PLAYER Blake Mozer

[McHunt]

You don't think Kevvie does anything right, so doesn't matter what he does.

Where do you get that from? I don't think I've criticized him any more than anyone else, other than ringing the bell about making a cushy spot for his son right from the start. Every week, without fail, he's been based all round for his bench. I rarely get involved in that.

We don't have all of QLD to pick from, we have multiple teams picking from that same landscape now. You know this though...

Yep, glad to see you can spot irony.

 

[Big Pete]

I would probably consider Karapani one of those guys that we've picked up from the NSW system and he's been pretty good coming into grade...

It depends on how you view it. Karaipani was training with the NRL squad as far back as 2022 and was set to debut back then until he came down with some mysterious illness. Still, that didn't stop him from signing an NRL deal for 2023 but something happened and he fell out of favour.

I'm just not sure if that's what you had in mind. I'm thinking more in lines of an U/21s signing.

 

[McHunt]

Hence why I didn’t reply to that part of the post, it’s written like true NRL gossip column

Also you can spot a joke, right?

 

[McHunt]

While Patston has been better and has had his moments at Burleigh, I can't recall any game where I thought he was in the Top 3.

Still, I would have liked to have seen Kevie name two affiliate players when they played the Dragons - just for my own peace of mind that every base was covered.

He stood out in the trials. The only forward who looked like he could plug the hole left by Capewell. But yeah, one swallow doesn't make etc...

 

[BroncsFan]

It depends on how you view it. Karaipani was training with the NRL squad as far back as 2022 and was set to debut back then until he came down with some mysterious illness. Still, that didn't stop him from signing an NRL deal for 2023 but something happened and he fell out of favour.

I'm just not sure if that's what you had in mind. I'm thinking more in lines of an U/21s signing.

Yeah the next age group down... guys that are basically heading towards NRL in the next 1-2 yrs... the U19 origin level, etc.

We've got Mozer, BTK, Willison and Mariner last year, Black coming through, etc.

And you know there will be interest coming from down south to head hunt them... the development has been done and the vultures start looking to take them when they're about to hit NRL level.

I think it would be harder for Qld teams to entice NSW kids to head north, because they can simply move to a different team that's a couple suburbs away for an opportunity.

But I think if there's positions of need in our squad and we dont have a young guy on the verge of taking the spot or a guy on the fringes ready to take the spot (Mariner, Willison, Piaks, Mozer, etc.), then it becomes extremely difficult to recruit.... especially if you're going to ignore 66% of the juniors coming through (NSW having more players than Qld in general) whilst also having to compete with the other 16 teams for the kids in your own backyard.

Basically every NSW team has scouts in Qld, but do we have any scouts down in NSW looking to bring them in the opposite direction?

With the increasing competition in Qld players we will hinder ourselves moving forward if we only want to focus on Qld players... do the Broncos need to look at normalising the recruitment and head hunting of promising NSW juniors.

If a Suaalii is coming through, why arent the broncos interested in bringing him to QLD... just an example of a star junior coming through, but only looking at NSW clubs.

If there was an NRL draft would we just ignore generational NSW talent and only pick Qlders... probably not

 

[Wolfie]

Yeah the next age group down... guys that are basically heading towards NRL in the next 1-2 yrs... the U19 origin level, etc.

We've got Mozer, BTK, Willison and Mariner last year, Black coming through, etc.

And you know there will be interest coming from down south to head hunt them... the development has been done and the vultures start looking to take them when they're about to hit NRL level.

I think it would be harder for Qld teams to entice NSW kids to head north, because they can simply move to a different team that's a couple suburbs away for an opportunity.

But I think if there's positions of need in our squad and we dont have a young guy on the verge of taking the spot or a guy on the fringes ready to take the spot (Mariner, Willison, Piaks, Mozer, etc.), then it becomes extremely difficult to recruit.... especially if you're going to ignore 66% of the juniors coming through (NSW having more players than Qld in general) whilst also having to compete with the other 16 teams for the kids in your own backyard.

