THE BOSS Dave Donaghy - Broncos CEO

[nopatience101]

Annersley's response to Dave's call for help from the NRL to retain developed players:

NRL head of football Graham Annesley said the idea to provide salary cap dispensation so clubs can keep more juniors "is always worthy of debate" but there are several complicating factors to consider.

"Some of our clubs don’t have big junior areas, for example, so they have to rely on buying players," Annesley said on Monday.

"And where do those players come from? They come from other clubs. There’s also restrictions about salary caps and how many players you can have in your squad.

"You can’t keep them all, you can’t pay for them all. It’s always worthy of debate and there are always options that perhaps haven’t been considered in the past or different ways of structuring these things.

"But ultimately, that’s not determined by the NRL football department. We would provide information to the [ARL] Commission, but that’s a policy decision and that’s a decision that would have to be dealt with by the Commission."

Annesley added that as far as he was aware the Commission hasn’t discussed the issue in recent times.

From nrl.com

Funnily enough, he admits he would have nothing to do with the decision but still says it shouldn't happen because it won't benefit the Roos...I mean SOME clubs.

Also notice the bolded bit? Funny how that only applies to most teams not named the Roos...I mean in general.

It’s too hard, the nrl don’t want to know about it.

 

[Sproj]

You don’t want junior development you just want development. Broncos have very few Brisbane kids.

Coates is a Coast junior so the Broncos wouldn’t get anything for him.

You should be rewarded for players making their debut for you. No matter where you got them from.

I couldn't care less about that right now, what ticks me off is the just shooting it down straight off the bat without any consideration of this issue.

 

[1910]

I couldn't care less about that right now, what ticks me off is the just shooting it down straight off the bat without any consideration of this issue.

I think that comes down to wording. He straight away spoke about geography. I think he’s right regarding juniors. It’s an outdated term which means nearly nothing now.

I would have worded the question around debut.

 

[Foordy]

Time to call their bluff. The are fucked if we stop developing which would leave only the Panthers as the big junior developer. If we pulled out you could kiss expansion goodbye so get on the front foot with a press release on conference saying “In regards to the response from Annersley we fundamentally disagree with his statement and will be discussing this with the commission when possible. In the meantime we have started the process of wrapping up our junior academies so we can focus on the same priorities as a majority of the rest of the competition with a view of complete withdrawal by 2022”.

Guarantee Vlandys is on the phone within the hour.

there was a report about a week ago saying the Panthers had pulled funding from their nursery and their junior teams and will be taking a more targeted approach in the future

 

[Midean]

there was a report about a week ago saying the Panthers had pulled funding from their nursery and their junior teams and will be taking a more targeted approach in the future

Brisbane most certainly should follow suit and force the NRL's hand.

If the NRL rewarded clubs for junior development better, then more clubs would focus on their development programs, this would in turn promote a fairer comp in terms of introducing talent and promote the sport itself far better.

 

[Locky888]

DD tapped me on the shoulder and said "Lockyer, you and Nolan are done mate. You had one job. You neither recruited nor retained." Fair call, heading to Centrelink tomorrow.

 

[Fernando]

Any response is a start. When is the last time PW made the NRL feel uncomfortable about anything?

Keep the media pressure on.

This. Very promising start.

 

[Big Pete]

It's been an issue that's plagued the game for years and it's something that should have been addressed in the early 2010s when the Tigers and Raiders fell into hard times.

The dream is that everything turns out like it did at the Panthers, where a club develops enough talent that eventually they can't all be poached and they start playing quality football together.

However, it still hasn't resulted in a premiership after a decade of hard work and it's backfired spectacularly on teams.

The Wests Tigers are a good case study. After they parted way with Sheens they went in with the idea of doing a rebuild where they'd endure some lean years but in the long term they'd have some of the best players in the competition at the club.

