Broncos Roster, Signings and Rumours Discussion 2023

[Strop]

I’d like to think that ARey would be a dominant motivator for him on and off the field. I don’t think he has had anyone stand up to him during his time at the Titans. He needs some tough love from an older head.

 

[nopatience101]

He’s great as a impact bench forward, but unless he wants to be paid like one it’s a firm pass.

It just sounds like typical newscorp rubbish, probably got the idea from here, doubt there’s much to it.

 

[Brotherdu]

Normally I think you'd be right but there are three things to factor in here:
1. As mentioned, he has had the offers from Canberra and the Gold Coast for months and hasn't moved on either of them AND we know he never wanted to leave the Broncs in the first place
2. And this is the big one BUT there are no quotes and it is the media, so high chance it is made up, this is of MASSIVE interest to me: "Fifita's management reportedly approached Brisbane officials to gauge their interest in a return." - Read that carefully - it is HIS management (if true) who have instigated it, that is HUGE...if true
3. We had no idea about any of Walsh, Herbie, Flegs, Madden or Taupau until like 5 minutes before it happened - is this trend continuing here?

I take your other points, but not sure what you mean 'he never wanted to leave in the first place'. He chose to leave, chasing the big $$. It's not like we kicked him out or told him he wasn't in out plans a'la Turpin, Kahu, Milford, Niu, Sucko etc.

If he didn't want to leave he could have signed with us, from memory we offered him around 700k, which is very respectable for a 21yr old. He chose the money, pure and simple.

 

[Browny]

$350k as a bench player.
anything more is a joke

 

[BooKhaki]

Some of the chat about Fifita not being worth money kinda highlights that a lot of you only watch Broncos games. Fifita has been good for the Titans, and easily in the top 5 backrowers in the comp. If he was on 600k instead of 1.3m all of these bitter, uninformed opinions would be gone.

The bloke is 23yrs old, and absolutely worth 650-800k pending salary cap, and we should be trying to get him back.

 

[Waynesaurus]

The bloke is 23yrs old, and absolutely worth 650-800k pending salary cap, and we should be trying to get him back.

Yep....................... if you had the choice between Flegler or Fifita for 650-800k its a no brainer you take the gamble on Fifita at that price and squeeze in another cheapy middle forward from somewhere.

 

[BroncsFan]

I'm all for it with Flegs dollars moving on.. Patty is absolutely the priority signing for us... he needs to be upgraded and extended ASAP.

The club are then keen on Haas and would need to be working towards that. That basically sorts out the middles with role players needed to fill in around them (Kobe, Jensen, etc.)

Fifita hasn't looked all that interested at the titans because I get the sense he doesn't really want to be there... it just would've been stupidity to turn your back on the offer made to him price. When titans do manage to give him the ball though he is still blitzing teams... they're just fucking shit at using him. I get the feeling it's been some poor coaching that has resulted in Fifita's form over the last few years.

When he was with us he was looking like a qld regular for 10yrs and already getting into Aust sides... had a smile on his face and it took the titans competing against themselves to pry him away.

We've got no depth in the second row and our best one is on the wrong side of 30... so there is room for us to make a signing like this at the right price. If you can get Fifita for basically anything under what Flegler just signed for, then you've managed to pick up an absolute weapon, at a very good price, whilst providing good balance to the team.

I get the sense that he doesn't want to relocate to Canberra... before he signed with titans he turned down a massive deal from Souths because he didn't want to go to Sydney. Based on that it could basically be between him staying at titans or coming back to us.... get it done

 

[Kimlo]

I'm all for it with Flegs dollars moving on.. Patty is absolutely the priority signing for us... he needs to be upgraded and extended ASAP.

The club are then keen on Haas and would need to be working towards that. That basically sorts out the middles with role players needed to fill in around them (Kobe, Jensen, etc.)

Fifita hasn't looked all that interested at the titans because I get the sense he doesn't really want to be there... it just would've been stupidity to turn your back on the offer made to him price. When titans do manage to give him the ball though he is still blitzing teams... they're just fucking shit at using him. I get the feeling it's been some poor coaching that has resulted in Fifita's form over the last few years.

When he was with us he was looking like a qld regular for 10yrs and already getting into Aust sides... had a smile on his face and it took the titans competing against themselves to pry him away.

We've got no depth in the second row and our best one is on the wrong side of 30... so there is room for us to make a signing like this at the right price. If you can get Fifita for basically anything under what Flegler just signed for, then you've managed to pick up an absolute weapon, at a very good price, whilst providing good balance to the team.

I get the sense that he doesn't want to relocate to Canberra... before he signed with titans he turned down a massive deal from Souths because he didn't want to go to Sydney. Based on that it could basically be between him staying at titans or coming back to us.... get it done

Unless Wayne throws big dollars at him.

 

[BroncsFan]

Unless Wayne throws big dollars at him.

I didn't want to drag them into the rumour as well ... BHQ have created the rumour can we materialise it into bringing him home

 

[Mick_Hancock]

I’m torn on this one.

On one hand, sure bring the boy home and play footy with his mates. Maybe that will put a spring back in his step and he’ll play well.

