Broncos youngsters under threat from poachers.

[1910]

@1910, I'll happily agree with you regarding Parcell. You could argue that what got Parcell over the line in terms of attraction to NRL clubs was actually playing him in the top grade, on national TV, but his ability and development was predominantly Q-Cup (Broncos pre-season and pre-game training notwithstanding).

What does interest me though is this - did he want to get a gig with the Broncos, or was his playing with the Jets just a platform? Ie, playing for any NRL-affiliated club would suffice? If it's the former, than surely he would have known that he'd be stuck behind McCullough? Or with the uncertainty surrounding the potential Smith recruitment, did he see or was he advised that Macca isn't as safe as first thought? Or further to that, was a starting position with Brisbane not a necessity, just a Top 25 spot? If it's the latter, ie, his priority was to get any NRL gig, then I can fully understand, and admit that he "used" the Broncos to get exposure just as much as the Broncos "used" him to fill in for Nikorima.

Taylor though, he can get ****ed. If JNik goes too, they can both board the HMAS Go **** Yourself together, hand in hand. They've been in the Broncos system for a long time, and the moment they think they are "ready" for the NRL they completely forget how much time & patience the Broncos have shown with them.

On Bennett's quote, in my opinion it can't be just written off. Someone of his deliberate, purposeful public comments wouldn't use a line like that unless he could back it up. So far Taylor is the only one confirmed, and I'll accept that he's one we were willing to let go. Jayden though is a different story, and I will be disappointed if he goes. Not because I think we desperately need him, but because it will mean that either Bennett has resorted to comments that he knows he can't back up, but are spoken to placate fans, or worse, he (and the Broncos) don't have the ability to retain talent as much as they thought.

He's a local junior, his dad captained the Jets and his grandpa played for Australia from Ipswich; I think he was always going to play for the Jets. He'd be the next captain too if he was staying. But he has to take this chance; he's too good to play anymore ISC and at 22 this is his shot.

He got offered a second tier contract last year and naturally took it; he's played NRL now and given the choice between more ISC and maybe NRL or 3 years not having to worry about training for free and match payments with the second tier cap and maybe not being allowed to play at all he took the Manly offer.

Anyone that says they would do differently I say liar.

 

[1910]

I suspect if they'd told the Broncos that they would be jumping ship the first time a big paycheck or position comes up, the Broncos would not have invested as heavily in them.

At 12?

Look thanks Broncos but if my path is ever blocked by my brother and two really good young halves I might seek employment elsewhere.

Hell of a vision.

 

[1910]

Too many people are way too emotive (fans) about this and dishonest- Oh I'd play ISC forever and forgo my NRL career just so the Broncos say well done good servant.

OH PLEASE!

Those same people have Jono still playing reserves at the Dogs? Sherwin and Anasta had his path blocked and he left because he thought he was playing well enough to play NRL.

 

[broncos4life]

Too many people are way too emotive (fans) about this and dishonest- Oh I'd play ISC forever and forgo my NRL career just so the Broncos say well done good servant.

OH PLEASE!

Those same people have Jono still playing reserves at the Dogs? Sherwin and Anasta had his path blocked and he left because he thought he was playing well enough to play NRL.

I have taken a screenshot of this so that if anyone ever asks for a good explanation of exaggeration and hyperbole I can just show them this post, thank you.

 

[Morkel]

I suspect if there was an opportunity to play first grade at Brisbane, they wouldn't be jumping ship. Fact is there isn't that opportunity available. So what are they to do? Waste away their career waiting for a chance, or fulfill their dreams elsewhere? You're looking at this through the eyes of a diehard fan, not of an 18/19/20yo that has no obvious opportunity to play first grade NRL at their current club. It's not as if they're in business and they have 20-30 years ahead of them to slowly move up. They've got 10 years, if they're lucky.

Besides, by being a prick about it and forcing them to stay, you're not only hurting your chances signing other youngsters in the future by making them rot in the reserves(might influence others if they feel they're gonna be locked down no matter what), you're cruelling your chances of perhaps re-signing them down the track when an opportunity is presented.

