Harry Sack
International Rep
Senior Staff
- Jun 12, 2013
- 14,000
- 17,243
Foordy just jizzing it up all over the place right now.
Foordy just jizzing it up all over the place right now.
Who's going to be the other winger? Will Bennett stick with Oates or try to develop him in the forwards now?
No more reed hate.
BRONCOS coach Wayne Bennett has declared Dale Copley’s “time has come” after formally installing him as the centre successor to retired skipper Justin Hodges.
The Courier-Mail can reveal Copley will wear Hodges’ coveted No. 4 jumper next season — giving the luckless three-quarter a ray of hope after a nightmare 2015 campaign at the Broncos.
Boom utility Jordan Kahu was a frontline contender to succeed Hodges after an outstanding season in which he played a grand final and won selection in New Zealand’s Test squad.
But Bennett confirmed Copley will start at right centre next season, which shapes as a crucial year for the 24-year-old, who is off-contract at the end of 2016.
Copley fell out of favour last season, due largely to a series of injuries which restricted him to just nine NRL appearances, but Bennett says the classy flyer’s patient wait is over.
“Dale Copley is Justin Hodges’ replacement. I’ve made my mind up, Dale will be in Justin’s position next year,” Bennett said.
“His time has come, there is no more waiting for Dale. Jack Reed will be on one side (at centre) and Dale will be on the other.
“Dale needed to know he had a career at this club and a future here. I have told him he will be replacing ‘Hodgo’ and that’s reassuring for him.
“Now that he knows it’s his position, he will have the opportunity, it’s up to him to make sure he keeps the position until he wants to retire.”
Currently holidaying in America, Copley was dubbed a future Queensland Origin star after emerging as a tryscoring machine in the Broncos’ under-20s ranks.
Quick and strong, Copley is rated one of Brisbane’s most exciting attacking weapons, having scored 31 tries in 72 games since his NRL debut in 2009.
He was Brisbane’s leading tryscorer in 2014, crossing 16 times in 25 games, but lost ground to Kahu, Jack Reed and Lachlan Maranta last season due to calf and hamstring problems.
There were fears for Copley’s future when he languished with Norths Devils in the Intrust Super Cup, but Bennett praised the Aspley junior’s attitude during a turbulent period.
“Dale has done well this year actually,” he said.
“It was a difficult year for him, he is a talented player but for one reason or another the opportunities didn’t come for him on a regular basis.
“His attitude was great all the way through. It was important for him to know he had a future at the club and that his time out of the team was only a short-term situation.
“Long term, I always saw Dale as being a key part of our team.
“I hope he’s a better centre than he was a winger. He was a very good winger but I hope he is even better as a centre because that’s where he is heading.”
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/spo...464e38e8bf7e08
Interesting hooking option as well.im going to go for an interesting bench
boyd
anderson
reed
copley
kahu
milford
hunt
McCullough
mcguire
blair
glenn
gillet
parker
nikorima
thaiday
oats
Wallace
Interesting hooking option as well.
A real vote of confidence from Bennett.
What I find interesting about this article is how quick Bennett is to anoint Copley. In scenarios like this, sometimes coaches like to see where the cards fall but Bennett has seemingly made up his mind. I'm not sure if it's a great tactic in general as you can fall in love with a set 17, preventing you from making necessary changes but in this case I agree with Wayne 100%.