OPINION Next Breakout Broncos Elite player?

[Mustafur]

When I say Elite they have to make Rep level and this is for players in our top 30 who haven't reached that yet, not counting the early season Māori vs Indigenous, has to be Origin or Tier 1 level rep team atleast.

From my perspective it's between Mariner, Piakura, Riki and Willison mostly.

But for me Willison will be the one to make the biggest gains in rep this year, if he doesn't get injured he makes the Kiwi team for me.

Riki and Mariner might make it as well but Willison is something special from what I see, the boy is a beast.

Te kura will make the rep teams later but he is a few years behind atm being much younger, imo he will have the highest peak of every player here eventually(outside maybe Mozer), him and Mozer are still a few years away from showing their stuff on the mainstage properly.

 

[Johnny92]

Jensen would have to be in the conversation for a Origin Jersey this year, he's your Matt Scott/Steven Price type player where he just gets in and does his job to a high standard nothing flashy. Would love to see him get rewarded.
Kobe's built for Origin and the type of player QLD teams over the years have picked but I think there is a few higher profile players Infront of him for a bench spot.
Willison will be in the next kiwis squad no doubt, Riki would also be there abouts.
If Piakura had played every game this season he'd be in talks for a QLD spot if that's where his eligibility lays, if he hits the ground running who's in front of him Fifita, Nanai, Sua, Arrow? He could be a chance.
Mariner there's some good Kiwi wingers Infront of him atm

 

[lynx000]

Jensen would have to be in the conversation for a Origin Jersey this year, he's your Matt Scott/Steven Price type player where he just gets in and does his job to a high standard nothing flashy. Would love to see him get rewarded.
Kobe's built for Origin and the type of player QLD teams over the years have picked but I think there is a few higher profile players Infront of him for a bench spot.
Willison will be in the next kiwis squad no doubt, Riki would also be there abouts.
If Piakura had played every game this season he'd be in talks for a QLD spot if that's where his eligibility lays, if he hits the ground running who's in front of him Fifita, Nanai, Sua, Arrow? He could be a chance.
Mariner there's some good Kiwi wingers Infront of him atm

The problem Kobe has is that he is in the same mould as Reuben Cotter, small mobile middle that hits hard in defence. At this time Cotter has the runs on the board and will be picked ahead of him.

 

[Johnny92]

The problem Kobe has is that he is in the same mould as Reuben Cotter, small mobile middle that hits hard in defence. At this time Cotter has the runs on the board and will be picked ahead of him.

Agreed, Kobes a couple of injuries away from being picked but it would be nice to see him there, I think he'd go up a level if he did.
I thought Cotter stepped it up a knotch after his origin debut.

 

[simplythebest]

Unpopular opinion but B. Walters is an injury to Hunt/Grant away from playing Origin. I'm a big fan of what he brings to the side.

Outside of that, Jensen is a great no nonsense Matt Scott style prop who wouldn't look out of place in Origin either.

Willison is going to be a beast.

 

[Bucking Beads]

Piakura for mine. He’s got the highest ceiling and can make the biggest impact. He’s just gonna need to hold together because he’s had a few injuries and head knocks over his time. The great thing is there so many blokes in our side that have just scratched the surface of their development as footballers.

 

[Fernando]

The problem Kobe has is that he is in the same mould as Reuben Cotter, small mobile middle that hits hard in defence. At this time Cotter has the runs on the board and will be picked ahead of him.

Cotter can play 80 minutes in Origin which is crazy, I doubt Kobe is up to that.

I'll say Willison and it looks like his breakout is happening right now. He's doing damage with almost every hit-up he takes.

 

[Johnny92]

Unpopular opinion but B. Walters is an injury to Hunt/Grant away from playing Origin. I'm a big fan of what he brings to the side.

Outside of that, Jensen is a great no nonsense Matt Scott style prop who wouldn't look out of place in Origin either.

Willison is going to be a beast.

I'm with you on Walters. What Slater is doing with the Hunt Grant combo where Hunt starts and Grant comes in for after 20 or so minutes would suit Walters to a T, his got great defence and is a competitor. He brings similar to what Hunt does but I'd say Hunt brings more skill but Billy brings more aggression.
And what other QLD hooker is doing better than Walters if there's a injury.

 

[Wolfie]

I dont think we have any players i'd class as elite coming through tbh. We have plenty potential rep players though.

