Broncos Roster, Signings and Rumours Discussion 2025

[Old Mate]

I'm dreading any re-signing news out of the club. Cobbo and Staggs in particular.

As has been posted elsewhere I’d be open to re-signing Staggs if he can show something at lock or second row. Not for his currents worth though. Happy to keep Cobbo also on **** all but.

 

[FACTHUNT]

I would fear Manly signing Haas more than Gus and the Dogs. The Trbojevics are off contract at the same time and CEO Tony Mestrov said earlier this year they were saving cash to have a red hot go at signing Hass when he comes off contract. Payne's partner is also from Manly (Mona Vale) and all her family still live there.

If he leaves Brisbane, I think he is a very good chance of going to Brookvale.

I think he'd need 400k more per year to justify a move given the dependants he has, even then, he's not going to get the same TPA opportunities anywhere outside of maybe Melbourne or the Roosters.

It's just horse-trading at this point, and his manager loves this circus just as much as the journos. Once DCE goes Manly are further from a premiership than us. I think if he leaves it will need to be for ridiculous money, probably only available through French/Japanese Rugby

 

[Fozz]

Honestly good luck to him. He deserves better than us.

‘That door is open’: Broncos bombshell as Haas shopped to NRL rivals amid ‘ugly’ rumblings

‘That door is open’: Broncos bombshell as Haas shopped to NRL rivals amid ‘ugly’ rumblings

www.foxsports.com.au

If his dopey shit of a manager pulls the same stunt as last time, just flick him for 2026 as well.

 

[Midean]

Yea Haas can go.
There is no one in this team I'd be sad to lose from here on out.

If Haas wants team destroying money then he can leave.

 

[Old Mate]

Yeah his manager is a complete **** stick, contracted for another 2 years and pulling this shit. What a clown.

 

[Midean]

Also, Origin Haas was no where to be seen last night.

I'm over the bloke. Yes he is our best player by a long way, but his contract nonsense and his need for spine money can go elsewhere.

Give me a.couple hard working forwards on half the money and I would be just as happy.

Haas is not winning us games and on his money, he should be.

 

[BroncsFan]

As has been posted elsewhere I’d be open to re-signing Staggs if he can show something at lock or second row. Not for his currents worth though. Happy to keep Cobbo also on **** all but.

I don't know what to do with Staggs at this point.

He still doesn't provide workrate from centre, he doesn't have quick hands to setup his winger and his ability as an attacking threat seems to be getting handled by most centres nowadays... last night he also showed that he still comes flying out of the line in defence.

I swear he is the only centre in the comp that comes flying out and tries to jam in on the half receiving the ball instead of the fullback... who taught him that and why has he still not fixed up his defensive decision making.

To me I think he's becoming limited as a centre option moving forward... he's turning 27 this year and I suggested in a different thread that I think he could be great as that 17 jersey for us when we look to to transition Mariner into the centres.

He has that Dylan Walker build about him, so he could be that smaller forward that comes on in the middle and provides ball playing and spark, but then he also covers centre, second row and the halves (to an extent) if injuries occur.

His ball playing doesn't look like it would be anywhere near what Walker provides, but I'm assuming he could act as a link man and he's more physical than Walker, so maybe he turns into the smaller middle with quick ptb's through the middle.

That versatility provides value and he's in the 17 every week because of it, but it's nowhere near $800k and is more likely in the $500-$600k area.

 

[Brocko]

Convinced so many of our attack and forward issues are started by the back 5 and the lack of yardage metres they are making.

They arent getting our sets off to good enough starts in both actual metres and in quick play the balls like every other successful team does, and like every team does against us.

If those first few carries from your back 5 per set aren't good ones, the defensive line is easily able to zone in on the likes of Jensen, Kobe, Baker, Riki etc, who don't offer or run with much punch. They need a quick play the ball and a scattered line or they are just going to go nowhere.

Last night;
Kobe 29m
Jensen 32m
X 75m
Piakura 38m
BTK 48m
Riki 98m
Patty and Payne 139m

It's WAY too reliant on the 2 big dogs for us to make any metres at all, because too many of the others simply don't do it at all.

In backs, 2 of our back 5 didn't even crack 100m. The 3 that did had good numbers though, especially Jesse. It's just the other 2 didn't go with them.

Staggs and Mariner on about 90m.

Staggs on the sorta money he is on and wanting, needs to go looking for ball and doing those hard yardage carries far more often to even come close to justifying a higher salary.

Our defence is it's own issue, and our edges are getting ripped apart because it all starts in field at 2RF. We have no good backrowers and nobody in the backline communicates, and they clearly all have trust issues because they absolutely do not trust the blokes on their inside at all. They jam in or over commit so many times, not trusting the bloke inside to make the right call.

We desperately need to address these issues before offering Haas more money. Yes, he is one of the 2 forwards we have making metres, but paying Haas more doesn't fix the above.

 

[GCBRONCO]

Paix ran for 1 metre, Walters 5. When your dummy halves aren't running from the play the ball looking for metres you got serious issues and I'm not just talking about looking for a try in their 10. How do you even expect to get a roll on with momentum without looking to actually do the work to create it. Can't just expect one pass hitups to get you out of trouble.

 

[mitch222]

As has been posted elsewhere I’d be open to re-signing Staggs if he can show something at lock or second row. Not for his currents worth though. Happy to keep Cobbo also on **** all but.

I wouldn’t even sign cobbo for minimum wage
His attitude ****ing sucks and I’m sick to death of it
**** the no hoper off and get a player that will put in with half the talent and you will still have the better player overall

 

[Midean]

Just a few weeks ago we were all busting Walsh for his attempts at making something happen on every play resulting in a fistfuls of tries and a fistfuls of errors.

What i wouldn't give to have someone like that in the side right now.

