Broncos Roster, Signings and Rumours Discussion 2023

[Fitzy]

Thats the thing though with him, he's not chasing a big payday. He's made the offer to take a bit less so it can be used elsewhere. With all these off contract players we have had, we have only really had him and Patty who have been willing to take a hit on what they could earn for the good of the team.

I dont think it will be Wayne Bennett levels of players being annoyed on how somebody popular gets treated, but there are going to a lot of disgruntled players around if he doesnt get that respect back from the club, and he's not getting it right now. They all know the score, you cant keep everyone, but lowballing can have a very negative effect.

It’s not lowballing. It’s simply saying we don’t have room for you, if you desperately want to stay we could make it work for this much *input sum*. They have given the terms of which they can find value in keeping him. Which is more than a fair thing to do, it’s part of the business.

If the players haven’t figured out the situation in front of the club than they really aren’t smart enough to be formulating an opinion the club should be overly concerned about. Look I’m sure everyone is disappointed this is the situation but if players get disgruntled at the situation then they can put their hand up to walk out of the club instead. I can guarantee none of them want to give up some of their money to help Oatesy stay or the likely mass more that will follow.

Absolutely ridiculous that anyone could possibly think we are going to maintain this entire crop of players so tell me who fixes these issues by leaving better than Corey that has less future value to this club than Oatesy’s likely last 2 effective years?

He is off-contract, he has played 4 games this year, he has had one good season in the last 4 years. It would be gut wrenching to see a super talented player(/s) that can add to the dynasty we are building walk out the door because we decided to keep the winger that has little valuable time left and his absence has barely been felt just so he can be a one club player. The legacy a premiership leaves is way more important than that of Corey’s and that is what we are trying to attain here (lots of them).

Sometimes these things happen to great people, great servants of the club and whilst it sucks for him, the club and the fans he is the logical choice to be shown the door first.

We have to be smart about our approach to retention over the next 24 months and resigning him for much more than he has been offered is just simply not worth losing likely multiple of Cobbo, Staggs, Piakura, Te Kura, Willison, Hetherington, Mozer, Mariner and so on and so on because we tried to keep one to many players and came up a couple 100k short to keep them or god forbid more values soar and we lose nearly all of them. The reality is it is not our god divine right to keep all this talent it’s now up to us to keep as good a football side as possible with an abundance of super talented players within the constraints of the salary cap. We have just presumably lost Herbie (done) and Oates and replaced them with Mariner and Arthars combined on less with Mariner holding the most potential out of the four and Arthars would just about start 85% of nrl backlines. That’s great business and great roster management. Is the backline as good? **** No but we have lost expendable players for heaps of cap space with the least decrease in output the squad could accommodate (especially after they are well established).

The emotion shouldn’t be a factor full stop. Same thing happened with Josh Mansour at Penrith after 2020, he had an excellent year that year but still got shown the door. These things happen. It’s 100% your prerogative to stand there and say no I’d rather keep Oatesy a one club player. But it’s dead fucken ridiculous to expect the club to prioritise his legacy over future performance

Absolutely 100 percent certain the club does not feel Oatesy is only worth 200k or whatever he has been offered. That is just all we can afford. Smart piece of football management business to recognise that they aren’t all going to fit under the one cap and you don’t want to just wait till the last crop of players come off-contract and not have money for them.

Same thing will likely happen with Capes if Peeks and Riki stay at this level, Taupau likely only has a year left here (all be it he is likely on chump change already). It is a really big shame this has to happen to Corey whom is most of ours favourite player but the reality is the right person is getting the flick.

In saying that surely a 1 year deal could be done to keep him next year we should have heaps of cap with no real signings and heaps of expensive players leaving. But we still get to the end of next year and he is on the chopping block again so really it might be best to call it there after 200 games and fingers crossed a premiership.

