Brisbane forward Sam Thaiday has six weeks to save his career at the Broncos with contract talks on hold
QUEENSLAND Origin star Sam Thaiday has six weeks to save his career at the Broncos.
In the wake of Friday night’s Queensland derby, The Sunday Mail can reveal Broncos management have put contract talks on hold with Thaiday until the end of April to assess his form.
That gives Thaiday another five games — against the Warriors, Titans, Roosters, Dragons and Parramatta — to convince Broncos coach Wayne Bennett whether to launch formal negotiations.
Broncos recruitment chief Peter Nolan is largely responsible for Brisbane’s list and contract management.
But such is the delicate nature of Thaiday’s situation, given his gravitas at the club as an Origin and Test player, Bennett will be actively involved in the contract-negotiation process.
Thaiday is off-contract at season’s end and his preference is to finish his career at the Broncos. But Bennett has opted to suspend talks until he can better appraise Thaiday’s form after he was dropped to the bench following an ill-disciplined display in their season-opening loss to Souths.
Thaiday hit back with an outstanding performance off interchange against the Sharks, underlining his commitment to securing his future at Red Hill.
Bennett declined to comment yesterday but The Sunday Mail understands the period leading up to Origin I will largely dictate whether Thaiday receives a formal offer for 2016 and beyond.
Thaiday’s manager George Mimis confirmed he had yet to open talks with Brisbane hierarchy as Bennett closely monitors the player he graded as an 18-year-old in 2003.
“We haven’t commenced any formal discussions around Sam,” Mimis said.
“It’s only Round 3, so we’ll aim to start discussions over the next month or so.
“There’s no rush, it’s early days. Sam is a quality player, he is always going to be in-demand and ideally he would like to stay as part of the Broncos and that’s what we’ll try to achieve.
“We haven’t gone about procuring interest — Sam is focusing on his football at the Broncos.”
Thaiday has been linked with a possible move to the Titans, but it understood Brisbane’s southeast Queensland rivals are more interested in quality outside backs.
A veteran of 211 NRL games, Thaiday has been magnificent for the Broncos since his 2003 debut, but Bennett is concerned about some bad habits that have crept into his game.
On the field, Thaiday has leaked penalties at crucial times.
Off it, Bennett has spoken to Thaiday about the importance of diet as he approaches his 30th birthday after blowing out to 118kg last summer.
Broncos half-back Ben Hunt urged the club to hand Thaiday a new contract, saying the Test enforcer represents the heart-and-soul of the playing group.
“I really hope they re-sign him,” Hunt said.
“Sam has been here for as long as I can remember, he’s been great for a long period of time, so no-one really wants to see him leave.
“Sam will accept what’s happened and keep playing his best football possible for us. Hopefully he doesn’t take it (his demotion) too tough and gets back to his best.”
Broncos centre Jack Reed said Thaiday had not let his relegation affect the playing group.
“Internally, he’s handled it really well,” Reed said.
“He knows what he has to do, even though he is an Origin player, he came off the bench (against Cronulla) and showed what he does bring with his attitude.”
