Broncos Player Movement and Rumours 2020

Tom said:

If the Roosters or Storm get him it would probably be close to my final straw with this sport.
Hurry up and re-sign him. Should have been done before Offa.

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Oh yeah, if Fifita somehow finds his way into one of those jerseys, you may as well pack it in cause the comp is a stitch up.

broncsgoat said:

1 millions is stupid money but 900 isn’t?

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1.1+ is, which is what I'm guessing will be needed to draw him away from Brisbane. However, I estimate that figure on absolutely nothing.

Judging the lay of the land, I can't see Sydney making a play at Fifita. Unless Crichton goes over to Rugby or Cordner calls time early, I can't see them investing $3 Million in edge backrows. So I would just about rule them out at this stage.

Melbourne could be a different story. So much of Bellamy's style of play is dependant on good edge backrows, and he would be doing backflips if he could have somebody of Fifita's talent. It just depends on how they go retaining their current squad, they have a lot of talent off contract next year and if they sign the bulk of them, they shouldn't have too much room for Dave.

Brisbane would have to be the favourites at this stage, but there's a few clubs who would be keen to turn a weakness into a strength. Gold Coast, Newcastle, North Queensland, Parramatta, South Sydney, Warriors, Wests etc.

I will probably be proven wrong, but I think we are in the box seat to retain him. If it is only a money thing then we might be at risk, but in his shoes and that of his manager, there are a lot of things you would have to consider.
Brisbane Pros
1. He gets to remain at home with his family and friends
2. The facilities and the crowds he gets to play in front of
3. Cost of living compared to Sydney and Melbourne
4. In the next few years we should be one of the teams competing for the premiership
5. He seems to get on well with the rest of the team
6. He has already made senior rep sides from the Broncos

Brisbane Cons
1. Whether he gets on with the coach or not
2. The money we can offer compared to some of the other options

You would think that he would only move to a club that has some realistic prospect of being a top 4 club, so that would rule out Titans, Newcastle, Tigers, Warriors, Bulldogs, St George,

Outside possibilities would be Cowboys, Penrith

So that leaves the possibles as:
Melbourne, Roosters, Souths, Canberra, Parramatta, Cronulla, Manly

Manly - do not have the salary cap space to make the sort of offer that would get him away from Brisbane.

Canberra - do not need him in the forwards and I doubt they have the cap space either.

Souths - Would you risk going to Souths given that they appear to be on the slide, and there is uncertainty about how long Bennett will go on for. If Burgess retires and Souths do a deal with the NRL for salary cap relief like they did with Inglis, they will have the capacity to make the sort of offer to get Fifita.

Melbourne - the only thing counting against Melbourne is you would have to have some concern about what will happen post Smith retiring, and how much longer Bellamy will go for. Would Melbourne be prepared to pay that sort of money for Fifita?

Roosters - who knows with creative accounting they could probably fit him in. In terms of a ready made premiership side, they would fit the bill for him. I don't know if they have a position for him in the run on side.

Parramatta - Would probably have the financial resources to make the type of offer, but they have been very very inconsistent and there is no guarantee of the security of Arthurs as coach.

Cronulla - does not seem a good fit for him in my view and I would have some doubts over their capacity to make the offer necessary to get him as well.

I do not believe that he will leave (if he is properly advised).

I would be fearing Parramatta the most, at this stage. Especially with the retirement of Tim Mannah. They will want to be looking at augmenting their side with just a tad more x-factor to put themselves well into contendership, and Dave fits that bill. It all depends on how much money they actually have to burn.

The Eels are in talks with Matterson, if that deal comes through you can rule them out. They're in an interesting Parramatta, currently they only have 19 players signed for 2020, they'll have to come up with 5 more signings in less than two weeks. One name to keep an eye out for is Stefano Utoikamanu. He had an injury interrupted year, but was thrown straight into NSW Cup despite only being 19 and would have played NRL had he stayed fit.

Big Pete said:

Judging the lay of the land, I can't see Sydney making a play at Fifita. Unless Crichton goes over to Rugby or Cordner calls time early, I can't see them investing $3 Million in edge backrows. So I would just about rule them out at this stage.

Melbourne could be a different story. So much of Bellamy's style of play is dependant on good edge backrows, and he would be doing backflips if he could have somebody of Fifita's talent. It just depends on how they go retaining their current squad, they have a lot of talent off contract next year and if they sign the bulk of them, they shouldn't have too much room for Dave.

Brisbane would have to be the favourites at this stage, but there's a few clubs who would be keen to turn a weakness into a strength. Gold Coast, Newcastle, North Queensland, Parramatta, South Sydney, Warriors, Wests etc.

