NEWS Brisbane turned down Brodie Croft

[1910]

Using hindsight is unfair but there are people paid too ensure we keep the best players. Considering what’s been in our system and we are currently running out Milford/Nikorima as halves tells me our people haven’t done a very good job.

Broncos have been looking for a half since '99 and even Alf was given to them.

In that time how many clubs have had great/good Queensland halves? Since '99 Cronk, Thurston, DCE and Keary have all been and gone.

 

[1910]

Bunn has become the master at finding those missed players. 12 of the starting Grand Final 17 he found for Storm before they were 19.

Suliasi Vunivalu- Playing for Easts six times last year- 19 in total in 2015/2016.
Tim Glasby- Playing for Capras and Easts 98 times.
Felise Kaufusi- Playing for Pride and then Easts and Falcons 45 times now including three ISC games just last year.
Dale Finucane- Dogs released him two years early they didn't want him.
Josh Addo-Carr- six tries in nine games last year- Storm this year 20 in 25.
Kenny Bromwich- 42 ISC games from 2012-2015 trying to get a run for Storm.
Slade Griffin- 10 ISC games in 2016.
Jordan McLean- 11 ISC games in 2015.

Even Munster was still playing ISC in 2015- 46 games in total.

Just guys no one else saw too much in. I would not have picked a single one of those to be an NRL player of note. Maybe Munster once he started to really play well and of course that try against the Bears.
Maybe that’s where clubs are falling down, they are not finding those missed players so well. Focusing on the star.
Even Smith- playing 20’s for Cowboys. Who cared about him. Now he’s in line to replace Smith along with Grant- missed all of 2016 with his knee- Thudnerbolts captain last year and one ISC game.

 

[Morkel]

No one is saying to hoard them. I don't even know how you're making that connection. The issue isn't that we aren't hoarding them, it's the fact that they are ALL gone. All of them, and not one of them is running around in our team. Kodi Nikorima is our half, that's the biggest issue.

That's the flaw in your argument though Nashy. "They're ALL gone". Well no they're not, because we actually have a squad of 30 still left here.

Gillett, McGuire, Oates, Kahu, McCullough, all players that, if they were playing for other clubs, we'd be kicking ourselves.

TPJ, Offa, Nikorima, Opacic, Insert Boom Rookie Here, young players with hype that we grabbed young and/or retained despite other clubs showing interest.

 

[Morkel]

Bunn has become the master at finding those missed players. 12 of the starting Grand Final 17 he found for Storm before they were 19.

Suliasi Vunivalu- Playing for Easts six times last year- 19 in total in 2015/2016.
Tim Glasby- Playing for Capras and Easts 98 times.
Felise Kaufusi- Playing for Pride and then Easts and Falcons 45 times now including three ISC games just last year.
Dale Finucane- Dogs released him two years early they didn't want him.
Josh Addo-Carr- six tries in nine games last year- Storm this year 20 in 25.
Kenny Bromwich- 42 ISC games from 2012-2015 trying to get a run for Storm.
Slade Griffin- 10 ISC games in 2016.
Jordan McLean- 11 ISC games in 2015.

Even Munster was still playing ISC in 2015- 46 games in total.

Just guys no one else saw too much in. I would not have picked a single one of those to be an NRL player of note. Maybe Munster once he started to really play well and of course that try against the Bears.
Maybe that’s where clubs are falling down, they are not finding those missed players so well. Focusing on the star.
Even Smith- playing 20’s for Cowboys. Who cared about him. Now he’s in line to replace Smith along with Grant- missed all of 2016 with his knee- Thudnerbolts captain last year and one ISC game.

I don't agree at all. It's the "star" that we're missing. The forwards you mention aren't anything special. They're just like the hundred other plug & play forwards that work so well in a Melbourne team that has Smith, Cronk & Slater.

Glasby, Finucane, K Brom, Griffin, McLean. Just add them to the list that already has Scott Anderson, Shane Tronc, Aidan Tolman, Ryan Tandy, Ben Cross, Brett White, Mahe Fonua, Norrie, Lowrie, Hinchcliffe, Kostjaysn. The list is endless. We're not missing out on premierships because of cheap & efficient plug-in forwards.

