OFFICIAL Herbie Farnworth signs one year extension

[I bleed Maroon]

Only one year? Now that is interesting.

Regardless, I'm happy to keep him around. Just keep fucking passing.

 

[Mustafur]

Very surprised but good news if true.

 

[Super Freak]

Bennett misses out on another one... again.

 

[eazy-duzzit]

You think next season will be it for Herbie at the club? He'll field massive offers if he continues playing the way he has been this season. IMO it doesn't make sense to have both centres on big money, and if I had to choose (which I don't want to), I think I'd go with Staggs. Also I see Cobbo becoming the long term option at fullback, so I don't think Herbie will be offered that position.

Does the club try bring Mariner into the fold? Only thing, isn't Mariner a right centre like Staggs?

 

[Gaz]

Bennett misses out on another one... again.

For the time being. Good move by team Herbie, he can sit back and see what all the fuss is about while building his stocks for later.

 

[BroncosFever]

The fact it's only 1 year indicates to me that he really doesn't want to leave.

I have no doubt he could've got at least a 2-3 year deal at rival clubs, perhaps with where our cap is at the club couldn't commit to a longer deal, I see it as a big positive that he's prepared to stay on a 1 year deal.

 

[Santa]

Great news! I love our current backline!

 

[Nashy]

Why are we only giving him a 1 year deal?

 

[Morkel]

Why are we only giving him a 1 year deal?

I am guessing that, with the other priorities the club has with retention, it is a comparatively low value deal compared to rival offers. He doesn't want to leave, but doesn't want to commit to a super unders contract long term.

 

[Midean]

Why are we only giving him a 1 year deal?

The Kevvie factor?

 

[Foordy]

I am guessing that, with the other priorities the club has with retention, it is a comparatively low value deal compared to rival offers. He doesn't want to leave, but doesn't want to commit to a super unders contract long term.

The other thing that makes me think it is a comparatively low deal is that the media haven't speculated on value .... and when it comes to us they always speculate on the high value contracts

 

[McHunt]

It's the perfect contract length for everyone, given the circumstances.

I would say Herbie wants more money than the Broncos want to pay him. He's clearly a kid with a top shelf work ethic, his contribution in defence on his current edge has been a major factor in the team's recent success, his ball security is flawless, he's an excellent goalkicker and he's fast.

The trouble is none of these factors are enough to command elite money. While he's making a visible attempt to communicate and interact more with other players, he's still below average in what is a critical skill for the positions he prefers. He's trying to improve, though, and that's a great sign for us.

I put his value at less than Selwyn and Kotoni who have a more rounded skill set, and have progressed further towards contributing a positive points differential on the scoreboard. Selwyn's rapid improvement overshadows Herbie, who has looked promising since debut, but in my opinion is still failing to match his hype.

Perhaps he could command as much as the reborn Corey Oates, but Corey is finishing more consistently, and that's what pays you extras as an outside back.

A year gives Herbie the time to show us he's still on an upward trajectory, and that he's in the same class as Kotoni and other Origin grade centres. Whether in a year's time he remains with us or takes another offer is the risk both parties should be willing to take. Particularly the Broncos with Deine Mariner looming.

If Deine does a Selwyn and overtakes Herbie, and Selwyn moves to fullback, we can always shift Herbie to the wing where he'd kill it. We assume now he wouldn't take that well, but maybe he'll decide he's an elite winger. If he starts climbing up the tryscorers list in that position, his value will rise accordingly.

A year is great.

 

[Morkel]

I just hope he starts appearing happier now when he scores tries.

 

[007]

Smart contract.

We have a bunch of players off contracts 23/24. Some players will go up in stocks and some down. To keep the balance sheet the club can't go crazy on deals in short term.

 

[mrslong]

I just hope he starts appearing happier now when he scores tries.

British people don’t smile. Everybody knows this.

 

[McHunt]

Smart contract.

We have a bunch of players off contracts 23/24. Some players will go up in stocks and some down. To keep the balance sheet the club can't go crazy on deals in short term.

Yep. The fan favourite theory that you can trick players into long term contracts under their market value isn't sustainable. And it's not the way to build a happy squad.

Here's how it's done, and it's at least partly what we're doing:

1. Build a winning team that players will want to join for less than the most money they can get. They'll do it for two reasons. One, that it's fun to win and they want some of that. Two, that being part of a winning team will rub off on them, making them better players and worth more in the long run. Having a club of players who are mostly on slight unders is perfect. They're always playing for their next contract.

2. Building a winning team is easier said than done. Most importantly you need to recruit the right coaching staff, build the right culture and prune the weeds. We appear to be on the right track there. Particularly with our defence coaching and the atmosphere Kevvie has created.

3. You need to pay players slightly less than their market value, but not on long contracts. The aim being you get them slightly under their market value in the first year (because your club is so desirable) but markedly under in the following year or two (because they've improved). That means you will be constantly subject to rumours about players being sought by other clubs. You have to live with that. It comes with success.

4. I hope we're not doing this, but the shortcut to building a winning team is to cheat the cap. That's how the Storm did it. They cheated their way to the top, built the foundations of a successful club off the back off it, and then managed to stay there after they were busted. The foundation they built still allows them to attract quality players for unders. I suspect the Broncos did the same in the early years, when third party deals were less scrutinized but didn't get caught. And the same team took the same formula to the Storm.

It's hard on fans, but having this constant flux of players wanting pay rises they've earned from the amount they've improved their value at your club is the ideal atmosphere for attracting talent. The harder part is having to constantly negotiate trying to retain them.

If Herbie improves - as expected - over the next year, we will probably lose him but we'll pick up the next Herbie on the production line. And so it continues.

 

[Lockysillegitimatechild]

Has anyone heard anything about the thoroughbreds being back? Just that we have a far better retention rate the last couple years.

Sure, a lot of things are better with management and coaching, and now winning too, but money often wins out anyway.

 

[McHunt]

That intercept try wasn't the first jump Herbie got on Milf: