OFFICIAL Broncos 2025 Draw

[Sproj]

I was responding directly to:

I can feel whatever way I want about Melbourne but I'm not going to presume guilt before innocence because they've smashed the Broncos for 20+ years or what happened 15 years ago under a different administration.

Sure there's a few stories that sound sus, but I'd need more evidence before I consider them guilty. Re-signing a back-up half coming off a knee reconstruction who has a clear path to the NRL side isn't on my radar.

If anything that's how the system should work.

And afford to poach arguably the best players from bottom four sides as well? So you keep all your star players, upcoming youth and poach the best players from the bottom four sides? I don't think that is all supposed to be possible. Look at Penrith. They lose some of the best players and up and comers year in, year out and have only now been able to afford to bring anyone in after years of shedding. And most of their players are home grown. Aside from Faalogo, who even is locally produced by Melbourne?

 

[Big Pete]

And afford to poach arguably the best players from bottom four sides as well? So you keep all your star players, upcoming youth and poach the best players from the bottom four sides? I don't think that is all supposed to be possible. Look at Penrith. They lose some of the best players and up and comers year in, year out and have only now been able to afford to bring anyone in after years of shedding. And most of their players are home grown. Aside from Faalogo, who even is locally produced by Melbourne?

We've been through this, Melbourne have lost a stack of senior players on their roster that would have been valuable under the salary cap. Your argument of 'well they didn't want them anyway' doesn't change that.

We've been through Penrith as well. Melbourne went through their rebuild cycle early whereas Penrith have only just entered it. They also have a lot of players lumped in at a similar age group and you can't upgrade them all.

I agree on that last point, why would anyone ever want to live in Melbourne? What a horrible dump of a city!

 

[Broncapz]

We've been through this, Melbourne have lost a stack of senior players on their roster that would have been valuable under the salary cap. Your argument of 'well they didn't want them anyway' doesn't change that.

We've been through Penrith as well. Melbourne went through their rebuild cycle early whereas Penrith have only just entered it. They also have a lot of players lumped in at a similar age group and you can't upgrade them all.

I agree on that last point, why would anyone ever want to live in Melbourne? What a horrible dump of a city!

The point is there has been recent suspect activity from a team with a history of blatant cheating.

 

[Sproj]

We've been through this, Melbourne have lost a stack of senior players on their roster that would have been valuable under the salary cap. Your argument of 'well they didn't want them anyway' doesn't change that.

We've been through Penrith as well. Melbourne went through their rebuild cycle early whereas Penrith have only just entered it. They also have a lot of players lumped in at a similar age group and you can't upgrade them all.

I agree on that last point, why would anyone ever want to live in Melbourne? What a horrible dump of a city!

Aside from Faalogo, who in their current side is from Victoria?

 

[Sproj]

The point is there has been recent suspect activity from a team with a history of blatant cheating.

I am relatively sure @Big Pete understands this, he isn't usually this obtuse though.

 

[Big Pete]

The point is there has been recent suspect activity from a team with a history of blatant cheating.

The issue is that every signing/re-signing they make is apparently suspicious. I understand what happened 15 years ago is going to follow them from here to eternity but this Pezet re-signing isn't even a blip on the radar.

The fact is some of you don't even have your facts straight and when this is pointed out apparantly you're being 'obtuse'.

Ieremia is the other local off the top of my head. Why do you ask?

 

[akys]

The issue is that every signing/re-signing they make is apparently suspicious. I understand what happened 15 years ago is going to follow them from here to eternity but this Pezet re-signing isn't even a blip on the radar.

The fact is some of you don't even have your facts straight and when this is pointed out apparantly you're being 'obtuse'.

Ieremia is the other local off the top of my head. Why do you ask?

 

[Sproj]

The issue is that every signing/re-signing they make is apparently suspicious. I understand what happened 15 years ago is going to follow them from here to eternity but this Pezet re-signing isn't even a blip on the radar.

The fact is some of you don't even have your facts straight and when this is pointed out apparantly you're being 'obtuse'.

Ieremia is the other local off the top of my head. Why do you ask?

Which facts aren't straight?

Also, you keep pointing toward Kaufusi, Bromwich x2 leaving but what would be good to know is cross referencing these recent re-signings to when Tripp's deals were suddenly made ok.

I would bet it was around the same time as they could suddenly afford to re-sign everyone they want, including back up players and poach Utoikamanu.

And I will add, if the NRL had to look into ratifying the Hunt deal because of set worth or whatever metric they go on, why has nothing been mentioned about Paps having to receive the same scrutiny?

My whole point in all of this anyway is if Melbourne can get away with it, then fine but no one should be questioning us re-signing everyone we want and bringing in Hunt either.

 

[Broncapz]

The issue is that every signing/re-signing they make is apparently suspicious. I understand what happened 15 years ago is going to follow them from here to eternity but this Pezet re-signing isn't even a blip on the radar.