On the other hand, IF we did welcome him back home, it would have to be with a few conditions:
1) Half your current salary.
2) Learn to fkn tackle and defend
3) Contract torn up for “Milford like” fitness and general laziness
4) Contract torn up for off field incidents
5) most important… NO BUMBAGS! We’re building a football team to win multiple premierships, not a teenage after school care centre. Unless you’re a trainer, out on the field administering first aid, NO BUMBAGS!

 

[Mick_Hancock]

I didn't want to drag them into the rumour as well ... BHQ have created the rumour can we materialise it into bringing him home

Well I don’t want to start any more rumours…but it’s ok, because Pete Badel definitely does not read this forum..

I heard Munster, Grant and Welch want out of their contracts to come to the broncos in 2024. Bellamy as a coaching consultant.

Please just keep this between us, I would hate for this to get to the media and materialise.

 

[Super Freak]

Some of the chat about Fifita not being worth money kinda highlights that a lot of you only watch Broncos games. Fifita has been good for the Titans, and easily in the top 5 backrowers in the comp.

The people saying he was "easily in the top 5 backrowers in the comp" didn't watch the rest of the comp.

He wasn't even close to being in the top 5. Maybe in 2021, but in 2022 he was wildly inconsistent and at times looked very much out of shape. He was lazy and went missing a lot when the Titans needed him. He had some good moments, but there was more bad than good.

Nanai, Koloamatangi, Kikau, Papali'i, Lane, Olakau'atu, Crichton and several others had better seasons than him.

 

[BroncsFan]

Well I don’t want to start any more rumours…but it’s ok, because Pete Badel definitely does not read this forum..

I heard Munster, Grant and Welch want out of their contracts to come to the broncos in 2024. Bellamy as a coaching consultant.

Please just keep this between us, I would hate for this to get to the media and materialise.

I've heard similar... that's two sources close to the player that could end up being used in a newspaper article as unnamed sources

 

[Mick_Hancock]

I've heard similar... that's two sources close to the player that could end up being used in a newspaper article as unnamed sources

Tell no one

 

[Swordfish]

Before he’s signed, I would want to lock up Payne & Patty for extended periods. Then the priority should be Reece, Cobbo, M3’s(Mariner, Mozer & Mam).

Once we’ve all the priority players locked up until say, 2027-2028, then Fifita can be looked at depending on what’s available & how badly he wants to comeback. But this time, our people in charge must make it a point that IF a contract is made, he should sign it on the day it’s prepared. No shit show of making it sit there waiting to be signed.

 

[Sproj]

Before he’s signed, I would want to lock up Payne & Patty for extended periods. Then the priority should be Reece, Cobbo, M3’s(Mariner, Mozer & Mam).

Once we’ve all the priority players locked up until say, 2027-2028, then Fifita can be looked at depending on what’s available & how badly he wants to comeback. But this time, our people in charge must make it a point that IF a contract is made, he should sign it on the day it’s prepared. No shit show of making it sit there waiting to be signed.

You'd imagine that because of the risk, Patty and Payne would be consulted for their thoughts. If you are building around these two guys, give them some ownership.

 

[BroncsFan]

Before he’s signed, I would want to lock up Payne & Patty for extended periods. Then the priority should be Reece, Cobbo, M3’s(Mariner, Mozer & Mam).

Once we’ve all the priority players locked up until say, 2027-2028, then Fifita can be looked at depending on what’s available & how badly he wants to comeback. But this time, our people in charge must make it a point that IF a contract is made, he should sign it on the day it’s prepared. No shit show of making it sit there waiting to be signed.

I think that's a dangerous level of long term contracts to be handing out. Handing out long deals and being stuck with horrible contracts is what has brought us down to our current level.

Ikin has dealt almost exclusively in 3yr deals or 2yr extensions... that's a good place to be with contracts because it keeps flexibility with the roster and removes risks of terrible contracts becoming a burden.

Even Arey, as a huge signing for us, is off contract end of next year... 3yr deals are a good sweet spot where if a deal goes bad it doesn't become the end of the world. If Reynolds wants to go around again he can be extended by a year... representing a much lower risk than an initial upfront 4yr deal.

For comparison Staggs signed a 4yr deal and there's already thoughts that it's a bad deal and some would've preferred Herbie being kept over him. I think Staggs was our last 4yr deal ... or maybe Cobbo extended out to a 4yr deal last year??... but we're kind of stuck with Staggs now. Herbie has now left, and Mariner is off contract soonish as well. The 4yr deal for Staggs starts to become a burden if he has a poor year again this year.

Patty is one that is absolutely in a prime position for a long upgrade and extension, and I'd hope Ikin is setting up plans to sort it out. He's still young, but his potential is being realised and he is already a consistent high quality player... therefore he is a low risk when it comes to a long term deal.

Cobbo, Mam and Mozer extended last year ... Mariner the year before. These guys are in the infancy of their careers and could flop at any point.

Haas is now in the mold of not wanting to sign long term deals... I beleive he said last year (or the year before) that he has regrets signing the 6yr deal because of how long it locks him in... even though the broncos upgraded him anyway. I daresay there's a chance Haas doesn't complete a new deal until next off season as he's not off contract until 2025.

Reece only signed last year... so I'd say they're not thinking about an extension until next off season at the earliest and that's if he absolutely kills it and they want to lock him in as soon as possible.

 

[BroncosFever]

You'd think if we are able to sign him on a deal similar to what Dolphins are paying for Tom Flegler, that would be a good deal