When was the last time a team had both halves play every game of a season? It's entirely likely that next year Hunt will be playing Origin, and that's before any potential injuries or suspensions. As we saw with Norman, the best plans for the future can change in a heartbeat. To say there's zero opportunity to play first grade is just silly. There's a glaring example of patience & loyalty staring them in the face. A player who arguably is a better player than he would have been had he jumped ship early.

At 12?

Look thanks Broncos but if my path is ever blocked by my brother and two really good young halves I might seek employment elsewhere.

Hell of a vision.

Because they don't regularly sit down and outline plans moving forward? No one's sat down with any of these players and said "what are your intentions"?

 

[Morkel]

Too many people are way too emotive (fans) about this and dishonest- Oh I'd play ISC forever and forgo my NRL career just so the Broncos say well done good servant.

OH PLEASE!

Those same people have Jono still playing reserves at the Dogs? Sherwin and Anasta had his path blocked and he left because he thought he was playing well enough to play NRL.

My apologies. That really did open my eyes. Sherwin & Anasta have been long standing servants to the Bulldogs, their loyalty and standing within the club unmatched, which is why they both recently retired as one-club heroes and respected players in the game.

You seriously just made my point. Had Thurston wanted to play for the Bulldogs, he would have had to simply wait one more year. This year would potentially have been his tenth as a Bulldogs half.

 

[1910]

My apologies. That really did open my eyes. Sherwin & Anasta have been long standing servants to the Bulldogs, their loyalty and standing within the club unmatched, which is why they both recently retired as one-club heroes and respected players in the game.

You seriously just made my point. Had Thurston wanted to play for the Bulldogs, he would have had to simply wait one more year. This year would potentially have been his tenth as a Bulldogs half.

Sherwin had just re-signed for 5 years when Jono decided to leave and Anasta was the Origin and Test player.

Hard to argue he made a bad call.

 

[Socnorb]

There's no way we can legitimately criticize any of these guys who take opportunities as they arise. Football is a professional sport on both sides of the fence, the clubs and the players need to be bloody minded about their futures. the players forfeit the beginning of their working careers, and risk their lifetime earning potential to play football, and need to maximise their potential at the top level, lets not forget that leaving the Broncos is also a massive risk, just ask anyone who has gone to the tigers or the titans. They're sort after as players because they back their ability, and its not surprising that they do the same when dealing with their futures. So disappointed, yes, for all of them. But good luck, and come back to play for QLD

 

[1910]

Great in hindsight all these experts saying see Sherwin didn't see out his deal but who said that at the time; it was a five year deal who waits behind that? Would a young half go to Manly at the moment? Just be patient for 8 years and then the spot could be yours.

Of course DCE could retire tomorrow but who knows that.

There is a time for being patient, I praise Munster for going to the Storm; and learning from Slater and playing ISC and NRL and he'll be a better player for it. But if Slater was 25 I wouldn't be advising Munster to do that.

 

[broncos4life]

There is middle ground that is being missed because people are taking this discussion to the extremes on both sides of the fence.

I agree that players shouldn't hang around if they can't play first grade, but I also think that a little bit of patience isn't too much to ask either.

I mean some are acting like Taylor for instance has played NRL off and on for years and can't get a permanent spot, when in reality he is 19/20, hasn't played a second of NRL and has only played a handful of Q Cup.

The likelihood is our incumbent halves will remain that so his path is blocked to an extent, however opportunities would have presented themselves next year if he was playing good football. He chose to not wait for his chance and jump at the Titans offer, that is completely fine and I can't say I wouldn't do the same if I was in his position; but at the same time to expect fans to believe that he had no choice and act like it's perfectly reasonable to jump ship if your a 19 year old with no NRL experience and the club isn't spreading its legs for you is a bit rich.

 

[Unbreakable]

Would a young half go to Manly at the moment?

Yes, why wouldn't they? As far as I know it's only DCE there at the moment, with nobody to partner him for 2016.

 

[Morkel]

Sherwin had just re-signed for 5 years when Jono decided to leave and Anasta was the Origin and Test player.

Hard to argue he made a bad call.