The fact is some of you don't even have your facts straight and when this is pointed out apparantly you're being 'obtuse'.

Ieremia is the other local off the top of my head. Why do you ask?

The Perez is just adding to the total of millions that players have passed up to stay in the Storm system in the few years alone. Theres a pretty decent tally if you add it up.

Lucky them I guess.

 

[Big Pete]

Which facts aren't straight?

Also, you keep pointing toward Kaufusi, Bromwich x2 leaving but what would be good to know is cross referencing these recent re-signings to when Tripp's deals were suddenly made ok.

Penrith have lost all these players but Melbourne have hardly lost anyone of note in the same time span, Melbourne had all that success and had to sign the big four and then signed Crocker (nope), Blore and Katoa had significant interest etc.

Among others, I'm not here to keep score but you asked the question.

I don't think there was anything more on the Betr TPA story since Webster reported on it in March of 2022. It was set to be approved by the NRL but there was never any follow-up. If the deal was approved, it would have been after the Storm lost those marquee players.

would bet it was around the same time as they could suddenly afford to re-sign everyone they want, including back up players and poach Utoikamanu.

Losing those four players (among others) would have obviously had a bearing.

And I will add, if the NRL had to look into ratifying the Hunt deal because of set worth or whatever metric they go on, why has nothing been mentioned about Paps having to receive the same scrutiny?

It's a different set of circumstances.

One broke a contract to join another club effective immediately on a deal that was just over half his current deal.

The other chose to extend his deal for one season on less money.

My whole point in all of this anyway is if Melbourne can get away with it, then fine but no one should be questioning us re-signing everyone we want and bringing in Hunt either.

I think you have this back to front.

If you're fine with the Broncos re-signing 'everyone they want' and bringing in Hunt, then it should be perfectly acceptable when Melbourne do the same.

The difference of course is that the Broncos re-sign players they don't actually want and then they can't get rid of them.

 

[Big Pete]

The Perez is just adding to the total of millions that players have passed up to stay in the Storm system in the few years alone. Theres a pretty decent tally if you add it up.

Lucky them I guess.

Every re-signing is, judge each case on it's own merit otherwise it's a boy who cried wolf situation.

Pezet for instance came from the Knights junior system. His dad worked for the club as a senior member of their recruitment team before he was unceremoniously sacked. Jonah left the club shortly after and linked up with Melbourne where he was progressing nicely before he ruptured his ACL. Now Newcastle have tried to roll out the red carpet to try and lure him back and he effectively told them to get stuffed.

It'd be like if the Broncos went after Oloapu and got knocked back - I wouldn't find it sus at all if he went ahead and signed with Canterbury on less.

 

[Sproj]

Penrith have lost all these players but Melbourne have hardly lost anyone of note in the same time span, Melbourne had all that success and had to sign the big four and then signed Crocker (nope), Blore and Katoa had significant interest etc.

Among others, I'm not here to keep score but you asked the question.

I don't think there was anything more on the Betr TPA story since Webster reported on it in March of 2022. It was set to be approved by the NRL but there was never any follow-up. If the deal was approved, it would have been after the Storm lost those marquee players.


Losing those four players (among others) would have obviously had a bearing.

It's a different set of circumstances.

One broke a contract to join another club effective immediately on a deal that was just over half his current deal.

The other chose to extend his deal for one season on less money.

I think you have this back to front.

If you're fine with the Broncos re-signing 'everyone they want' and bringing in Hunt, then it should be perfectly acceptable when Melbourne do the same.

The difference of course is that the Broncos re-sign players they don't actually want and then they can't get rid of them.

Storm didn’t seem to have any trouble getting rid of Olam and Reimis Smith just off the top of my head. According to fans down here, Melbourne wanted both gone for undisclosed reasons and low and behold they were gone, no fuss.

 

[Big Pete]

Storm didn’t seem to have any trouble getting rid of Olam and Reimis Smith just off the top of my head. According to fans down here, Melbourne wanted both gone for undisclosed reasons and low and behold they were gone, no fuss.

Exactly, they were able to get rid of them meanwhile the Broncos are stuck with their mistakes.

Smith was off-contract at the end of the season and Melbourne didn't want to re-sign him. He was able to organise a deal in the ESL and the club he signed for were willing to take him ASAP.

Melbourne just straight up took advantage of a desperate Tigers squad that desperately needed a centre and Olam was the best free agent available. If you watched Olam in 2023, it's pretty obvious why the Storm wanted him gone.

You could be onto something with Reimis, I find it strange that he's completely out of the NRL system.

