GCBRONCO
International Captain
- Mar 4, 2008
- 22,243
- 20,570
http://www.news.com.au/breaking-new...ing-for-the-club/story-e6frfkp9-1226710048221
THIS is a hard column to write because I know it's a touchy subject, but the Brisbane Broncos need a massive shake up.
The club has been hearing rumours of angst among the old boys and asking ex-players to give their opinions, but the truth is they don’t really want to hear them.
To me it’s all been lip service.
But I can’t sit silently and wait until the Broncos get like Parramatta where there are countless factions all working against each other.
We can’t let the club get to that stage.
This is the Brisbane Broncos. We are the strongest club in the NRL.
I know the club is not looked at in the same way it was a few years ago. People tell me the Broncos are not what they used to be.
Players used to dream to play for the Broncos. They don’t anymore.
The past three years the Broncos have gone backwards.
They won 20 games in 2011, they won 12 games in 2012 and they’ve won nine games this year.
Where they were as an organisation they are nowhere near right now.
I don’t know all the answers, but what I’m saying is the club needs an overhaul to address many issues.
This is the worst year in the club’s history. It all happened in our 25th year when the players were given jerseys with a special anniversary crest.
You got a sense watching them that they think putting the Broncos jersey on means they’re a Bronco.
Winning competitions means you’re a Bronco. Adding to the jersey means you’re part of that legacy.
If you’re picking the team of 25 years could you name one person from this current team that would have got close?
Why not? This is a club that should be making champions every year.
RECRUITMENT
Darren Lockyer retired in 2011. Since then Cooper Cronk, Johnathan Thurston and Daly Cherry-Evans are three superstar playmakers, all Queenslanders and all have been on the open market.
Yet Brisbane did not sign any of them.
Last year they recruited Petero Civoniceva to bring some size back to the pack. They knew it was a short term deal, so where was his replacement for 2013?
I wrote earlier this year Brisbane needed bigger players and that showed the last two weeks as Penrith and Newcastle steamrolled them.
I don’t know how many players Brisbane have lost over the years, but names like Darius Boyd, Tariq Sims, Gerard Beale, Corey Norman and Dane Gagai immediately come to mind.
No doubt if we kept some of those players we would not be in this position.
Why did they release Gagai? Yet they tried to sign Josh Dugan and now sign Ben Barba.
Now if the rumours are right we’re about to sign Anthony Milford for 2014. He grew up under their noses now they have to pay overs to get him back.
DEVELOPMENT
Brisbane has backed the development of their players, but I don’t think guys like Alex Glenn, Andrew McCullough, Matt Gillett and Ben Hunt have gone to the next level.
Is that the coach or is that the player?
Corey Norman was the next Darren Lockyer, yet he is now gone. They groomed him for all those years and now he is leaving because he is not happy.
You have to ask yourself the question: why aren’t these guys ready?
It’s not as if Locky got a shock injury and retired at the age of 26. He was 34 and told the club well in advance he was retiring.
Hunt was the best halfback in the 20s, but has played the majority of his 88 first grade games off the bench as back-up hooker.
Now he is the only halfback for 2014.
Would his development have been better playing as a halfback in the Queensland Cup rather than sitting on the bench for an hour every week?
It’s three years on and Brisbane still needs someone to replace Locky.
DEFENCE
Brisbane’s defence has gotten worse. Missed tackles and line breaks conceded have grown and their defensive structures have fallen away.
In 2011 they conceded 3.8 line breaks per game, in 2012 it was 4.1 and this year it is 5.
If you look at the last four weeks - alarmingly with their season on the line - they’ve averaged 36 missed tackles per game.
In the past month only Parramatta are worse than Brisbane for metres gained in attack and metres conceded in defence.
The Broncos are ranked No.1 in the NRL for tackles conceded through the centre of the field.
To me their fitness looks to be below par.
If they’re getting run over by teams in the last 60 minutes then it’s an issue of mental toughness and an inability to stick with the game plan, both come back to fitness.
COACHING
If Anthony Griffin stays, which the club says he is, there needs to be some help out in around him. It’s as simple as that.
To me it’s like there is no one there that can take his job or is aspiring to get his job.
Does the team need new voices around them and around the coach to get the desired changes?
This year has been a hurtful one for everyone who loves the Broncos.
Nobody can accept what has happened this year. If nothing really changes then everything remains the same.
