NEWS Bennett: Broncos players will decide if they follow me to Souths

[Kyall]

The mole reporting James Robert's will leave Broncos and go to GC titans

The Broncos are poised to lose several players should Wayne Bennett go to Souths next season - with strike centre James Roberts now at the top of the list.
I’m hearing Roberts, a big Bennett fan, will quit the club should the master coach pull up stumps next season and not in 2020 as is currently planned.
But Roberts won’t be following Bennett to the Rabbitohs - he’ll be off to the Gold Coast. The speedy centre played some of his best football in his two year stint with the Titans, winning the Dally M centre of the year award in 2015.
The club has been after a top class centre and has been in talks with both the Storm’s Will Chambers and Brisbane’s Jordan Kahu.
But they prefer Roberts to that pair and if Bennett jumps, they will make their move. Roberts is only on a relatively small contract at the Broncos - around $300,000 - and will get a substantial pay rise on the coast.
As was reported yesterday, star forward Tevita Pangai Junior is also considering quitting the club and following Bennett to Souths, while Matt Lodge is also unsigned.

I can’t see how Roberts is on low money, he supposedly signed a very lucrative long term deal last year.

 

[Accept]

Go back to the club that forged his signature on a new contract? Yeah....

Totally different personnel at the club these days including ownership. He only used the forgery as an excuse to get out of there. He'll easily travel back 80 kms south if the price is right.

 

[Morkel]

I can’t see how Roberts is on low money, he supposedly signed a very lucrative long term deal last year.

Pretty sure he was on $250k when we first signed him, but got a decent upgrade last year. Not elite money, he definitely accepted less to stay here, but IIRC $500k+.

 

[Morkel]

This article doesn't say how much he's on now, but mentions his previous contract as $300k:

https://www.theroar.com.au/2017/07/27/broncos-lock-in-james-roberts-on-long-term-deal/

Brisbane have re-signed star centre James Roberts until the end of the 2021 NRL season.
Roberts, who has signed a four-year contract extension, was thrown a lifeline by the Broncos at the end of the 2015 season after stints with three clubs over four years.
The 24-year-old speedster scored nine tries in 25 games in his first year at Red Hill before shining in 2017 to be the Broncos’ lead try-scorer with 13.

He also leads the club for line breaks (13) and tackle busts (67) this year.
Roberts began his career at South Sydney but was sacked for disciplinary reasons, before enduring the same fate at Penrith after six games.
He became one of Gold Coast’s best players before a contracting error on the club’s behalf saw him depart for Brisbane.
“The club is proud of the support we have shown James, but also the responsibility he has taken on to earn this new contract,” Broncos chief executive Paul White said in a statement on Thursday.
“The long-term nature of the contract is a show of faith by the Broncos in James, but also by James in the Broncos.”
Roberts was reportedly approached by at least five rival NRL clubs ahead of coming off contract this year.

He was believed to be seeking a significant rise from his former $300,000 per season deal.

 

[lynx000]

Am I the only person reading through this forum and finding yourself agreeing with both sides of the argument at different stages?...

Bennett is the greatest coach of all time and he has built a great squad, and has gotten good results in recent years despite not winning a premiership...

But...

We havent won a title in 13 years, he hasnt won a title in 8 years, the last 2 years we have dropped out of the finals with pitiful performances, and bennett has 4 or 5 years left in him MAX and the last time we sat on our hands we ended up with henjak

Is seibold the answer? I dont know, none of us do. Is he worth a shot? I think so. People forget that every great coach started off as an unknown, but then again, so did ivan henjak. The thing that fills me with confidence isnt seibolds one year at nrl level (proves nothing in my eyes) or his record at lower levels, but its the obviously thorough process the club went through to identify him as the right man for the job.

I actually think Bennett will win or come very close to winning a premiership at souths, but I dont think he would have got it with us. The players had a great chance to go far this year to do it for him and they played like they did against the dragons. On this point, any player that leaves purely to play under him will do so with my blessings. They had their chance to play for wayne and they showed less heart then the tin man with their performance. If they like playing under him so much that they would follow him to another club yet they still turned in those performances i doubt they will ever show the passion and drive needed to win a premiership with our club when he isnt coach.

