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Darius Boyd open to moving to five-eighth to help solve Brisbane’s halves dilemma
October 26, 2017
DARIUS Boyd has flagged the prospect of moving to five-eighth to help solve Brisbane’s halves dilemma following the Broncos’ inability to poach Ashley Taylor from the Titans.
As revealed by The Courier-Mail, on Thursday Boyd signed a four-year $3 million upgrade, securing him until the end of 2021 and ensuring the Broncos skipper will finish his career at Red Hill.
But there is no guarantee Boyd will remain in his coveted fullback position, with the 30-year-old declaring he is willing to put the team’s needs ahead of his own by partnering Anthony Milford in the halves.
While Kodi Nikorima will get first crack at the No.7 jumper next season, Broncos coach Wayne Bennett was hopeful of bringing Taylor back to the club where he made his NRL debut for 2019.
But Taylor’s decision to sign a $3 million extension with the Titans on Wednesday has torpedoed those plans, prompting Boyd to consider donning the No.6 jumper made famous by Wally Lewis and Darren Lockyer.
“I’m open to it,” Boyd said of shifting to five-eighth next season.
“Fullback is my preferred position but I like what you get to do and bring at five-eighth, so if that was an option, I wouldn’t be against it.
“These days five eighth and fullback are pretty similar, apart from the defensive side of the game.
“Whatever is best for the team, if it’s five-eighth ... I’m open to that.”
While Bennett regards Boyd as the NRL’s pre-eminent fullback, the Maroons ace can see the merits of a move into the frontline.
At age 30, Boyd is entering his twilight years and the fullback position is posing increasing physical demands on a 267-game veteran who has battled Achilles and hamstring injuries in the past two years.
Tactically, Boyd already plays like a second receiver, but admits he would need to improve his efforts with the boot if he teamed with Milford, who could operate as a running halfback.
“I’d have to work on my kicking game, that’s for sure,” he said.
“It (playing five-eighth) is still a long way away, but if it’s a realistic thing to happen, I would to do a lot of practice and kicking would be one of them.
“I already do a bit of practice at five-eighth, I practice with the halves at training.
“In this day and age fullback and five-eighth is very similar and with five-eighth you get to control the team quite a lot. It’s a bit easier being at five-eighth than it would be at fullback.”
Boyd’s new deal is worth around $750,000 annually and he is determined to be the captain that breaks Brisbane’s 11-year title drought before he retires.
“We had a lot of players off-contract this year and the club did a great job to retain most of them,” he said.
“Premierships are what the Broncos have been great at and I want a couple more while I’m here, I definitely want that.
“I wasn’t planning on going anywhere. I love this club and I feel lucky to be finishing my career here.”
Source: The Mercury
