Broncos star back as Jensen plays for his future

The return of Brisbane prop Payne Haas from a skin infection has come at just the right time in the wake of young gun Xavier Willison’s broken arm.

Haas was on a drip in hospital last Thursday night to treat a cut on his leg that got infected and missed the 60-14 win over South Sydney but he’s back in business for the away showdown with high-flying Melbourne.

Thursday night’s clash is a test of sixth-placed Brisbane’s premiership credentials as they target a spot in the top four.

It is also another chance for off-contract 31-year-old prop Corey Jensen to shine and showcase why he deserves a new deal.

Jensen is in his fourth season at the Broncos and has played 80 games for the club.

The salary cap for next year is tight but Jensen wants an extension.

“We are still working on that but ... hopefully I can get myself sorted and stay for a couple of years and keep building,” Jensen said.

“I am hoping I will be able to stay around. It’s looking good where we are going in the future. There is a lot of young, great talent.”

Haas’s return will be crucial at AAMI Park on a night when the Storm get rampaging prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona back from a two-game suspension.

“He will be right to go,” Jensen said of Haas.

“It was a good chance to have a reset. He’s had a few bumps and bruises along the way but he doesn’t like missing games.

“He’s probably the best front-rower in the game so to have him mentally and physically fresh is going to be a huge against Melbourne for us.”

Brisbane’s front-row stocks are skinny. Ben Te Kura (foot) is also out of action while veteran Martin Taupau was released by the club midseason.

Rookie front-rower Ben Talty has done everything asked of him in his three games. The 26-year-old has scored two tries and won all three of his games off the bench since signing midyear.

Also prop Fletcher Baker has made a comeback from injury for Burleigh after a 10-week absence.

“Fletcher had a bit of a neck issue but had his first game of Queensland Cup on the weekend and from all reports pulled through and will be available if called upon,” Jensen said.

The Broncos are also without back-rower Brendan Piakura (concussion) against the Storm due to his 11-day stand down.

Jensen said the Broncos “got a lot of things right” against the Rabbitohs, including being patient and getting in the grind early before putting the foot down in attack.

They will likely need even more against the Storm at a venue where the Broncos have not won since 2016.

“We are under no illusion they are a great side and even better at home so it will be a good test for us and a nice gauge of where we are at,” Jensen said.

Sydney Morning Herald

 

[Allo]

Provided he isn’t asking for anything extraordinarily unreasonable, we’d be very stupid to not re-sign him until the kids are ready to properly take over

 

[The Strapper]

Provided he isn’t asking for anything extraordinarily unreasonable, we’d be very stupid to not re-sign him until the kids are ready to properly take over

Yes I definitely think we should re-sign him but I am not buying this 'salary cap is tight' line.
We are not currently a top four club and haven't been all season so if our salary cap is tight then some of our guys are being overpaid. If the salary cap is tight then we should be in the top four or our retention staff have stuffed up with some of the players contracts and have got them on overs.
They should be hauled before the board for a please explain how this has occurred.
I would also not buy the 'paid on potential' line. Nobody should be paid on potential as if they don't deliver you can't just reduce their contract whereas if they are playing above their value you can always give them an upgrade.

 

[Renegade]

sign him up, he isn't breaking the bank and is super reliable, no frills, low maintenance.

basically, if he played for the storm, we'd be screaming why can't we keep hold of those sorts of players?

 

[Skathen]

Yes I definitely think we should re-sign him but I am not buying this 'salary cap is tight' line.
We are not currently a top four club and haven't been all season so if our salary cap is tight then some of our guys are being overpaid. If the salary cap is tight then we should be in the top four or our retention staff have stuffed up with some of the players contracts and have got them on overs.
They should be hauled before the board for a please explain how this has occurred.
I would also not buy the 'paid on potential' line. Nobody should be paid on potential as if they don't deliver you can't just reduce their contract whereas if they are playing above their value you can always give them an upgrade.

You remember who we are and how much the media blows smoke up the arse of every new player we have right?

The Sydney media game has been destroying our salary cap for over 2 decades very successfully. Every player thinks they are the next coming of "insert Immortal or future Immortal here" and demand overs, demand NRL time when they aren't ready etc.

The players we stress about keeping, you just know if we can't land outrageous TPAs, we're paying overs for.

 

[The Strapper]

You remember who we are and how much the media blows smoke up the arse of every new player we have right?

The Sydney media game has been destroying our salary cap for over 2 decades very successfully. Every player thinks they are the next coming of "insert Immortal or future Immortal here" and demand overs, demand NRL time when they aren't ready etc.

The players we stress about keeping, you just know if we can't land outrageous TPAs, we're paying overs for.

This is probably one of the reasons why we haven't won a comp for about the same period of time.

The coaching staff need to grow some balls and tell some of these guys what the real situation is.

The storm don't operate like that and look how they have been going. There are many things I don't like about the storm but the way they handle player contracts is not one of them.

We are better off long term letting a guy go (or even not signing him in the first place) rather than paying overs to keep/sign him and risk stuffing up our salary cap.

 

[Skathen]

The storm don't operate like that and look how they have been going. There are many things I don't like about the storm but the way they handle player contracts is not one of them.

I'd go as far to say, that the recruitment, talent scout programs and retention side of the club is a massive contributor to why the Storm are evergreen and we can't get it up half the time.

I was hoping when Donuts turned up, we would start to see green shoots and look, there's the occasional one coming through. But nothing close to the Storm system yet. We don't have blokes that will be happy to be NRL grade and yet toil way at the lower grades waiting for their turn.

The only two areas where we actually have decent stocks right now are wingers and rakes. Everywhere else, they are either completely unproven or don't have the gears in their game to go from good to great.

 

[1910]

Yes I definitely think we should re-sign him but I am not buying this 'salary cap is tight' line.
We are not currently a top four club and haven't been all season so if our salary cap is tight then some of our guys are being overpaid. If the salary cap is tight then we should be in the top four or our retention staff have stuffed up with some of the players contracts and have got them on overs.
They should be hauled before the board for a please explain how this has occurred.
I would also not buy the 'paid on potential' line. Nobody should be paid on potential as if they don't deliver you can't just reduce their contract whereas if they are playing above their value you can always give them an upgrade.

It's tight because they've gone the Storm model of putting all your money at the front- Carrigan, Haas, Hunt, Reynolds, Walsh and Mam.

Like the Storm the squeeze is then on down the line, where you lose bit players who can get more what they are worth somewhere else like Jensen.

The trick is to replace those bit players or keep them and your big end of town be producing big end of town performances.

 

[xilliun]

Fletcher Baker commentary gets the juices flowing