 

[Lockysillegitimatechild]

I'd be offering him a longer contract in place of the 450,000. Crazy right? But 250 over 4 years is still more overall then he will get out of the current deal total. He is still 28 years old and carrying 250,000 with the new deal on an experienced back up if he goes downhill, the spot would have to be taken up by a 150,000-200,000 qrl quality one anyway.

 

[Finbar]

It's been reported that we are offering more than what his original 2024 PO was worth. If that's the case, I don't see why it is so insulting if we are offering more than he would have got if he took up his option.

 

[Wolfie]

It's been reported that we are offering more than what his original 2024 PO was worth. If that's the case, I don't see why it is so insulting if we are offering more than he would have got if he took up his option.

We arent offering him more than his 2024 player option. Basically, the deal was going to be he would have got a slightly bigger contract than he would have got for 2024 if he rescinded his option. He then went back to the Broncos, and said he would take a bit less so a younger player could get a top up. The Broncos decided a bit less would turn into a lot less.

I'm honestly not sure where the 2025 option stands now. I believe its still active.

 

[Foordy]

I love Oatesy ... and I would absolutely love him to finish his career as a Bronco.

But unfortunately for Oatesy, He's a winger, which on average is the lowest paid position on a rugby league field and at 450k would be among the higher paid wingers.

While He would still be in our best 17 next year, that gap is closing.

 

[LittleDavey]

You need to remember his option he waived wasnt for $450k, thats this years salary, it was less, and he made an offer to take less than the deal he had for 2024. He was never looking at that amount for the 2024 and 2025, the year of his second option. The $250k is what he would be getting with everything on the table. Thats absolutley an insult to him. We cheaped out on Petero years ago and i think its pathetic if we do the same for Oatsey.

I'd hope the club learnt from the Petero debacle, the big man should never have been forced out.

If $100k is the difference, I'm seriously hoping the big heads in the room can make that happen. Yes we have some tough decisions and in the cold hard light of professional sport, Oates probably is the one we can most afford to lose purely from a cap management perspective. But there's more to it than that, it's a team sport and team harmony is so critical.

Surely a couple of others can come together and take $50k less for a year to get Oates over the line. Looking at you Payne, sigh.

 

[Xzei]

We arent offering him more than his 2024 player option. Basically, the deal was going to be he would have got a slightly bigger contract than he would have got for 2024 if he rescinded his option. He then went back to the Broncos, and said he would take a bit less so a younger player could get a top up. The Broncos decided a bit less would turn into a lot less.

I'm honestly not sure where the 2025 option stands now. I believe its still active.

wonder if it is an option to give him 2 years one big the other small so it averages out a bit better?id imagine next year we have more wiggle room than the year after

 

[theshed]

We need to keep Riki. His kick pressure is game changing.
Capewell has not been amazing on the field but apparently great leader.
Piakura is up and coming.

Oates is unfortunately the easiest to replace, although he is right up there with my favourite players.

I do think, there needs to be some reflection by his manager that he got paid a lot when his form did not warrant it, and he probably owes the club as much as it owes him.

I would say Riki and Oates are on par as far as value for money. If we lost Riki and kept Oates I’d probably be just as happy as if the opposite occurred

 

[Wolfie]

wonder if it is an option to give him 2 years one big the other small so it averages out a bit better?id imagine next year we have more wiggle room than the year after

I honestly dont think Corey is asking for anything outlandish. I still think a deal will be done.

I do wonder though, if he keeps his 2025 option could he just activate it and have a contract here for 2025 if he left for a year if they cant come to an agreement. Could be Kahu mkII

 

[theshed]

Erm. He's 28.

What you think is what you think. I think its disgusting the club would treat good servants to the club in that manner. A $200k drop is an insult.

Didn’t he have a player option? So Corey has enacted his option to request a reduction so others could be kept and then got insulted by how low the clubs offer was?

What a mess all round

 

[Wolfie]

Didn’t he have a player option? So Corey has enacted his option to request a reduction so others could be kept and then got insulted by how low the clubs offer was?