 

[WASSHHH]

True - Nashy and I hail from Mackay tho so we know the culture well...

I’m from Rocky and am surprised to hear you say the culture may be better in Rocky than Mackay.
I suppose it’s more a case of the best of a bad bunch though really :biggrin:

 

[1910]

I don't agree at all. It's the "star" that we're missing. The forwards you mention aren't anything special. They're just like the hundred other plug & play forwards that work so well in a Melbourne team that has Smith, Cronk & Slater.

Glasby, Finucane, K Brom, Griffin, McLean. Just add them to the list that already has Scott Anderson, Shane Tronc, Aidan Tolman, Ryan Tandy, Ben Cross, Brett White, Mahe Fonua, Norrie, Lowrie, Hinchcliffe, Kostjaysn. The list is endless. We're not missing out on premierships because of cheap & efficient plug-in forwards.

I am talking about the star kid that everyone sees. Smith, Slater and Cronk weren't that kid. If clubs are focusing on that they're missing the Cronk. All three of them played ISC and missed out on rep teams.

How many of the stars in those teams got picked up first? Bunn seems to focus on what other clubs don't want.

 

[Stix]

munster was a good kid, just a bit of a country lad thats all

I actually heard that we put our faith in Zach Strasser and didn't pursue Munster? Does that sound right?

 

[Nashy]

That's the flaw in your argument though Nashy. "They're ALL gone". Well no they're not, because we actually have a squad of 30 still left here.

Gillett, McGuire, Oates, Kahu, McCullough, all players that, if they were playing for other clubs, we'd be kicking ourselves.

TPJ, Offa, Nikorima, Opacic, Insert Boom Rookie Here, young players with hype that we grabbed young and/or retained despite other clubs showing interest.

No, it's not a flaw. You've done an excellent job at pointing out that the Broncos have zero halves. Both lists you've used actually.

 

[Nashy]

I can tell you this, have no idea if it applies to football in QRL.....

You look at a kid for 4-5 years from 13's up to C grade, goes alright - doesn't set the world on fire, isnt huge, hasn't got a scruff of facial hair yet. One or two years later, still kicking around gets a job, some maturity, then hormones hit and next minute hes a talent. The books are full already - as the scouts have been picking whats in front of them, so the kid gets snapped up or singed up elsewhere.

No scout can predict this.

What's the excuse for the ones who never entered the system? The ones the "scouts" completely and utterly missed?

 

[pagey]

they are monkeys with machine guns. just aim for the trees and hope something hits and sticks.
bunn was the last good one but he is now killing it in melbourne

Thought we were going to put a broom through our scouts

 

[Alec]

I think I remember the year where Storm got Munster and Cody Walker (and Ben Hampton, but who cares about him) all at once, and we were like "Suck shit, we got Zach Strasser, the next DCE".

 

[roo-ted]

I think I remember the year where Storm got Munster and Cody Walker (and Ben Hampton, but who cares about him) all at once, and we were like "Suck shit, we got Zach Strasser, the next DCE".

So where is Strasser now?

 

[Morkel]

I am talking about the star kid that everyone sees. Smith, Slater and Cronk weren't that kid. If clubs are focusing on that they're missing the Cronk. All three of them played ISC and missed out on rep teams.

How many of the stars in those teams got picked up first? Bunn seems to focus on what other clubs don't want.

But if that list is the epitome of what Bunn can bring to a team, I'm not overly impressed.

No, it's not a flaw. You've done an excellent job at pointing out that the Broncos have zero halves. Both lists you've used actually.

The halves have been done to death. Norman was a tupperware container full of ego-centric penises. Hunt was, and still is, a very good half if used correctly. But he wasn't worth $1.2 million a year. Taylor is nothing but self-flagellating hindsight-fodder, and again, not worth $1 million a season.