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In saying that I would suggest he does have someone of Fifita's ability in Tino. Fifi offers more creativity in his running, stepping, etc. but I wouldn't say Fifi is a supreme line runner (probably because he doesnt need to). Bellamy appears to like a solid defensive second rower that runs a good line off the halfback... he could definitely turn Fifi into that but the storm don't usually throw bulk cash at second rowers... they let Tohu go knowing they had Kaufusi and Proctor go when they had Tohu, instead of getting into a bidding war

I think if Fifi were to go to Melbourne it would be about getting coached by Bellamy, but I don't think Melbourne necessarily need Fifita.

I think the threat may be more about souths and if souths end up with a second row of Sua and Fifi whilst moving GI and Surgess out into retirement I'll be fucking filthy.

The other teams you mentioned don't really offer anything more than the Broncos other than cash... and if he were to go to those teams he'd be the one carrying the forward load vs Broncos who have a fairly decent forward pack building.

I think Broncos are the favourites, but we need to somehow make our way to 2021 when all these shithouse contracts finish and we can get our head above water with some cap space.

He could move Fa'asuamaleaui to an edge, but at this stage, I suspect he'll be used more as a middle forward. In fact I'm convinced that J. Bromwich, NAS, Welch and Fa'asuamaleaui will be the front row rotation next year.

I'd love to see Tino get homesick and return to Red Hill. Not only is he a likely prospect, but @Unbreakable would be having conniptions.

Big Pete said:

He could move Fa'asuamaleaui to an edge, but at this stage, I suspect he'll be used more as a middle forward. In fact I'm convinced that J. Bromwich, NAS, Welch and Fa'asuamaleaui will be the front row rotation next year.

I'd love to see Tino get homesick and return to Red Hill. Not only is he a likely prospect, but @Unbreakable would be having conniptions.

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Well if Melbourne steal Fifi then we just go after Tino with the money that was set aside for Fifi haha

Cows have a bit of cap to spend, but i'm not sure he'd go up there.
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Big Pete said:

He could move Fa'asuamaleaui to an edge, but at this stage, I suspect he'll be used more as a middle forward. In fact I'm convinced that J. Bromwich, NAS, Welch and Fa'asuamaleaui will be the front row rotation next year.

I'd love to see Tino get homesick and return to Red Hill. Not only is he a likely prospect, but @Unbreakable would be having conniptions.

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No Kamikamica in there BP?

Wolfie said:

Cows have a bit of cap to spend, but i'm not sure he'd go up there.

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Cows are in a bit of a mess to me... they've spent big and are holding out for Holmes.

I'm sure they upgraded Hess, plus they have Maclean, Tmol and Morgan on big money.

They could use Fifi, but I think their roster is behind ours in terms of making a premiership run. Morgan doesn't really have the runs on the board, they don't seem settled on a 6 (or how their halves will operate in general), they look to be going for Holmes despite buying Barba, Kahu and then Drinkwater, and now they're moving onto a new unknown hooker albeit highly rated.

Their outside backs are a mess and their forward pack is reliant on Tmol.

They'd better have some cap space available with the roster they've got but throwing $800k at a second rower wont solve their problems

I don't think many Broncos will ever choose to go to the Cows again after how they chewed up and spat out Kahu.

Big Pete said:

He could move Fa'asuamaleaui to an edge, but at this stage, I suspect he'll be used more as a middle forward. In fact I'm convinced that J. Bromwich, NAS, Welch and Fa'asuamaleaui will be the front row rotation next year.

I'd love to see Tino get homesick and return to Red Hill. Not only is he a likely prospect, but @Unbreakable would be having conniptions.

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Heck, with that name I wouldn't even be mad at people for spelling it wrong, just call him Tino :P

Wolfie said:

Cows have a bit of cap to spend, but i'm not sure he'd go up there.
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No Kamikamica in ther BP?

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That's the challenge for Tui, Fa'asuamaleaui is ready for the next phase of his development but if Kamikamica takes his game to another level, I can see Craig going with the form option.

As he's shown in the past, Craig isn't that fussy when it comes to his prop forwards.I'd say he isn't married to the idea of Fa'asuamaleaui in his 17, but I believe he'll force his hand.

For Queensland's sake, I hope it pans out that way.

I bleed Maroon said:

I don't think many Broncos will ever choose to go to the Cows again after how they chewed up and spat out Kahu.

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Did we not do the same to him?

I bleed Maroon said:

I don't think many Broncos will ever choose to go to the Cows again after how they chewed up and spat out Kahu.

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They offered him a new contract, he turned them down to go and play union ... which is something he always stated he wanted to do before he retired.

broncsgoat said:

Did we not do the same to him?

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nope, we were honest with him, telling him he wasn't in our top 17 for this season ... and allowed him to sort out his future with a club where he could be a starter in the NRL ...

I don't think i'd be exaggerating, when I say that 95% of this forum have wanted him off our books for several years before he left

Isaako killing it in 9s. Pleased for him after his off field drama. Looks promising for him next season.

Skyblues87 said:

Isaako killing it in 9s. Pleased for him after his off field drama. Looks promising for him next season.

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He is doing well, if nothing else, I hope it boosts his confidence a bit.