2019 Broncos Line-up

[Wolfie]

Johnson, souths spine player, norman, moses, j reynolds, maloney, dce...

All scenarios that could somehow happen for a variety of reasons in the crazy world they call the nrl. Who would have thought 2 weeks ago that mcguire would be in cowboys gear next year?

Maloney wouldnt surprise me. Penrith are trying to lock down luai long term, can see them playing him and Cleary.

 

[Kyall]

Oates may be closer to the forwards than we think especially if Glenn leaves.

 

[Chewed]

I think one of these young halves will come into the team at somempoint, Boyd knows how to use Haas and Fifita and i think he'll get a crack if we have rep or form problems.

 

[winslow_wong]

I reckon it’s time to throw the surplus at Cam Smith to play half back. Gets him away from the cold Melbourne winters impacting on his dodgy back and spares him from wiping the Bellamy spit from his face after every training session.

Why would you want old man smith to come here to play half back?

 

[Lockysillegitimatechild]

Maloney wouldnt surprise me. Penrith are trying to lock down luai long term, can see them playing him and Cleary.

I dont know how I would feel about that. Great player for 5-6 games but he is a liability for every other game these days. He does bring success for some reason but if he stays any longer then a year he seems to become toxic to the team

 

[Morepudding]

Don't know if this has been posted before or not... But, it appears as though even the Broncos know he isn't a halfback...

 

[Hoof Hearted]

Why would you want old man smith to come here to play half back?

Well I guess it worked for the roosters

 

[theshed]

Despite all the money it will cost to re-sign the young forwards, You don’t get a new coach without getting a few new players, and shafting some old ones.

Bennett did exactly this when he came back. There will be a lot of talk going on about who Seibold and the club want in the team going forward. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a conversation being had about swapping Cook for Macca. Macca is such a Bennett type player, reliable, not flashy, predictable, while Seibold built much of his team’s gameplan this season around Cook.

Also, I’m a fan of Kniko and was in the “give him a chance” camp, and I backed Bennett when he started to cop hear about his mishandling of the halves but I think the half situation would have been brought up in backroom discussions about not extending Wayne, and if that’s the case you would have to imagine that both the board and Seibold have been busy at work thinking of a way to rectify that problem.

Johnson, DCE, Maloney? Reynolds perhaps? Sezer may come available if Canberra do go after Johnson.

 

[Morkel]

I just got a notification on my phone that only buzzes me when someone disses Nick Kenny.

Who the ****?

 

[Unbreakable]

Don't know if this has been posted before or not... But, it appears as though even the Broncos know he isn't a halfback... View attachment 4028

Been like that for at least 3 years, they almost never update positions on the official site for some reason.

 

[Big Pete]

Hasn't the class of 2008 turned into a massive disappointment? I mean most of them are good footballers, but the guys that were meant to lead us to premiership success have all come and gone (assuming the Glenn rumour is true) achieving nothing for us.

Not from my perspective.

Maybe it was because some fans were sold a bill of goods in 2009/10 and thought the Broncos had stumbled upon the holy grail, but the general chatter surrounding that 2008 NYC squad was that they were going to be in big trouble. Unlike most clubs, the Broncos were going to save their best prospects (eg. Joel Moon, Dave Taylor, Rod Davies) for Q Cup and were largely going to go with a relatively young team. Even somebody like Alex Glenn, while definitely a prospect, was still very raw and had a very different path to most players. If I remember correctly, he had a touch footy background, started playing League for Burleigh, made first grade and that's when Wayne got a hold of him.

Anyways, there were a few factors behind the Broncos surprisingly good 2008 season. One factor was that NRL coaches were obsessed with the new competition, leading to 45 Under 20s players making their NRL debut in 2008. To put that into context, by 2017, only 17 Under 20s players made their debut. In terms of overall rookie representation in 2017, only 27% of debutants were Under 20, while in 2008 it was 58%. What that meant is that as the competition went on, the stronger teams became weaker as their best players graduated into NRL, allowing a younger side like the Broncos to prosper.

The other detail fans overlook about the post-season is just how lucky the Broncos were to qualify for the Grand Final. The Warriors led by more than a converted try with only three minutes left on the clock. The Broncos scored one try off a cross-field kick that Mitch Rivett was able to score from then just as the buzzer sounded, Tommy Butterfield received a fortunate ricochet off a Warriors player and was able to put Michael Spence over to make the grand final.

Point being, while the Broncos squad was good, it wasn't like they were this dominant side that had dynasty written all over them. The fact that they still had the highest representation of talent in the NRL speaks volumes of all the hard work they put in and our development pathway under Bennett.

The other factor is that the Broncos lost a lot of key cogs that were supposed to lead the team. Names like Karmichael Hunt, Israel Folau, Ben Te'o even Dave Taylor were all supposed to be future leaders of the club and they lost most of them at the same time. So when the club was talking up it's future it had all that talent in mind.

I can't think of any team during the NYC era that won on the back of it's NYC talent.