 

[Lockysillegitimatechild]

I voted for the next rep player (jensen) but potential for elite (think rep games are a skewed representation of that, and also will take 4 or 5 years minimum to be in that range so lots of water under the bridge) the closest POTENTIALs are:
Mariner, piakura and willison. Te kura and mozer are too far behind them to be the "next". Lots of things need to go right for any of them to get to that level though, but I have faith in the coaching staff they will be given all the tools if they stay with us. The rest are all already good or damn good potential, elite is a whole other level talent wise

 

[Sproj]

I'm with you on Walters. What Slater is doing with the Hunt Grant combo where Hunt starts and Grant comes in for after 20 or so minutes would suit Walters to a T, his got great defence and is a competitor. He brings similar to what Hunt does but I'd say Hunt brings more skill but Billy brings more aggression.
And what other QLD hooker is doing better than Walters if there's a injury.

The pecking order is probably:

1. Grant
2. Hunt
3. Mahoney
4. Walters
5. Smoothy

 

[McHunt]

Mariner is already elite. Just needs a few more games to prove it.
By finals, Piakura will have surpassed Riki.
Mozer is a flight risk.

 

[McHunt]

The pecking order is probably:

1. Grant
2. Hunt
3. Mahoney
4. Walters
5. Smoothy

I would throw Ponga in above Mahoney as 14. I think Billy had designs on working him in as a utility - including dummy half - before he got injured.

 

[BroncosFever]

Unpopular opinion but B. Walters is an injury to Hunt/Grant away from playing Origin. I'm a big fan of what he brings to the side.

Outside of that, Jensen is a great no nonsense Matt Scott style prop who wouldn't look out of place in Origin either.

Willison is going to be a beast.

It's not that unpopular, only to those who have been against him from the start.

His form towards the back end of last year was as good a form as any other dummy-half going around. He hasn't really hit those kind of levels this year but he had a good game against Canberra.

 

[Mister Wright]

I think, even with his injury plagued start to the season, Piakura will play for QLD if there are any more injuries to our pack and as long as he doesn't get any more injuries. If he can play the next 3-4 matches without issue it will be hard to leave him out. He is a gun.

 

[McHunt]

It's not that unpopular, only to those who have been against him from the start.

His form towards the back end of last year was as good a form as any other dummy-half going around. He hasn't really hit those kind of levels this year but he had a good game against Canberra.

In fairness, you're a bit fixated on this, and frankly more than a little biased.

A more objective analysis would be to compare Dally M points. How many points did Billy get in 2023?

How does he rank against other hookers this year? Do you think he's on par with Brandon Smith, for example?

2024 NRL Points Leaderboard

2024 Dally M total points tally and standings.

www.nrl.com

 

[BroncosFever]

In fairness, you're a bit fixated on this, and frankly more than a little biased.

A more objective analysis would be to compare Dally M points. How many points did Billy get in 2023?

How does he rank against other hookers this year? Do you think he's on par with Brandon Smith, for example?

2024 NRL Points Leaderboard

2024 Dally M total points tally and standings.

www.nrl.com

I don’t even need to look at it to know he isn’t going to tally many points, it’s a broken system.

Ponga is the only elite spine player in his team and tallys high every time they win, as an example. There are 3 or 4 elite players in our side who will tally before Billy does. If Billy were playing like he was towards the back end of last season at a team like the Titans, he’d get 3 points every time they win a game. We have too many good players for anyone in our team to feature in a Dally M count.

Brandon Smith is a great player but he will end up being a lock, at some stage. He’s one of the key reasons they’ve been struggling, his service is horrible. So with that, I have Billy ahead of him.

 

[Sproj]

I think, even with his injury plagued start to the season, Piakura will play for QLD if there are any more injuries to our pack and as long as he doesn't get any more injuries. If he can play the next 3-4 matches without issue it will be hard to leave him out. He is a gun.

His talent is clear for all to see but he would have to be a fair way down the pecking order given how green he is and how disjointed his career has been so far.

I'd have Qld second rowers ranked like this (dependent on further injuries of course as you said):

1. Fifita
2. Nanai
3. Arrow
4. Kaufusi
5. Su'A
6. Cotter
7. Capewell
8. Loiero
9. Fermor
10. Finefeuiaki
11. Piakura

Now some of those are debatable of course but the point is, there'd have to be a lot of injuries for him to be a chance based purely on his stop start career to date, not because of his talent obviously as based on pure talent alone, he'd be above a few of these in the list.