Broncos rookies/young players

[Alec]

Now that the season is coming to an end, what do we think of them all?

Pat Carrigan:
Pros: Just above everything other than below
Cons: Loves 4th tackle runs like McGuire used to (but that's a Broncos-wide problem for a while now), occasional penalty magnet (not as much recently).

Tom Dearden:
Pros: Plenty of heart, great running game, works hard in defence, development way ahead of where I thought he'd be at 19.
Cons: Needs to work on ball playing a bit more, but that will come with experience.

Tom Flegler:
Pros: Big raw potential, capable of great games
Cons: Inconsistency, occasional poor hands

Xavier Coates:
Pros: Raw potential, great in the air
Cons: Terrible defence, hasn't shown much in the NRL other than his jumping ability.

Herbie Farnworth:
Pros: Seems like he genuinely wants to turn the Broncos around, has gotten a lot better in the last month or so, pretty cool name
Cons: Still has plenty to work on, name is still not as cool as it could have been if there was an "s" or even two "s"s in there

Cory Paix:
Pros: Seems quick out of dummy half, had that one breakout game
Cons: Not much to his game other than running at the moment, had a chance to show something in the halves and impressed even less.

Ethan Bullemor:
Pros: Seems pretty quick, was apparently good in QLD Cup.
Cons: Dunno what else to say about him, I haven't been particularly impressed yet.

Tesi Niu:
Pros: Pretty high involvement rate for a rookie in his few games
Cons: Just doesn't seem ready at the moment, not buying his next-Lockyer hype either

Jordan Riki:
Not enough of a sample size yet, I mostly just tune off by the time he comes on with all these scorelines.

Sean O'Sullivan:
Pros: Looked OK last year... seems better than Croft?
Cons: Slow, abysmal defence last night.

Jesse Arthars:
Pros: Quick, has been pretty solid this year
Cons: Uh, not sure? One of Seibold's boys? Budget buy from the Titans? If they don't want him, maybe he's actually really shit?

The first 5 are the ones with the most promise so far. Luckily most of them seem to want to be here. They just need someone to guide them.
Anyone else I'm missing?

 

[winslow_wong]

The closest thing we have to the next Lockyer is dearden. Kicks, passes and runs like the man himself. Just need someone to coach and mentor him properly

 

[Mustafur]

The way I see it, if our Talented players can still look half decent in what is probably one of the worst teams in the NRL for over a decade, they will look elite once the team actually starts to play well.

I think Dearden especially has really shined despite having no platform to work off, I'll be surprised if he isn't playing origin within 2 years.

I think Herbie will get really good with time, He is deceptively big and I think once he fills his body out more he will be an unstoppable unit.

 

[I bleed Maroon]

Dearden, Carrigan and Farnworth are the only ones of those listed that I would really rate. Flegler is too much of a penalty/error magnet to be optimistic about and Coates still has a lot to prove. Maranta was quality under the high ball as well and we all know how that turned out. Paix seems to be decent enough but I'm not convinced he can be a first grade hooker yet, and both him and Turpin still very much remain in the "could easily be replaced by a big signing" basket.

 

[Broncs_Fan]

Someone on Twitter said:

‘Carrigan is just a young Aidan Tolman, prove me wrong’.

Found that slightly amusing and close to the bone.

 

[Alec]

Dearden, Carrigan and Farnworth are the only ones of those listed that I would really rate. Flegler is too much of a penalty/error magnet to be optimistic about and Coates still has a lot to prove. Maranta was quality under the high ball as well and we all know how that turned out. Paix seems to be decent enough but I'm not convinced he can be a first grade hooker yet, and both him and Turpin still very much remain in the "could easily be replaced by a big signing" basket.

I'd like to see how Flegler will go when the team isn't mentally broken. I don't think he was anywhere as error prone last year. This year he's been trying to push more offloads, so if the games are closer next year maybe he can simplify his game again. He's very raw, but I think he's still got big potential, can't give up on it yet.

 

[K-Style]

Dearden, Carrigan and Farnworth are the only ones of those listed that I would really rate. Flegler is too much of a penalty/error magnet to be optimistic about and Coates still has a lot to prove. Maranta was quality under the high ball as well and we all know how that turned out. Paix seems to be decent enough but I'm not convinced he can be a first grade hooker yet, and both him and Turpin still very much remain in the "could easily be replaced by a big signing" basket.