Apart from a few occasions with Maam, we didn't look to be creating any attack at all.

I'm literally disgusted byn90% of this team.

I used to back Staggs, Riki and Cobbo.
Not anymore, all three can **** off and play elsewhere.

 

[Morepudding]

we really do need a mass cleanout, a lean 2026 and hopefully a good 2027. We need a full rebuild. All of our players are grossly overrated.

Reynolds, Hetherington, Riki, Staggs, Cobbo, Baker, Paix, Billy, Madden, Hunt and Gos can all go. They don’t really bring anything to us at all. Reynolds is a terrible captain. Not vocal enough and doesn’t seem to have any passion at all. The issue is, I don’t think anyone in our team is good enough as captain. Carrigan tries hard but I don’t think he leads enough either and to be honest, could argue he hasn’t delivered for his coin either.

Next year we could still have a half decent backline and for $1.5m cheaper if we get rid of Cobbo and Staggs.

1. walsh
2. Arthurs
3. Shibasaki
4. Mariner
5. Anderson

That’s honestly not too bad and saves us a bucketload to go and get a decent second row.

 

[dejan]

Gday. First post in this Forum.

From a playing style perspective, we need more support play in attack and faster line speed in defense.

I am not convinced that Mariner and Staggs can be in the same backline together. Collectively just not doing enough. Better team composition would be.
1. Walsh
2. Cobbo - Main meter eater and PCM / receipt player, but definitely not worth a pay increase.
3. Mariner - I am done with Staggs in centre.
4. Shiba
5. Arthars - Our best back this year and last year.

Next year,

1. Walsh
2. Arthurs
3. Shibasaki
4. Mariner
5. Anderson

Doesn't sound too bad at all, as morepudding mentioned.

I'd consider the Staggs on the bench as impact player through the middle though, or 2nd row and 2nd backup if someone gets injured. That would work, but you'd have to still sign him on less or the same amount as current. If that doesn't work, then RIki should go on the bench instead.

I'd also keep Piakura / Willison 2nd row combination. According to the stats per minutes played, they are the best option out of all our second-row combinations. Riki is just missing too many tackles, and Piakura effort areas have improved a lot more. He should be defending next to Reyno instead. Willison has helped that left side defense a bit more too.

CJ and BTK do fine on the bench, they are solid. And Paix is definitely our best defensive hooker, but he needs to run more, which is what Walters does, and I feel like Walters has a bigger presence when playing than Paix.

Even something like this would help with leg speed and better bench utilisation.

9. Walters - Hooker / Utility

14. Staggs - Center backup / Hooker (Staggs used to be a half, so I am sure he can manage a few minutes in the middle for Walters to catch his breath)
15. CJ
16. BTK
17. Riki - Second Row backup / Middle （Could help with the rotation of Willison/Kobe/Piakura. And his stats through the middle aren't too bad, it is just that Piakura and Willison are better in 2nd row starting.

Madge just needs to try something wild to invoke a reaction from the squad. Weed out the weak players that are causing this turmoil.

 

[Aldo]

Something in me actually feels like Payne is part of the problem.

I know this will upset a few here but Carrigan could be too.

 

[Waynesaurus]

I know this will upset a few here but Carrigan could be too.

Add Reynolds to it as well.

The leadership guys are cooked because there is no leadership.

 

[Aldo]

All I know is that we can't keep going with basically the same squad moving forward. There needs to be a cleanout. We've persisted with a lot of these guys for years and haven't got a lot of return on our investment. I think multiple changes will be good for both player and club. We need to go in another direction.

 

[Old Mate]

Gday. First post in this Forum.

From a playing style perspective, we need more support play in attack and faster line speed in defense.

I am not convinced that Mariner and Staggs can be in the same backline together. Collectively just not doing enough. Better team composition would be.
1. Walsh
2. Cobbo - Main meter eater and PCM / receipt player, but definitely not worth a pay increase.
3. Mariner - I am done with Staggs in centre.
4. Shiba
5. Arthars - Our best back this year and last year.

Next year,

1. Walsh
2. Arthurs
3. Shibasaki
4. Mariner
5. Anderson

Doesn't sound too bad at all, as morepudding mentioned.

I'd consider the Staggs on the bench as impact player through the middle though, or 2nd row and 2nd backup if someone gets injured. That would work, but you'd have to still sign him on less or the same amount as current. If that doesn't work, then RIki should go on the bench instead.

I'd also keep Piakura / Willison 2nd row combination. According to the stats per minutes played, they are the best option out of all our second-row combinations. Riki is just missing too many tackles, and Piakura effort areas have improved a lot more. He should be defending next to Reyno instead. Willison has helped that left side defense a bit more too.

CJ and BTK do fine on the bench, they are solid. And Paix is definitely our best defensive hooker, but he needs to run more, which is what Walters does, and I feel like Walters has a bigger presence when playing than Paix.

Even something like this would help with leg speed and better bench utilisation.

9. Walters - Hooker / Utility

14. Staggs - Center backup / Hooker (Staggs used to be a half, so I am sure he can manage a few minutes in the middle for Walters to catch his breath)
15. CJ
16. BTK
17. Riki - Second Row backup / Middle （Could help with the rotation of Willison/Kobe/Piakura. And his stats through the middle aren't too bad, it is just that Piakura and Willison are better in 2nd row starting.

Madge just needs to try something wild to invoke a reaction from the squad. Weed out the weak players that are causing this turmoil.

I’m just repeating myself now through a few threads but I’m right on board the Staggs to the forwards train now. Hetherington is putrid, could see Staggs (hopefully) doing a job there or off the bench.

 

[Kaz]

Something in me actually feels like Payne is part of the problem.

He makes the metres, but he doesn't smash the players in tackles.