Manly 08: Was their backrow, Brett Stewart, Jamie Lyon etc.
Storm 09: The Big 4 and shady back door deals
Dragons 10: Was the backrow, the back three and Soward. No Storm helped as well.
Manly 11: Was their backrow, Brett Stewart, Jamie Lyon etc.
Storm 12: The Big 3 and returning favourites like Hoffman & Chambers
Roosters 13: Maloney, Jennings, SBW etc.
Rabbitohs 14: GI & Burgess (namely George and Sam)
Cowboys 15: JT and a ridiculous middle row rotation
Cronulla 16: Maloney, Fifita, Lewis, Ennis, Graham etc.
Storm 17: The Big 3 and a couple of smart buys
Roosters 18: Tedesco, Ferguson, Keary & Melbourne having to play without Cronk, essentially.

At best you can say teams like Manly '11 were complimented by the emergence of Foran, DCE & Hopoate but they weren't the core factors and as soon as the backrow left that became obvious. If the NYC had have been as important as some fans thought it would be then teams like Canberra, the Warriors, the Tigers, the Panthers etc. would have dominated the competition. The Panthers especially should have achieved more than successive second week exits in the post-season.

 

[Art Vandelay]

Oates may be closer to the forwards than we think especially if Glenn leaves.

Not if we don't sign some more decent wingers. Our depth is a lot more dire there than it is in the back row.

 

[Sanjit Joseph]

Oates may be closer to the forwards than we think especially if Glenn leaves.

If thats the case, then wouldn't we want to keep kahu as a wing option or is there better players than him upcoming

 

[Marty Deutschmann]

If thats the case, then wouldn't we want to keep kahu as a wing option or is there better players than him upcoming

Cheaper ones

 

[I bleed Maroon]

The disappointing thing about losing McGuire and Glenn for mine is, it's hard to find a place for TPJ in the 2nd row without weakening our front row rotation severely. The only way I can see it working is Carrigan coming straight in to start at Lock and Su'A goes back to the bench, but I can't see Wayne/Seibold risking that somehow.

One can only hope TPJ at Lock really takes off. He has a mean offload so there's no reason why it can't. The coach just needs to take the shackles off.

1. Boyd (c)
2. Oates
3. Bird
4. Roberts
5. Isaako
6. Milford
7. Nikorima/O'Sullivan
8. Lodge
9. McCullough
10. Joe O
11. Su'A
12. Gillett
13. TPJ

14. Turpin/Nikorima
15. Haas
16. Carrigan
17. Fifita

I think Nikorima vs. O'Sullivan will be decided in the pre-season. Nikorima was huge for NZ at times during the Test series, but he only REALLY shined when there was nothing left at stake. If Turpin forces himself onto the bench then it's beyond doubt regardless. I sincerely hope he does. If Macca doesn't get the chop before Round 1, he needs someone up his ass as motivation.

 

[theshed]

[QUOTE="I bleed Maroon, post: 2986071]
8. Lodge
9. McCullough
10. Joe O
11. Su'A
12. Gillett
13. TPJ

14. Turpin/Nikorima
15. Haas
16. Carrigan
17. Fifita
[/QUOTE]

This really highlights how boned we are for depth if we lose both Moose and Glenn and have no incoming signings. That’s 4 of our first picked forwards gone in one off season. We have amazing youth coming through but losing 4 forwards leaves us very thin up front if we have an injury run like last year, not to mention 1 has played 30 minutes and the other is yet to debut.


And as much as it seems like a technicality at this point, if by some chance Lodge or TPJ don’t re-sign we are even further screwed.

I’d be very surprised if Glenn goes this of season but if he does, surely there is some outside signing news on the way. A Burgess maybe? They’re damaging but I wouldn’t want any of them outside of Sam.

 

[winslow_wong]

Well I guess it worked for the roosters

Cooper smith?

 

[winslow_wong]

The disappointing thing about losing McGuire and Glenn for mine is, it's hard to find a place for TPJ in the 2nd row without weakening our front row rotation severely. The only way I can see it working is Carrigan coming straight in to start at Lock and Su'A goes back to the bench, but I can't see Wayne/Seibold risking that somehow.

One can only hope TPJ at Lock really takes off. He has a mean offload so there's no reason why it can't. The coach just needs to take the shackles off.

1. Boyd (c)
2. Oates
3. Bird
4. Roberts
5. Isaako
6. Milford
7. Nikorima/O'Sullivan
8. Lodge
9. McCullough
10. Joe O
11. Su'A
12. Gillett
13. TPJ

14. Turpin/Nikorima
15. Haas
16. Carrigan
17. Fifita

I think Nikorima vs. O'Sullivan will be decided in the pre-season. Nikorima was huge for NZ at times during the Test series, but he only REALLY shined when there was nothing left at stake. If Turpin forces himself onto the bench then it's beyond doubt regardless. I sincerely hope he does. If Macca doesn't get the chop before Round 1, he needs someone up his ass as motivation.

If Bennett is still coach I highly doubt he’ll give O’Sullivan first crack at halfback.