They brought through players like James Tedesco, Mitchell Moses, Aaron Woods, Luke Brooks, Nathan Brown, Curtis Sironen, Moses Suli, Ryan Papenhuyzen, Marika Koroibete, Josh Addo-Carr, David Nofoaluma, Taniela Paseka, Te Maire Martin, Matt Lodge etc. only for the majority to be swayed by successful clubs, large sums of money or this perception that they were the titanic.

I don't know how a team like the Wests Tigers can compete in any other way. It's not like there's another Nick Politis who can come in and use his influence to make them successful. They've had quality coaches at the club and it didn't make a lick of difference. In fact they had Ivan Cleary and he made the situation worse because he went in a completely different direction and used whatever cap he could to build the best squad of free agents possible to at least make them competitive.

That got them to 9th placed but Madge has had to pick up the pieces of signing Russell Packer, Moses Mbye, Josh Reynolds etc. on these huge contracts with little wriggle room.

I'm worried about the long term viability of the Panthers as well. They're flying right now, but if the market keeps driving up the prices of their players they could easily find themselves in the middle of the pack or even outside the eight.

I still can't believe the Matt Burton situation. I find that whole story to be completely unfair on the Panthers who have been painted as arrogant and selfish for wanting to keep a quality player. When the Bulldogs offered Burton that contract they were completely desperate and Burton's management figured that was the only way he was going to play first grade. However we've since discovered he's one of the best centres in the competition and Penrith could have offered him something had they been given the time.

It's similar to the Reece Walsh situation. Walsh was obviously a quality young talent but nobody had seen him play since he was 17. He spent most of 2020 injured and there wasn't a reserve grade to bring him through as a 18 year old. The Broncos deserved a fair opportunity to make an assessment of his talent before he's signed before a single QCup game. That's just a club taking an absolute punt on a player because they desperately need a win after losing the last fullback they poached.

It doesn't always work out either, look at Ash Taylor. The Gold Coast took a punt because they needed something and it completely ruined a career and set their club back a few years in the process.

I just hope the NRL are serious about having a national reserve grade and under 20s football. If they're willing to put the money into it, at least it would put a system in place that would make it easier to give clubs dispensation. Say if a club brings through a player from 20s to first grade only half their salary counts towards their cap.

The idea is that clubs should be rewarded for 'making stars' and there should be an incentive for clubs to stick loyal to their players and for all three grades to be strong.

Where did it all go wrong for the Broncos? For mine, they're guilty of making the same mistake Penrith made when the NYC was first introduced. Penrith were always one of the stronger reserve grade team, that was a key element behind their unlikely 2003 premiership. They were still doing well in that regard until 2008 when they were calling up players like Wade Graham, Lachlan Coote, Tim Grant, Sam McKendry etc. before they were ready.

Like Penrith, players like Tom Dearden, Xavier Coates, Tesi Niu, Tom Flegler, Cory Paix, Jordan Riki, Ethan Bullemor etc. skipped a grade before they'd even proven themselves. They were learning on the job and it just prevented Brisbane from forming a solid identity as a team creating an environment of doubt.

You have to build that pathway and you have to accept that you can't keep them all. You have to be willing to lose a Jai Arrow to gain a Tevita Pangai Jr.

 

[ZTop]

New ceo in and nrl 360 bashs him straight off the bat.

Here's a tip lads. Let's not waste our time on those dickheadsthey are so out of touch with it all

 

[Bull Shark]

New ceo in and nrl 360 bashs him straight off the bat.

Honestly, who gives a shit what blockheads like Rothfield & Hooper say.. They’ve hammered the club (justifiably) for being directionless & not having a plan and yet they cherry-pick that one part of Donaghy’s presser to zero in on and judge him on..

Dave Donaghy has done the hard yards at a club that prides itself on hard work & knows how winning is done from top to bottom.. he’s been mentored by some of the best administrators in the business.. and now he’s the Broncos’ CEO

for the first time in a long time, the Broncos are in seriously good hands.

