Broncos Roster, Signings and Rumours Discussion 2025

[Hoshsie]

I thought willison was underwhleming as hell compared to what i thought

 

[winslow_wong]

I actually still really rate Piakura. I think in a good structure and a simple game plan he is a weapon. He’s just young and needs to work on his defence and fuel tank.

I think he has a much higher ceiling than Riki. He just should have never been handed an 80 minute role with no depth at all.

At this stage of his career, he’s perfect for the bench as we saw at the end of 2023.

 

[Bucking Beads]

I actually still really rate Piakura. I think in a good structure and a simple game plan he is a weapon. He’s just young and needs to work on his defence and fuel tank.

I think he has a much higher ceiling than Riki. He just should have never been handed an 80 minute role with no depth at all.

He’s a good footballer if he can learn to defend and stay on the park.

 

[Big Del]

Better than Baker but still a bit of a penalty magnet and has at least two errrors per game if I recall his playing style correctly.

Baker had groin surgery in the off season .
He has skills and can do some damage with his tackling . I`m willing to give him this preseason to get properly fit , then see during the trials where he`s at .
Fataigue can make good players look bad . I want to see him fully fit before I say - yeah , nah .

 

[Jedhead]

Baker had groin surgery in the off season .
He has skills and can do some damage with his tackling . I`m willing to give him this preseason to get properly fit , then see during the trials where he`s at .
Fataigue can make good players look bad . I want to see him fully fit before I say - yeah , nah .

I’ll go with your better judgment but I’ll be caning you if he turns out to be the dud I think he is

 

[Big Del]

I’ll go with your better judgment but I’ll be caning you if he turns out to be the dud I think he is

I love a good redemption story .

 

[Bongo]

Baker had groin surgery in the off season .
He has skills and can do some damage with his tackling . I`m willing to give him this preseason to get properly fit , then see during the trials where he`s at .
Fataigue can make good players look bad . I want to see him fully fit before I say - yeah , nah .

Yeah we don't always know what injuries people are carrying. Sometimes playing tough can look like poor form. I think Baker has the components. Hopefully it all comes together.

 

[1910]

He’s a bloody big boy. What odds he should be learning how to defend in the back row as well?

He is tall, it gets him in trouble, he got suspended this year for dumping guys on their head. He gets in some awkward tackling positions.

 

[Big Del]

Yeah we don't always know what injuries people are carrying. Sometimes playing tough can look like poor form.

I think that was the case with Cobbo .
Here`s hoping for redemption for several Broncos .

 

[Bucking Beads]

He is tall, it gets him in trouble, he got suspended this year for dumping guys on their head. He gets in some awkward tackling positions.

Tall and rangy. Kind of reminds me of a young Yeo with more speed. Interesting to see how he develops.

 

[Emanon]

I guess it depends on who we can get as too how we recruit and how Maguire structures the side. That excess of number 9's isn't helping though.

It does make me wonder if we would shift Carrigan to prop and Hetherington to lock with Smoothy capable of covering both lock and dummy half off the bench to utilise it better?

 

[YeahNahMate]

I actually still really rate Piakura. I think in a good structure and a simple game plan he is a weapon. He’s just young and needs to work on his defence and fuel tank.

I think he has a much higher ceiling than Riki. He just should have never been handed an 80 minute role with no depth at all.

Agreed

I don’t know what his life is like outside of footy so I could be completely wrong, though he doesn’t strike me as someone that takes his footy too seriously at this stage of his career.

Like you said he’s got all the talent in the world, if he can just get a bit fitter it would help him with those lapses in defence

 

[YeahNahMate]

I guess it depends on who we can get as too how we recruit and how Maguire structures the side. That excess of number 9's isn't helping though.

It does make me wonder if we would shift Carrigan to prop and Hetherington to lock with Smoothy capable of covering both lock and dummy half off the bench to utilise it better?

I’ve been having a play with the possible team list & was wondering if Madge might start Kobe at 9 and maybe bring him off around the 30 minute mark and just use him as a middle for the rest of the game. (Have one hooker on the bench to play the rest of the game when he comes off)

Sort’ve like what Brandon Smith was doing for storm in 2021.

A middle of 8. Jensen 9.Kobe 10. Haas 13. Carrigan would be pretty brutal defensively

Though of course Kobe hasn’t played 9 in a long time, could beat turning Smoothy into a lock though?

 

[Emanon]

I’ve been having a play with the possible team list & was wondering if Madge might start Kobe at 9 and maybe bring him off around the 30 minute mark and just use him as a middle for the rest of the game. (Have one hooker on the bench to play the rest of the game when he comes off)

Sort’ve like what Brandon Smith was doing for storm in 2021.

A middle of 8. Jensen 9.Kobe 10. Haas 13. Carrigan would be pretty brutal defensively

Though of course Kobe hasn’t played 9 in a long time, could beat turning Smoothy into a lock though?

Smoothy did a decent job covering there this season, but it would remain to be seen how it would go.

A completely left field option would be Carrigan in the 6. While he doesn't have the kicking game, he would be able to steer the team around and stick to the structure without changing his combo with Haas imo.

I'm not sure where that leaves Mam, but it might be an option after Reynolds retires.

 

[Big Del]

I’ve been having a play with the possible team list & was wondering if Madge might start Kobe at 9 and maybe bring him off around the 30 minute mark and just use him as a middle for the rest of the game. (Have one hooker on the bench to play the rest of the game when he comes off)

Sort’ve like what Brandon Smith was doing for storm in 2021.

A middle of 8. Jensen 9.Kobe 10. Haas 13. Carrigan would be pretty brutal defensively

Though of course Kobe hasn’t played 9 in a long time, could beat turning Smoothy into a lock though?

Kobe isn`t a hooker .
Passing off the ground consistently is a fcken lot harder than it looks .
The difference between Billy`s and Mozer`s passes is day and night .

Haas / Jensen / Carrigan are not feared by the opposition . Hetherington might put on a shot occasionally . Aggression in defence was definitely missing this season

 

[YeahNahMate]

Smoothy did a decent job covering there this season, but it would remain to be seen how it would go.

A completely left field option would be Carrigan in the 6. While he doesn't have the kicking game, he would be able to steer the team around and stick to the structure without changing his combo with Haas imo.

I'm not sure where that leaves Mam, but it might be an option after Reynolds retires.

If you’re going to do that I think moving Haas to 7 might bring out the best of their combination, like you said solves our 7 problem when Reyno retires

 

[YeahNahMate]

Kobe isn`t a hooker .
Passing off the ground consistently is a fcken lot harder than it looks .
The difference between Billy`s and Mozer`s passes is day and night .

Yeah idk was just looking at all options considering apparently Madge doesn’t like carrying a hooker on the bench