Damn. I'll have to pay for it...