Basically every NSW team has scouts in Qld, but do we have any scouts down in NSW looking to bring them in the opposite direction?

With the increasing competition in Qld players we will hinder ourselves moving forward if we only want to focus on Qld players... do the Broncos need to look at normalising the recruitment and head hunting of promising NSW juniors.

If a Suaalii is coming through, why arent the broncos interested in bringing him to QLD (just an example).

We don't want those NSW *****.

 

[BroncsFan]

We don't want those NSW *****.

Well we dont seem to be the outright number 1 destination for Qlders anymore... so I guess we just play handicapped moving forward

 

[Super Freak]

I was only thinking the other day and whether broncos start looking at NSW players?

But is it even viable for us?

Gotta be hard to entice NSW players out of junior systems in NSW OR even convincing them to move north instead of finding another option with 1 of the other 9 Sydney teams.

I remember a few years back there was a player survey done about which clubs are the most desirable for players and we were one of the top clubs despite the fact that we had been rubbish in recent years.

Given the squad we have now and the fact that we do have a chance at a premiership in the very near future, I can't imagine it would be too difficult to recruit players from NSW. I would be looking down there for any players that aren't getting chances at their clubs.

I also wonder if we're actually scouting the Pacific nations for any hidden gems.

 

[Big Pete]

Basically every NSW team has scouts in Qld, but do we have any scouts down in NSW looking to bring them in the opposite direction?

The evidence speaks for itself.

The issue is, why would a 20-21 year old come here? Unless they're playing QCup, they're not going to be looked after as well as they would be in Jersey Flegg.

21-22 is a tough age for a player of that calibre. Do they continue to make sacrifices while the rest of their mates start careers? How long are they happy to play QCup while working some dead end job and packing up for better opportunities? Lord knows unless they're some superstar they've had their share of run-ins with coaches who have told them they'll never make it.

So what you'll often see is a James Johnson situation who takes an opportunity with the Broncos, spends a few months there, suffers a setback and he completely falls off the Rugby League radar. That's time, expertise, resources that could have gone into somebody else.

Same thing happened with Shalom O'Ofou.

 

[Sproj]

I remember reading that Latrell Mitchell toured the Broncs as a kid and we were a big consideration for him but ultimately, he went to the Chicken$ for unknown rea$on$.

But what was the story there, if we aren't looking into NSW (and certainly looks like we aren't), how did he come across our radar?

 

[1910]

I remember reading that Latrell Mitchell toured the Broncs as a kid and we were a big consideration for him but ultimately, he went to the Chicken$ for unknown rea$on$.

But what was the story there, if we aren't looking into NSW (and certainly looks like we aren't), how did he come across our radar?

Brendan Barlow who was a teacher at Wavell and worked for the Broncos was trying to get him.

He was only 16, but it was too far from home, he just couldn't convince him to do it.

He'd already trialled with the Knights and Bulldogs and couldn't get a run and then the Roosters took an interest.

 

[Big Pete]

I remember reading that Latrell Mitchell toured the Broncs as a kid and we were a big consideration for him but ultimately, he went to the Chicken$ for unknown rea$on$.

But what was the story there, if we aren't looking into NSW (and certainly looks like we aren't), how did he come across our radar?

That would have been around 2013? Back when you had an NYC so the recruitment was more widespread (Staggs, Alvaro, B. Lee etc.)

James Johnson seems to fit the bill BroncosFan is describing and considering how that panned out you can see why players/club would be hesitant.

 

[Big Del]

He stood out in the trials. The only forward who looked like he could plug the hole left by Capewell. But yeah, one swallow doesn't make etc...

Fcking Patston .
5 minute cameo and you still have a crush on him ? I don`t think he has even made it to an extended squad all season .

 

[BroncsFan]

The evidence speaks for itself.