I regularly do not agree with you, but you absolutely nailed this.

I also wonder the extent to which players following Wayne will play out in reality as opposed to Wayne's wish that it does. You never know if Seibold comes in 2019 they might all love playing under him and it is a dead issue.

 

[Kimlo]

Didn't like a few players say "oh no if Griffin is gone so am I". Did anyone even leave? I think I vaguely remember McGuire being one of those players too.

 

[broncos4life]

Didn't like a few players say "oh no if Griffin is gone so am I". Did anyone even leave? I think I vaguely remember McGuire being one of those players too.

Exactly, it is all very easy to sound noble and loyal to your boss when they are still, the reality is much more difficult.

 

[Jason Simmons]

Exactly, it is all very easy to sound noble and loyal to your boss when they are still, the reality is much more difficult.

Particularly when they have signed contracts in place. Now clubs regularly release contracted players, but it is still by consent. They don’t have to release players and cannot be forced to.

We aren’t about to let half our team just walk away...

 

[Sproj]

Totally different personnel at the club these days including ownership. He only used the forgery as an excuse to get out of there. He'll easily travel back 80 kms south if the price is right.

So...he's gonna leave the excuse that Bennett is leaving for a second year coach to go to a club down the road with...wait for it...a second year coach. I mean look, the media love to make up stories but that is only because they think most league fans are bogans with no ability to actually think through the facts. The Broncs will not release him to go to another club simply because he wants more money and nor should they.

The reality is that Siebold took a side that looked tired and over the hill, along with a journeyman hooker and turned them/him into the most exciting attacking unit in the NRL. Why wouldn't an attacking weapon like Roberts be excited to play under that?

 

[Morepudding]

Totally different personnel at the club these days including ownership. He only used the forgery as an excuse to get out of there. He'll easily travel back 80 kms south if the price is right.

He cracked origin while playing for us. I doubt Roberts would leave us and go back to the titans and risk losing his origin spot. 3 origin games a year is another 60k or something for him as well.

 

[Socnorb]

Nice bit of speculation that. Again, the Broncs are not a stupid organisation, this isn’t something they’ve done on a whim. They would have consulted the playing group before selecting a coach as well.

i doubt they would've been consulted.

 

[Foordy]

Didn't like a few players say "oh no if Griffin is gone so am I". Did anyone even leave? I think I vaguely remember McGuire being one of those players too.

Ben Hunt did ... But it took a few years and a $1.2 million a season offer before he did :P

 

[Foordy]

i doubt they would've been consulted.

The leadership group possibly would have been

 

[Sproj]

i doubt they would've been consulted.

That certainly would have been, at least informally. No organisation I know does not put feelers out to see opinion before making a huge decision like this.

 

[Broncojim]

Obviously there is a risk of losing players with a new coach but on the flipside Seibold may bring with current Souths players or attract new talent to Brisbane.

 

[Socnorb]

The leadership group possibly would have been

yes I agree with that, But what do you think Darius would say. Moose Macca and Gillett would be the only others.

 

[Socnorb]

That certainly would have been, at least informally. No organisation I know does not put feelers out to see opinion before making a huge decision like this.

I doubt they would, as Foordy says,maybe some of the leadership group, What opinion/knowledge would the players have of Seibold. the board would see it as their job to show leadership. All of this newspaper talk of players leaving is just off season bullshit. By all accounts the rabbits players loved playing for Seibold, I imagine the Broncos will be similar.

 

[Sproj]

I doubt they would, as Foordy says,maybe some of the leadership group, What opinion/knowledge would the players have of Seibold. the board would see it as their job to show leadership. All of this newspaper talk of players leaving is just off season bullshit. By all accounts the rabbits players loved playing for Seibold, I imagine the Broncos will be similar.

They would at least throw out some tactful questions like who the players think were the best club of last season, who they thought was an impressive coach, etc.