 

[007]

@Big Pete
I can tell you now, Penrith and Parra have riches in their junior stocks. West Tigers have the whole of southwest/group country region - West Tigers have themselves to blame for their situation.

Penrith, Parra, West Tigers and Bulldogs have some of the richest local leagues clubs pumping out talent below first grade. They also have the most competitive elite high schools and school programs.

The idea of the reserve/20's and having half the salary taken out of the cap on their debut contract is brilliant.

 

[Morkel]

Annersley's response to Dave's call for help from the NRL to retain developed players:

NRL head of football Graham Annesley said the idea to provide salary cap dispensation so clubs can keep more juniors "is always worthy of debate" but there are several complicating factors to consider.

"Some of our clubs don’t have big junior areas, for example, so they have to rely on buying players," Annesley said on Monday.

"And where do those players come from? They come from other clubs. There’s also restrictions about salary caps and how many players you can have in your squad.

"You can’t keep them all, you can’t pay for them all. It’s always worthy of debate and there are always options that perhaps haven’t been considered in the past or different ways of structuring these things.

"But ultimately, that’s not determined by the NRL football department. We would provide information to the [ARL] Commission, but that’s a policy decision and that’s a decision that would have to be dealt with by the Commission."

Annesley added that as far as he was aware the Commission hasn’t discussed the issue in recent times.

From nrl.com

Funnily enough, he admits he would have nothing to do with the decision but still says it shouldn't happen because it won't benefit the Roos...I mean SOME clubs.

Also notice the bolded bit? Funny how that only applies to most teams not named the Roos...I mean in general.

If only there was a logical solution, I don't know, maybe do something about the over-saturation of Sydney clubs so they aren't all fighting over the same turf????

I hate this NRL (hah "national") administration but I hate more that the majority of the vermin Journos are similarly Sydney-centric so they'll never point out how fucking blind it is.

 

[Big Pete]

@Big Pete
I can tell you now, Penrith and Parra have riches in their junior stocks. West Tigers have the whole of southwest/group country region - West Tigers have themselves to blame for their situation.

Penrith, Parra, West Tigers and Bulldogs have some of the richest local leagues clubs pumping out talent below first grade. They also have the most competitive elite high schools and school programs.

The idea of the reserve/20's and having half the salary taken out of the cap on their debut contract is brilliant.

Mistakes have been made along the way but I have no doubt they'd be in a better situation if they could have actually enjoyed the fruits of their labour instead of clubs like Sydney and Parramatta profiteering from their hard work.

It's created this run on effect and whatever money that could have been generated from having prime Tedesco and Moses is pretty much gone.

I'm not convinced by Parra as a development powerhouse. Their NSW Cup, Jersey Flegg and SG Ball Cup sides are all middle of the road and they never tasted NYC success either despite having a fantastic nursery. They're a far cry from where they were in the late 90s-00s in that department.

 

[DanG]

360 completely missed Donaghy's point and only covered half the story, they went with the narrative that he is complaining about other clubs poaching our players, which is only half of what he said. **** that show is wank

 

[Sproj]

360 completely missed Donaghy's point and only covered half the story, they went with the narrative that he is complaining about other clubs poaching our players, which is only half of what he said. **** that show is wank

Missing half the point is their MO.

 

[Gaz]

Billy’s got a short memory.

 

[Locky888]

They could move towards a draft system like the AFL. Clubs' have first priority in drafting their own developmental player under a points based system. Then restricted free agency and unrestricted free agency comes into play.

 

[Jedhead]

Billy’s got a short memory.

Slater takes the piss when he says clubs like the Storm and Roosters don’t get their players poached because they have created cultures that make players want to stay.

DD was talking about players coming through who our club have developed. How many players have the Storm‘s great systems produced over the last 20 years? I think I recall they had one Melbourne based junior play an NRL game.

The reason the Storm don’t have their juniors poached is because they don’t produce any. Their whole team is made up of players poached from the rest of the comp. cheeky prick.