Maranta would be an improvement over some of our players (relative to their position in the team).

 

[Finbar]

I think with some good coaching and experienced players that they can look up to around them, plenty of the young fellas will be able to prove themselves as consistent first graders, but whether they get that support remains to be seen. It's also been a hard year for young player development with no QCup and all the chopping and changing we've had to do due to injury.

Carrigan looks the goods, I just wish he would get rid of the footwork he often puts on before contact. He's a big body and should be using that momentum to barge through and win the ruck. I do wonder if it's a coaching issue though, as a lot of our forwards do seem to dance around a bit before contact rather than big barging runs like Webcke, Thorn and Civoniceva used to do.

Dearden is looking sharp for how few games he has played and surpassed Croft easily. Herbie shows a lot of heart and I think has a big future in the game, same with Xavier Coates. Corey Paix tries hard but it's possible he's never going to be a hooker and would be better off continuing his development as a half. Flegler and Bullemor both show promise but I think would both benefit greatly from time in the QCup.

 

[Wolfie]

Carrigan is the pick of our young players. I've been on the Patty bandwagon before there was a Patty bandwagon. Everything he does on and off the field is impressive, he is just a quality human who puts a fair few of our other players to shame. Alongside Haas he has simply carried this forward pack, which considering their ages is ridiculous. Going forward, i hope we manage them better or they will be burned out by the time they hit 25.

 

[Scorchie]

Imagine if we had a guy like Lockyer in the club to mentor/coach the next Lockyer-like player in Dearden. That’d be amazing!

Carrigan, Herbie, Flegler, Dearden, Coates all super

Paix/Riki/Arthars need one more year

SOS, Croft, dunno

 

[Battler]

Someone on Twitter said:

‘Carrigan is just a young Aidan Tolman, prove me wrong’.

Found that slightly amusing and close to the bone.

Lol he's more like a young, smarter Paul Gallen. Makes insane meters, lots of tackles, has plenty of heart, is a leader, and loves the club he plays for.

 

[pennywisealfie]

Carrigan is the pick of our young players. I've been on the Patty bandwagon before there was a Patty bandwagon. Everything he does on and off the field is impressive, he is just a quality human who puts a fair few of our other players to shame. Alongside Haas he has simply carried this forward pack, which considering their ages is ridiculous. Going forward, i hope we manage them better or they will be burned out by the time they hit 25.

Yeah, he's the kind of person we should be aiming to sign, quality dudes off the field. Players that are willing to put in and listen to the coach.

 

[Wolfie]

Lol he's more like a young, smarter Paul Gallen. Makes insane meters, lots of tackles, has plenty of heart, is a leader, and loves the club he plays for.

Dont you dare compare Patrick to that peptide riddled, drug cheating grub.

 

[Xzei]

Dont you dare compare Patrick to that peptide riddled, drug cheating grub.

gallen is/was racist too iirc

 

[jd87]

i hope locky wakes up to himself one day and at least tries to be a mentor/halves coach to some of these players,

he clearly has no knack for management or media

so please locky i beg you give it up and at least try to pass your knowledge on to some of these young players.

 

[Accept]

i hope locky wakes up to himself one day and at least tries to be a mentor/halves coach to some of these players,

he clearly has no knack for management or media

so please locky i beg you give it up and at least try to pass your knowledge on to some of these young players.

**** that. The stench of the last two years needs to be totally exterminated for this club to move forward. Unfortunately, that includes Locky but he made his bed.

 

[jd87]

**** that. The stench of the last two years needs to be totally exterminated for this club to move forward. Unfortunately, that includes Locky but he made his bed.

while i agree he must be gone from any sort of decision making of the club i would still love to see him in some sort of halves coaching role. i mean he could be a dud at that to but for whatever reason he has not even giving it a shot.

just being around them during training and participating could be a real boost for these young players and could help with getting the aura back.
other players have said he was the ultimate professional with his training and a true leader because he just had this aura about him.
even cameron smith has credited alot of his leadership skills to lockyer and how he went about things.

 

[Sproj]

For next year, you stick with these kids and goodness knows who to put in around them:

2. Coates
5. Farnworth
6. Staggs
7. Dearden
10. Haas
13. Carrigan

14. Paix
15. Flegler
17. Riki

Niu, Bullemor and whoever else are not Simply Red(dy).