If this season is repeated then everybody’s job, from the very top to the bottom, must be in jeopardy.
THIS is a hard column to write because I know it's a touchy subject, but the Brisbane Broncos need a massive shake up.
The club has been hearing rumours of angst among the old boys and asking ex-players to give their opinions, but the truth is they don’t really want to hear them.
To me it’s all been lip service.
But I can’t sit silently and wait until the Broncos get like Parramatta where there are countless factions all working against each other.
We can’t let the club get to that stage.
This is the Brisbane Broncos. We are the strongest club in the NRL.
I know the club is not looked at in the same way it was a few years ago. People tell me the Broncos are not what they used to be.
Players used to dream to play for the Broncos. They don’t anymore.
The past three years the Broncos have gone backwards.
They won 20 games in 2011, they won 12 games in 2012 and they’ve won nine games this year.
Where they were as an organisation they are nowhere near right now.
I don’t know all the answers, but what I’m saying is the club needs an overhaul to address many issues.
This is the worst year in the club’s history. It all happened in our 25th year when the players were given jerseys with a special anniversary crest.
You got a sense watching them that they think putting the Broncos jersey on means they’re a Bronco.
Winning competitions means you’re a Bronco. Adding to the jersey means you’re part of that legacy.
If you’re picking the team of 25 years could you name one person from this current team that would have got close?
Why not? This is a club that should be making champions every year.
RECRUITMENT
Darren Lockyer retired in 2011. Since then Cooper Cronk, Johnathan Thurston and Daly Cherry-Evans are three superstar playmakers, all Queenslanders and all have been on the open market.
Yet Brisbane did not sign any of them.
Last year they recruited Petero Civoniceva to bring some size back to the pack. They knew it was a short term deal, so where was his replacement for 2013?
I wrote earlier this year Brisbane needed bigger players and that showed the last two weeks as Penrith and Newcastle steamrolled them.
I don’t know how many players Brisbane have lost over the years, but names like Darius Boyd, Tariq Sims, Gerard Beale, Corey Norman and Dane Gagai immediately come to mind.
No doubt if we kept some of those players we would not be in this position.
Why did they release Gagai? Yet they tried to sign Josh Dugan and now sign Ben Barba.
Now if the rumours are right we’re about to sign Anthony Milford for 2014. He grew up under their noses now they have to pay overs to get him back.
DEVELOPMENT
Brisbane has backed the development of their players, but I don’t think guys like Alex Glenn, Andrew McCullough, Matt Gillett and Ben Hunt have gone to the next level.
Is that the coach or is that the player?
Corey Norman was the next Darren Lockyer, yet he is now gone. They groomed him for all those years and now he is leaving because he is not happy.
You have to ask yourself the question: why aren’t these guys ready?
It’s not as if Locky got a shock injury and retired at the age of 26. He was 34 and told the club well in advance he was retiring.
Hunt was the best halfback in the 20s, but has played the majority of his 88 first grade games off the bench as back-up hooker.
Now he is the only halfback for 2014.
Would his development have been better playing as a halfback in the Queensland Cup rather than sitting on the bench for an hour every week?
It’s three years on and Brisbane still needs someone to replace Locky.
DEFENCE
Brisbane’s defence has gotten worse. Missed tackles and line breaks conceded have grown and their defensive structures have fallen away.
In 2011 they conceded 3.8 line breaks per game, in 2012 it was 4.1 and this year it is 5.
If you look at the last four weeks - alarmingly with their season on the line - they’ve averaged 36 missed tackles per game.
In the past month only Parramatta are worse than Brisbane for metres gained in attack and metres conceded in defence.
The Broncos are ranked No.1 in the NRL for tackles conceded through the centre of the field.
To me their fitness looks to be below par.
If they’re getting run over by teams in the last 60 minutes then it’s an issue of mental toughness and an inability to stick with the game plan, both come back to fitness.
COACHING
If Anthony Griffin stays, which the club says he is, there needs to be some help out in around him. It’s as simple as that.
To me it’s like there is no one there that can take his job or is aspiring to get his job.
Does the team need new voices around them and around the coach to get the desired changes?
This year has been a hurtful one for everyone who loves the Broncos.
Nobody can accept what has happened this year. If nothing really changes then everything remains the same.
If this season is repeated then everybody’s job, from the very top to the bottom, must be in jeopardy.