What a mess all round

Corey rescinded his option for 2024 at the clubs request. He did agree to take less anyway than his 2024 option would have been. I think $300k would keep him.

 

[Sproj]

Look at the way the current management has gone about things, no one knew Payne was re-signing, in fact many of us thought the opposite. No one knew Mariner was extending, no one knew Arthars was extending and no one knew Patty was extending until it was announced. I find it hard to believe everyone knows what Oates is being offered suddenly and that it is insulting. This is not the way Donuts operates. If anything, I imagine someone said to him, hey mate we've got a few things to work through here, give us some time please so we can make sure we sort this out as best we can but there may be less than you were getting. That said, if you are willing to give us time to sort it out, we'll get the best deal possible.

 

[theshed]

Corey rescinded his option for 2024 at the clubs request. He did agree to take less anyway than his 2024 option would have been. I think $300k would keep him.

It’s a funny one. $300k for Oates is massive value for money but it feels like it isn’t

 

[Wolfie]

Look at the way the current management has gone about things, no one knew Payne was re-signing, in fact many of us thought the opposite. No one knew Mariner was extending, no one knew Arthars was extending and no one knew Patty was extending until it was announced. I find it hard to believe everyone knows what Oates is being offered suddenly and that it is insulting. This is not the way Donuts operates. If anything, I imagine someone said to him, hey mate we've got a few things to work through here, give us some time please so we can make sure we sort this out as best we can but there may be less than you were getting. That said, if you are willing to give us time to sort it out, we'll get the best deal possible.

They asked him to rescind his option, he agreed, then the Broncos moved the goalposts. That bit is simple. The rest is a little bit more complex.

I'm happy enough to back Oates on this one. He's never messed anyone around at the club. He didnt take up his option because he was doing what he believed was good for the club and would be good for him as well. Its not working out like that.

You have to ask yourself, why would he give up a player option ( and he has 2 ) that would still have seen him on a good salary if he didnt have a few guarantees about things. Makes no sense for him to put himself in that position.

 

[theshed]

They asked him to rescind his option, he agreed, then the Broncos moved the goalposts. That bit is simple. The rest is a little bit more complex.

I'm happy enough to back Oates on this one. He's never messed anyone around at the club. He didnt take up his option because he was doing what he believed was good for the club and would be good for him as well. Its not working out like that.

You have to ask yourself, why would he give up a player option ( and he has 2 ) that would still have seen him on a good salary if he didnt have a few guarantees about things. Makes no sense for him to put himself in that position.

Ah cap cheating but they didn’t come through with the brown bag. I see what you’re saying

 

[Galah]

When he’s on the pitch he’s one of my favourites “but” He’s been injured a lot and been paid well for the games he’s missed. If history has shown us anything, injury prone players get even more injured as they get older… there are a few others that need new deals soon and we will be cutting it mighty fine. Need to find that fine line between business and loyalty.

I’m sure it will get sorted though.

 

[Alec]

When he’s on the pitch he’s one of my favourites “but” He’s been injured a lot and been paid well for the games he’s missed. If history has shown us anything, injury prone players get even more injured as they get older… there are a few others that need new deals soon and we will be cutting it mighty fine. Need to find that fine line between business and loyalty.

I’m sure it will get sorted though.

I think that's the key, finding a good balance between team building and loyalty. I think loyalty from the club is important, you can't blame players for not being loyal to the club if the club isn't loyal towards players right back. At the same time you need to build a competitive side. Luckily Oates is still a damn solid player and a fan favourite, I hope they can satisfy him and keep him and show others that they can be taken care off too.

 

[Galah]

I think that's the key, finding a good balance between team building and loyalty. I think loyalty from the club is important, you can't blame players for not being loyal to the club if the club isn't loyal towards players right back. At the same time you need to build a competitive side. Luckily Oates is still a damn solid player and a fan favourite, I hope they can satisfy him and keep him and show others that they can be taken care off too.

All of the players need to start realising that unless they start taking a little less collectively, our premiership window will shut real quick!