That's the exact point. Right now, it would appear that Taylor & Nikorima don't have much chance of a starting spot in the near future. Just like it seemed Anasta & Sherwin were going to play for the Dogs forever. Just like Norman & Wallace were the long term halves for the Broncos. At least Thurston had played top grade, albeit from the bench. Taylor & JNik haven't. Nikorima's still 18. You can't tell me they've already exhausted their options.

 

[ivanhungryjak]

Titans have just confirmed the signing of Tyrone Roberts for 2016-17 so that muddies the waters a bit more for Taylor.

 

[K-Style]

It'd be interesting to see what most people here would do in the same situation. You're looking for a break into NRL and not sure when your chance will arrive, if at all, especially with the likes of Milf, Hunt and McCullough (KNik too?) in front of you. In Parcell's case he is earning $500 a win with the Jets (at least according to some article I read a recently). This year we can use the interchange Hooker but what happens under the new interchange rules.

Then we have Wayne steering Taylor towards the Titans. Close to home. See how he goes and if need be we bring him home when his contract is up. Otherwise he'd be camped in ISC for a long time imo.

Hopefully JNik is just testing the waters. I don't know much about JNik apart from the comments on here but it sounds like he cover a few positions and it sounds like the Bronc's are very keen to keep him. Also, he wants to play for Qld and Aussie which sounds good to me.

I think Wayne's comments were unfortunate. From my point of view it looks ill timed considering we are losing Taylor and Parcell not long after? Perhaps it's a message to management?

 

[Alec]

Titans have just confirmed the signing of Tyrone Roberts for 2016-17 so that muddies the waters a bit more for Taylor.

Surely Roberts wouldn't keep him out for long (if at all). But then the Titans are a strange club.

 

[Porthoz]

I can't find a link to any articles, does anyone have the full text to Bennett's quote? As I recall it was more along the lines of "we have to stop losing talented juniors we want to keep", not "I, Wayne Bennett, pledge in blood on my honour as a Bronco that we will never ever again lose any juniors we want to keep, so it can safely be assumed that anyone we do lose was forced out to make way for Darius Boyd."

The article seems to be gone, but this was the original post with Wayne's quote:

News Article not available

You can embark all you want in hyperbole, but at the point where Boyd was recruited, we simply didn't need a fullback. We had Milford, Jordan Kahu and Jayden Nikorima (who played mostly fullback in the NYC up until then) as the main candidates, and a few more backups like Maranta for example.

By bringing Boyd to a guaranteed fullback spot (Wayne's words), he effectively consigned Milford to 5/8, and essentially blocked the path to both the halves and fullback spots for the youth coming through.
Let's be clear, it's his prerogative to make that choice, but it had predictable consequences, which contradict his words and we are now witnessing. Whether this was the right choice or not, will only be determined in the future...
It's definitely up for argument, but I don't believe Boyd was worth it.

Fact is that suddenly, instead of vying for a spine position which was there for the taking, Taylor and the Nikorimas (especially Jayden) had the best halfback of the previous season, one of the most talented players in the NRL, and Bennett's favourite in front of them.

Now, 12 months later, Milford has settled into his role, is increasingly confident and building his partnership with Hunt, we have Boyd playing at a level that will certainly keep him in the spot, and unless a major injury strikes, none of them is going anywhere any time soon either.
On the other hand, we have 2 of the hottest playmaker prospects in the code who saw their path blocked to FG at their club for a significant time, and we're bagging them for taking an opportunity to play NRL and earn much more money... seriously?

 

[FaithinHook]

Moderators ,might it please be possible to lock this thread for the time been and until we receive official confirnation that JNik is leaving? This place seems to be falling apart at the moment due to all the infighting an "he said/she said" nonsense, as clearly evident in this thread. Look, it is upsetting that players such as JNik feel they need to leave in order for them to get their shot at the big time. But, who can blame them for doing it, right.

Any ways, as i first announced on here exclusively many months ago, JNik will be with Manly next year to partner DCE in the halves. I am so confident of this that if it does not eventuate, i will personally go to the BHQ official headquarters an hand in my BHQ subscription personally to Nashy an never be heard of again!

 

[ivanhungryjak]

I am so confident of this that if it does not eventuate, i will personally go to the BHQ official headquarters an hand in my BHQ subscription personally to Nashy an never be heard of again!

Shit just got interesting!