The issue is, why would a 20-21 year old come here? Unless they're playing QCup, they're not going to be looked after as well as they would be in Jersey Flegg.

21-22 is a tough age for a player of that calibre. Do they continue to make sacrifices while the rest of their mates start careers? How long are they happy to play QCup while working some dead end job and packing up for better opportunities? Lord knows unless they're some superstar they've had their share of run-ins with coaches who have told them they'll never make it.

So what you'll often see is a James Johnson situation who takes an opportunity with the Broncos, spends a few months there, suffers a setback and he completely falls off the Rugby League radar. That's time, expertise, resources that could have gone into somebody else.

Same thing happened with Shalom O'Ofou.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "looked after as well in Jersey Fleg"... is there a huge quality difference / pay difference between that and Qcup, because that would be worrying and should be a focus for Ikin and co... ie. making the Qcup more desirable.

I guess it's the whole Qlders are happy to head down to Sydney at the same age groups and potentially into a more volatile situation in Sydney football, but the reverse doesn't seem to happen.

If we're only focussed on qlders it limits the talent pool that we're drawing from and we're also completely dependent on QRL churning out talent year after year to not only sustain Qld teams, but also NSW teams that entice players down south... whilst also having less Qld registered players than NSW.

 

[Foordy]

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "looked after as well in Jersey Fleg"... is there a huge quality difference / pay difference between that and Qcup, because that would be worrying and should be a focus for Ikin and co... ie. making the Qcup more desirable.

I guess it's the whole Qlders are happy to head down to Sydney at the same age groups and potentially into a more volatile situation in Sydney football, but the reverse doesn't seem to happen.

If we're only focussed on qlders it limits the talent pool that we're drawing from and we're also completely dependent on QRL churning out talent year after year to not only sustain Qld teams, but also NSW teams that entice players down south... whilst also having less Qld registered players than NSW.

I'm sure we have scouts down there, but as you say with 9 NRL clubs it's a bit harder to get fringe players to leave their families and take a chance up here.

but just from the outside looking in, it seems that outside of QLD our biggest recruitment focus is in NZ.

 

[Wolfie]

We are now also competing against the Dolphins for young players which wont be easy with their system they have in place.

 

[Big Pete]

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "looked after as well in Jersey Fleg"... is there a huge quality difference / pay difference between that and Qcup, because that would be worrying and should be a focus for Ikin and co... ie. making the Qcup more desirable.

I guess it's the whole Qlders are happy to head down to Sydney at the same age groups and potentially into a more volatile situation in Sydney football, but the reverse doesn't seem to happen.

If we're only focussed on qlders it limits the talent pool that we're drawing from and we're also completely dependent on QRL churning out talent year after year to not only sustain Qld teams, but also NSW teams that entice players down south... whilst also having less Qld registered players than NSW.

Jersey Flegg provides a better opportunity. For starters, it's supported by thirteen NRL clubs so players have a direct path to the NRL if they're good enough. The competition receives more attention than the BRL, so scouts are far more likely to be impressed with what they see in Flegg than what's happening in Carina. They're also coming through an NRL system, so there's going to be input from the clubs and coaches for their expectations. Meanwhile in the QRL, it's largely coming from the QCup clubs.

It's why a lot of NSWRL affiliate sides are entering their own teams into the competition - they want synergy and they're happy to eat the cost.

Melbourne are one of the exceptions, but notice they have a Jersey Flegg side as well - that was a key difference that should have been mentioned the other day. If they're not playing at AAMI Park, the club is taking their game to Broadmeadows, so Brisbane may have to consider that option.

As it stands, the Broncos don't seem to value those players and consider it a waste of time and money. If that's the case, they could be right but they're an extremely shallow team and their ceiling isn't that high to begin with.

 

[nopatience101]

We are now also competing against the Dolphins for young players which wont be easy with their system they have in place.

Ideally the phins should produce more players for the broncos to potentially sign.