In the early '00s we had Seymour and converted Lockyer. Circumstance let to Seymour getting dumped, not because of talent as he was fucking fantastic with Lockyer. We brought in Wallace who again was great with Lockyer, but again circumstance led to a cheating team knocking us out 3 years in a row, or injuries hitting (Wallace '09, Hodges '10, Lockyer '11). During that time we were developing Hunt & Norman. When the time came, Hunt was slow and Norman was a cockwit. So we bring in Milford to assist hunt and we have a partnership that experts believe will be the future Australian 6 and 7. While developing J Nik and K Nik. Because of that, Taylor is allowed to leave. Circumstance leads to desperate clubs throwing stupid money at J Nik to leave, Hunt to leave, and Taylor to stay at the Titans. Now we're here. After losing one game with a badly beaten pack, and crying about our halves.

On the ones we missed, like DCE and Keary, should we have been doing a Roosters and gobbled up all of the young promising halves? Wallace and Lockyer starting, Hunt and Norman developing, and then also scouring the globe for a DCE? Then Hunt, Norman, Wallace starting, a couple of Niks developing, and busting our guts for a Keary? And these don't even include the lesser names that we don't hear much about that were also being developed but never made the headlines.

 

[Kyall]

DCE most overrated player in the entire comp I’ll take Niko over him any day tbh.

 

[Nashy]

But if that list is the epitome of what Bunn can bring to a team, I'm not overly impressed.



The halves have been done to death. Norman was a tupperware container full of ego-centric penises. Hunt was, and still is, a very good half if used correctly. But he wasn't worth $1.2 million a year. Taylor is nothing but self-flagellating hindsight-fodder, and again, not worth $1 million a season.

In the early '00s we had Seymour and converted Lockyer. Circumstance let to Seymour getting dumped, not because of talent as he was fucking fantastic with Lockyer. We brought in Wallace who again was great with Lockyer, but again circumstance led to a cheating team knocking us out 3 years in a row, or injuries hitting (Wallace '09, Hodges '10, Lockyer '11). During that time we were developing Hunt & Norman. When the time came, Hunt was slow and Norman was a cockwit. So we bring in Milford to assist hunt and we have a partnership that experts believe will be the future Australian 6 and 7. While developing J Nik and K Nik. Because of that, Taylor is allowed to leave. Circumstance leads to desperate clubs throwing stupid money at J Nik to leave, Hunt to leave, and Taylor to stay at the Titans. Now we're here. After losing one game with a badly beaten pack, and crying about our halves.

On the ones we missed, like DCE and Keary, should we have been doing a Roosters and gobbled up all of the young promising halves? Wallace and Lockyer starting, Hunt and Norman developing, and then also scouring the globe for a DCE? Then Hunt, Norman, Wallace starting, a couple of Niks developing, and busting our guts for a Keary? And these don't even include the lesser names that we don't hear much about that were also being developed but never made the headlines.

Everything is opinion. The bottom line is, we don't have a halfback, and we had plenty who have shown they are better than the non-halfback we have currently.

I'm not crying poor about our non existent halfback over a game of football, I'm crying poor about it because we don't have a damned halfback. That's the fact of it. That's it. Nothing else. If he turns out to be an excellent halfback, then awesome. But I can't see he will.

 

[Renegade]

DCE most overrated player in the entire comp I’ll take Niko over him any day tbh.

not a chance.

 

[Morkel]

Everything is opinion. The bottom line is, we don't have a halfback, and we had plenty who have shown they are better than the non-halfback we have currently.

I'm not crying poor about our non existent halfback over a game of football, I'm crying poor about it because we don't have a damned halfback. That's the fact of it. That's it. Nothing else. If he turns out to be an excellent halfback, then awesome. But I can't see he will.

That's your bottom line. My bottom line is this: Shit happens and shit did happen. This isn't a failure of recruitment or mentality or Bennett or the Broncos or the NRL or the Universal Obligation To Make Things How They Want It.

The halfbacks that we had that you believe to be better, and not here because Shit Happens.

 

[Nashy]

That's your bottom line. My bottom line is this: Shit happens and shit did happen. This isn't a failure of recruitment or mentality or Bennett or the Broncos or the NRL or the Universal Obligation To Make Things How They Want It.

The halfbacks that we had that you believe to be better, and not here because Shit Happens.

Imagine if my response to the other poster involved was simply shit happens. Wouldn't have got a post like, that's for sure. You're 100% right, it is what it is, we deal with what we have, but that doesn't make the opinion that the Broncos fucked up void. They did, if they didn't, we would have a half back.