NEWS Ben Ikin appointed Head of Football

[Midean]

I don't know if I'm just looking too much into this, but I noticed something interesting about Ikin's comments on 360 about his appointment a few minutes ago. Kunt and Rothfield were questioning him about what his role will be and mentioned Kev a few times by name. Ikin notably, did not.

"Obviously I won't know until I get my feet under the desk, but I need to sit down with the head coach and decide what my role is and how I'm going to be helping the head coach to make the club great again.

I still need to sit down with the head coach and the CEO and thrash out what needs to be done."

Ikin never once dared to let Kev's name leave his lips when answering the questions. Again, I don't know if I'm just looking for something that isn't really there, but it stood out to me considering he didn't have any issue referring to Donuts by name in comparison.

My gut tells me Kev might want to be watching his back for the rest of this season to be honest, in a big way.

I noticed this too, however i think he was using titles to inform the panel that the priority were those roles working on the same page, as is evident at the other successful clubs.

 

[Shane Tronc]

Separate instance. He referenced getting to know Donaughy and liking what he's hearing from him at a different point in the segment.

I think you’re reading too much into it. Can’t see us sacking Walters this year or next. We’re going to need him for the rebuild.

 

[Kimlo]

Can't stand Ikin personally, I think he's a flog but whatever. Either he helps rebuild this club as a powerhouse and I won't hate him anymore or he does a bad job and I get to bag him out on a regular basis.

Win/win.

 

[BroncsFan]

Kev Walters
Corey Parker
Ben Ikin

is our high performance coach gonna be Kent or Braith?

NRL 360 can't talk shit about us if we hire all their staff

 

[Midean]

Can't stand Ikin personally, I think he's a flog but whatever. Either he helps rebuild this club as a powerhouse and I won't hate him anymore or he does a bad job and I get to bag him out on a regular basis.

Win/win.

Im the same, but im not upset at him coming on board.
I think he is a massive merkin and has a very unwarranted high opinion of himself, but he does appear to have footy smarts and seems intelligent enough to do the right thing.

 

[K-Style]

Coincidence or?

View attachment 13691

I was of the same opinion at the time. TPJ was acting up and Fifita should have been our priority over anyone but Haas (preferably before it got to $1.25mil). Do we really know how TOJ leaving went down though. Hes about to miss 3 games for the West’s Tigers..

 

[mrslong]

I agreed with everything he said last week on 360, and thought it was weird he was being passionate about us rather than condescending. I see why now. will be good if it works.
one of Locky‘s best mates, for whatever good or bad that is.

 

[broncsgoat]

I was of the same opinion at the time. TPJ was acting up and Fifita should have been our priority over anyone but Haas (preferably before it got to $1.25mil). Do we really know how TOJ leaving went down though. Hes about to miss 3 games for the West’s Tigers..

I’m just saying Ikin has been saying for a while he’d flick TPJ and his role gets announced 4 days after tpj has been told to seek employment elsewhere. Pretty obvious Ikin has already been involved with some decision making

 

[Thelmus]

Got Wayne Bennett's daughter up the duff four times.

Looks like a few have done the same to our roster since Andrew Gee left the building so that might even be a pre-requisite for the job.
Id say he'd struggle to do worse that what has been done so far.

 

[BroncsFan]

Dumb question but what exactly does this job entail?

I'm not entirely sure, but to me the GM of football looks after everything other than what happens on the training pitch and footy field. What happens on the field is Kevvie's domain.

From a hierarchy perspective I don't believe he sits above Kevvie rather they sit at the same level i.e. they can't hire or fire each other and both report to the CEO.

I'd say his role would be overseeing:
- R&R in conjunction with Kevvie; including overseeing the contract negotiations and salary cap management
- Scouting and elite pathways
- Football operations (logistics, player welfare, etc.) - If so then it means he sits above Steve Walters??
- Possibly contracts for support staff - so negotiating the contracts for Kevvie's assistants, high performance staff, etc. - selection of support staff would be in conjunction with Kevvie and he would have a heavy influence there

He probably wears a few more hats than just those above and he won't be directly responsible to do all of those things (he might want more involvement in certain aspects like salary cap management), but he will need to manage the teams and resources under each aspect and will be responsible for their performances.

I believe the best GM's of football basically work closely with the coach to know what they want and be able to get it for them... If the coach wants a certain player or wants to retain a certain player, then Ikin will need to get it done at a good result for the club overall.

 

[Bull Shark]

Outstanding

 

[Foordy]

CEO wasn't the right role for him ... this role should be a perfect fit for him

 

[vertigo]

Well, at least it's not an un-fireable board position.

 

[BroncsFan]

CEO wasn't the right role for him ... this role should be a perfect fit for him

I think it probably is a good role for him.

Broncos will have systems in place for R&R, scouting, player development, etc. and I think Ikin is smart enough to be able to review, assess and manage the various items that will be under his responsibility, but he also has enough footy nous to provide input and not just be a numbers man and a yes man i.e. he should be able to call 'bullshit' if someone is trying to get something over him.

What will be interesting is whether he can come in and identify a serious deficiency in the current systems and identify the required changes to be made... if the scouting, R&R, etc. is miles off the pace can he come in and overhaul the process OR can he bring in someone who is highly competent to overhaul and oversee the R&R process, which is just as important (i.e. knowing your limitations and delegating it to the right people).

The Broncos have so much money and resources that Ikin should be able to identify the deficiencies and bring in the right people to oversee each aspect under his responsibility, and then he oversees the performance of each team.

The other aspect is how he adapts to the behind the scenes of football administration... he's been involved from a board level for QRL and the cowboys, but at that level you might only be seeing the end product rather than the inside workings that get you there.... how will he go with player managers, performance reviews of the scouting and elite development, etc.

When he was interviewing for the CEO role the first thing he was talking about was a thorough review of all the football operations... I think that will be his first point of call and it will be interesting to see what further restructuring and appointments come out of that.

 

[1910]

Dumb question but what exactly does this job entail?

Depends club to club but generally, list management with Lockyer, Walters and Donoghy.

Making sure Kevvie has what he needs and working through the CEO.

Managers and deals and working with the EPD. Moving guys through the program.

Going to ISC games.

Some of this may change; part of the review found that the Broncos had the role covering too much.

 

[pagey]

He's been complaining about our roster recently, might of been hinting at his new role.

 

[Robboi_321]

Year 2000 premiership winning halves combo back working together again, don’t mind that.

 

[Huge]

I’m just saying Ikin has been saying for a while he’d flick TPJ and his role gets announced 4 days after tpj has been told to seek employment elsewhere. Pretty obvious Ikin has already been involved with some decision making

2+2=17.