 

[Fitzy]

There second rowers would barely be 600k combined, their middle rotation is prior to this upcoming season is Loeiro, King, NAS, McDonald, Kamikamica. Tyran Wishart, Pezet and Fa’alago is pretty much the entirety of there spine depth hence the ability to spend more money on them. They have incredible cup systems providing them depth. Christian Welch is probably the only bloke at the club on a bad deal. It’s not like there back line is star studded in the sense that they would be on a lot of money. I’m just not seeing how you can be upset at a club like the Storm with terrific systems in place, a great culture and a lot of success with winning signing on a very rare occasion signing a good player yet still not as good as they should be on a cut price deal. These successful clubs have found ways to offer value to players beyond monetary. That’s why they are successful. The Storm have developed and turned literally 95% of that squad into the players they are today. You can be salty pricks all you want but they continuously develop top tier talent and top tier role players. The Storm have exceptional ability at just creating blokes that do there job. They don’t cost an arm and a leg. So when you can do that and provide greater value to top tier players that reduced your need to pay them a shit load, you have very efficient cap management and trophies in the cabinet. It helps they stay out of the lime light, but at the same time they don’t gave a huge talent base either. They have had to go out and create value and desire for talent to come to them, they have nurtured and fostered that talent exceptionally. They are successful for a reason. They were successful long before Matt Tripp “dodgy deals”. Fucking please get over yourselves. We just signed a bloke with 30 try involvements for 600k for crying out loud.

 

[Mustafur]

You can get rid of player you don't need if other teams deem them to have value, I would have to put the blame on us for that not working for us.

That's why Paix has been impossible for us to offload, it probably didn't help that he never got any decent first grade in that time either, compare that to say Sailor who was in the same situation but did get a decent chunk of first grade it was quite easy to find a team for him in England for.

 

[Big Pete]

You can get rid of player you don't need if other teams deem them to have value, I would have to put the blame on us for that not working for us.

That's why Paix has been impossible for us to offload, it probably didn't help that he never got any decent first grade in that time either, compare that to say Sailor who was in the same situation but did get a decent chunk of first grade it was quite easy to find a team for him in England for.

Absolutely.

It's not even the past eighteen months. It's been his entire career and how it's virtually been all down-hill since 2018. There was nothing wrong with the decision to sign Paix to begin with. He was a stand-out player of his age division, a winner with attributes you'd want in a Broncos player.

His biggest issue was, he was only a year older than this generational talent from Mackay called Tom Dearden who the Broncos also snagged. Instead of letting Paix develop naturally they quickly shoe-horned him as a nine to give both players a clear path-way.

I just think the Broncos put the cart before the horses. Either they needed to show more patience in Paix or they had to be willing to make a tough decision.

As it stands, they've put in seven seasons worth of investment and all they have to show for it is a 300K p.a. handicap.

Cronulla were slugged with last for rorting the salary cap.

If Paix was the player the Broncos thought he was, he'd be their Tyran Wishart.

The Broncos should not have stood in Sailor's way when he wanted to leave. The decision to give him an opportunity in 2023 was fine, but if he wasn't committed to sticking around and doing the hard stuff then cut him loose and look for a player with those qualities. Anderson appears to be an attempt to rectify this, so at least the club is learning.

 

[Mustafur]

Absolutely.

It's not even the past eighteen months. It's been his entire career and how it's virtually been all down-hill since 2018. There was nothing wrong with the decision to sign Paix to begin with. He was a stand-out player of his age division, a winner with attributes you'd want in a Broncos player.

His biggest issue was, he was only a year older than this generational talent from Mackay called Tom Dearden who the Broncos also snagged. Instead of letting Paix develop naturally they quickly shoe-horned him as a nine to give both players a clear path-way.

I just think the Broncos put the cart before the horses. Either they needed to show more patience in Paix or they had to be willing to make a tough decision.

As it stands, they've put in seven seasons worth of investment and all they have to show for it is a 300K p.a. handicap.

Cronulla were slugged with last for rorting the salary cap.

If Paix was the player the Broncos thought he was, he'd be their Tyran Wishart.

The Broncos should not have stood in Sailor's way when he wanted to leave. The decision to give him an opportunity in 2023 was fine, but if he wasn't committed to sticking around and doing the hard stuff then cut him loose and look for a player with those qualities. Anderson appears to be an attempt to rectify this, so at least the club is learning.

It definitely has taken him alot of time(probably too much time) to adjust to the middle as a Hooker but I did feel he was on the right track in 2022, but after he got the knee injury he wasn't the same and then Kevvie seemed to blacklist him around the time of that interview he had in '23, but I did feel he was already stagnating at that point, imo Kevvie should have allowed him a bit more game time because he wasn't a game killer by any metric back then and he would have got him offloaded at the end of the season as it's easy value being in a top team, but what he did basically killed our options on that.

I remember raising the point last year when Sailor's stocks were much higher that we should have let him go, because it's not like we struggled for FB depth, Cobbo does the role exceptionally well from a backup point of view and Sailor badly needed consistent pro level footy to rebuild his career as he still carried too much teenage/lower 20 year old habits in his game, which is what showed it self big time in 24.

For now outside Paix the obvious one is Baker and I don't see that ever being resolved till the contract is over, he isn't first grade standard in any scenario that I have seen, J Hunt could be as well but he is a min wager unlike Baker so it's not as big of a deal.