Broncos Player Movement and Rumours 2020

[winslow_wong]

Ok ok, another team list (given Staggs is gone for a lot of next year):

1. Allan
2. Farnworth
3. Bird
4. Opacic
5. Coates
6. Milford
7. Dearden
8. Lodge
9. Turpin
10. Carrigan
11. Glenn (c)
12. TPJ
13. Haas

14. Paix
15. Flegler
16. Tolman
17. Riki

Get it done.

 

[BRC088]

Assuming we get Bird for a lot of next year? Maybe Bird for rnds 1-10, then Staggs takes over.

 

[Kooly87]

Assuming we get Bird for a lot of next year? Maybe Bird for rnds 1-10, then Staggs takes over.

I wouldn't assume that at all. We haven't managed it in four years so it seems exceedingly unlikely that we'll strike it lucky in a fifth season.

 

[Gaz]

Courier-mail reporting Bird back to Sydney - we pay half. Behind paywall but I assume we are only offering - so not a done deal.

 

[ivanhungryjak]

Courier-mail reporting Bird back to Sydney - we pay half. Behind paywall but I assume we are only offering - so not a done deal.

It’s a Rothfield single para bit. Just says we’re willing to offload him if a club is willing to pay 500K of his 975K salary. Links St George, Manly and Cronulla only by saying they need centres.

 

[Foordy]

Courier-mail reporting Bird back to Sydney - we pay half. Behind paywall but I assume we are only offering - so not a done deal.

from Rothfield ... so not exactly the most reliable source on Bird (probably still claiming he will reneg on his deal with us)

basically says we will release him if another club picks up 500k of his tab. then says Dragons, Manly and Sharks need centers

 

[Waynesaurus]

Would not surprise me if Jack both wanted to and then ended up going back to Cronulla.

 

[BroncsFan]

It’s a Rothfield single para bit. Just says we’re willing to offload him if a club is willing to pay 500K of his 975K salary. Links St George, Manly and Cronulla only by saying they need centres.

from Rothfield ... so not exactly the most reliable source on Bird (probably still claiming he will reneg on his deal with us)

basically says we will release him if another club picks up 500k of his tab. then says Dragons, Manly and Sharks need centers

Yeah because it's not like we need centres at the moment either

Bird now has a guaranteed spot at right centre for the first half of the year... or maybe longer if we utilise Staggs as a utility when he first comes back.

There's also no one on the market for us to buy with his cash anyway

 

[Kooly87]

Yeah because it's not like we need centres at the moment either

Bird now has a guaranteed spot at right centre for the first half of the year... or maybe longer if we utilise Staggs as a utility when he first comes back.

There's also no one on the market for us to buy with his cash anyway

I also don't think I'd be that keen to see us pay around 400k of his salary while he plays for another club. To me that number just seems a little too high to be comfortable with.

 

[Sproj]

If we pay a single cent of his salary, it is an absolute disgrace and any vestige of good will to the bloke will be totally gone.

He has barely been on the field while we've paid his constant rehab, THEN takes up his player option while EVERY year while here constantly talk about wanting to go back to Sydney. So he takes up his player option and THEN leaves and get half his CHOSEN salary paid for by our club. Screw that! There is zero value whatsoever in this for the club.

AND if he goes back to Cronulla on a heavily subsidized wage after how they handed him off to us in the first place, it will be yet another of many blights on this pathetic administration of this club. Grow a backbone and hold him to his CHOSEN year of contract or he voluntarily gets released. We should not pay a single cent.

 

[Kooly87]

If we pay a single cent of his salary, it is an absolute disgrace and any vestige of good will to the bloke will be totally gone.

He has barely been on the field while we've paid his constant rehab, THEN takes up his player option while EVERY year while here constantly talk about wanting to go back to Sydney. So he takes up his player option and THEN leaves and get half his CHOSEN salary paid for by our club. Screw that! There is zero value whatsoever in this for the club.

AND if he goes back to Cronulla on a heavily subsidized wage after how they handed him off to us in the first place, it will be yet another of many blights on this pathetic administration of this club. Grow a backbone and hold him to his CHOSEN year of contract or he voluntarily gets released. We should not pay a single cent.

With basically nothing on the market to even really spend it on, I'm inclined to suggest he just stays here for 2021 and we try and get some decent football on it. It's a slim chance, but it's probably the best we have in terms of getting any sort of return on our investment in him after all these years.

 

[Foordy]

With basically nothing on the market to even really spend it on, I'm inclined to suggest he just stays here for 2021 and we try and get some decent football on it. It's a slim chance, but it's probably the best we have in terms of getting any sort of return on our investment in him after all these years.

i agree ... we should keep him unless we can get a gun fullback from somewhere

 

[Kooly87]

i agree ... we should keep him unless we can get a gun fullback from somewhere

We aren't getting a gun Fullback or Dummy Half for the sort of money that only half of Bird's wage would free up though.

If by some miracle he actually gets on the field consistently in 2021 then our best bet for getting a gun Fullback with his money is probably to just retain him.

 

[Big Pete]

It depends on where Bird is at.

If he's keen just to play footy and wants to actually run out with the boys after being on the sidelines these past three years then keep him.

If he's mentally checked out and he's already asked for multiple releases and just wants to go home then I wouldn't force the issue. Regardless, both parties need to move on and the club needs players who are willing to give their all. If the club is forcing a player to serve out their contract, I just don't see that working out especially during the tough times where players have to be unselfish.

 

[Foordy]

We aren't getting a gun Fullback or Dummy Half for the sort of money that only half of Bird's wage would free up though.

If by some miracle he actually gets on the field consistently in 2021 then our best bet for getting a gun Fullback with his money is probably to just retain him.

but i doubt that is all the money we have in the kitty (regardless of what the club say publicly) ... maybe the extra 500k gets us over the line.

looking at things logically, we lose Boyd, Fifita and Kahu ... we'd still have a bit to spend

 

[Sproj]

It depends on where Bird is at.

If he's keen just to play footy and wants to actually run out with the boys after being on the sidelines these past three years then keep him.

If he's mentally checked out and he's already asked for multiple releases and just wants to go home then I wouldn't force the issue. Regardless, both parties need to move on and the club needs players who are willing to give their all. If the club is forcing a player to serve out their contract, I just don't see that working out especially during the tough times where players have to be unselfish.

I don't care if he sits out the whole year back in Sydney and we pay full wage. This club needs to grow a backbone. If he wanted to go home, he shouldn't have taken his player option. There is no business sense in allowing him to take his optional salary and then allow him to play for another club. If he wants out, he gets released completely from his contract. He has given almost nothing to this club (yes, it isn't his fault but it is what it is), he has no right to claim more.

 

[Big Pete]

There are other ways to grow a backbone than holding disgruntled players to ransom, especially under a second new regime.

Allowing situations like this to fester is how the Broncos ended up in this position to begin with.

 

[Wolfie]

There are other ways to grow a backbone than holding disgruntled players to ransom, especially under a second new regime.

Allowing situations like this to fester is how the Broncos ended up in this position to begin with.

I do think its a fair point BP that if he wanted to go home he shouldnt have taken up his option for 2021. After he did this i dont think he should expect us to pick up a portion of his salary so he can leave after he activated his option for next year.