McHunt
International Rep
Contributor
- Aug 25, 2018
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The Courier Mail speaks to three wise heads about the absence of an entire generation of players in the current Broncos lineup:
Shane Webke rues the lack of experience up front:
“That is what they sorely missed. When I was a young front rower coming in, Glenn Lazarus was the other front rower. We had guys like Andrew Gee. The Broncos are now all young. There’s barely an experienced player in the club at all. I’m not suggesting that’s poor management or bad recruiting, it’s just very different to the club I grew up in. We had the great advantage of having a steady turnover. Players would retire and go elsewhere and others would pop their head in. The transition was far more orderly from year to year and era to era."
Broncos forward pack: still waiting for their balls to drop
“The reality is, we’ve got all young players all at once now and that’s very difficult. Particularly when you come up against the Roosters who have a mix of good young players and brilliant old heads too. It’s difficult not to blame the players out there because if you’re good enough then you’re old enough - they’ve been picked to play."
“That doesn’t mean you expect they can win and do amazing things, but they are entitled to tackle. We all could have lived with being beaten soundly by the Roosters if they had displayed a little bit more in defence and turned up."
King Wally chimes in on Josh McGuire's surprise release:
"I couldn't believe it. He's a performer. I like him as a player, he has a dig every game. He plays well above his weight. He's a bloke that dictates respect from the opposition. You are always going to get a hard battle. He could come up against his father and smash him to bits and wait until full-time to ask his dad how he was feeling. That's the bloke you love having in your team."
Rooster's coach Trent Robinson agrees:
“There are three tiers of players – the rookies, 50-150 games and senior players. A good balance of all of that is really important. In 2016 (finished 15th) we decided to go really young and develop. Sometimes the results don’t go your way. When they don’t go your way you’ve got to play a certain way as well. That’s really important.”
Who'd have thought any of this?
McHunt
Shane Webke rues the lack of experience up front:
“That is what they sorely missed. When I was a young front rower coming in, Glenn Lazarus was the other front rower. We had guys like Andrew Gee. The Broncos are now all young. There’s barely an experienced player in the club at all. I’m not suggesting that’s poor management or bad recruiting, it’s just very different to the club I grew up in. We had the great advantage of having a steady turnover. Players would retire and go elsewhere and others would pop their head in. The transition was far more orderly from year to year and era to era."
Broncos forward pack: still waiting for their balls to drop
“The reality is, we’ve got all young players all at once now and that’s very difficult. Particularly when you come up against the Roosters who have a mix of good young players and brilliant old heads too. It’s difficult not to blame the players out there because if you’re good enough then you’re old enough - they’ve been picked to play."
“That doesn’t mean you expect they can win and do amazing things, but they are entitled to tackle. We all could have lived with being beaten soundly by the Roosters if they had displayed a little bit more in defence and turned up."
King Wally chimes in on Josh McGuire's surprise release:
"I couldn't believe it. He's a performer. I like him as a player, he has a dig every game. He plays well above his weight. He's a bloke that dictates respect from the opposition. You are always going to get a hard battle. He could come up against his father and smash him to bits and wait until full-time to ask his dad how he was feeling. That's the bloke you love having in your team."
Rooster's coach Trent Robinson agrees:
“There are three tiers of players – the rookies, 50-150 games and senior players. A good balance of all of that is really important. In 2016 (finished 15th) we decided to go really young and develop. Sometimes the results don’t go your way. When they don’t go your way you’ve got to play a certain way as well. That’s really important.”
Who'd have thought any of this?
McHunt
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