No regrets for former Wests Tigers forward Adam Blair

[Super Freak]

Given the pressing matters facing the in-form Brisbane Broncos in coming weeks, it's fair to say Adam Blair hasn't spent a great deal of time studying the fortunes of the Wests Tigers. All he can say is he's glad to be where he is, rather than where he was.

The New Zealand international was one of the project players Wayne Bennett purchased upon his return to Red Hill and the investment has paid dividends, with the former Tiger believing he has ticked all the boxes asked of him since his move north.

It was a slow start, with Blair at one stage being labelled "Teddy Blair" after some harmless performances in the opening rounds as he struggled to adjust to his new teammates and structures.

Now he shapes as a vital forward asset for the Broncos as they try to lock up a top-two spot in the final round, in which they meet the Storm at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.

Blair has the skills to masquerade as a ball-playing forward but Bennett has whittled back his mission down to the basics, simply asking Blair to carry the ball strong and fast and cover his areas in defence. It's a clarity be believes he wasn't getting at the Tigers, where he was lambasted as an overpaid, under-performing hire that fans felt should have been delivering far more in the orange and black.

"I guess my job is pretty simple as a frontrower here. Wayne was firm from the start. When players know what their role is in the team, they can stick to it and get that job done. I feel like I'm going out there each week and doing that," Blair said. "I reckon it was a bit of everything [at the Tigers]; off field issues, what my job was, all that stuff. It's full-on in Sydney and everyone knows that. That can be part and parcel of our job so you have to be able to work around those things. I just got the opportunity to be able to move out of there and come up here, so everything seems to be going all right."

As for the current predicament of the Tigers, he said: "I'm not there anymore but I know they are going through a tough time. At the same time, I've moved on. I'm here now, my focus is firmly on the Broncos. I guess it shows that when everything around you is in place and everyone is on the same page, then everything else seems to fall into place."

Bennett went to great pains to insist he couldn't deliver miracles when he returned to the Broncos, yet the results have been immediate. If they beat Melbourne they will win their 18th game of the season and potentially take out the minor premiership, should the Roosters be upset by the Rabbitohs. Blair said not even Brisbane's players believed they could enter the final round in such a lofty spot on the ladder. Many believed it would take a year or two to build a premiership contender but Bennett has them firing in his first season back in Queensland.

"I didn't think anyone, even outside of footy, would have thought that we'd be where we are. Ourselves included. We know we've worked very hard all pre-season. It shows in how we've been playing. We don't want to let each other down," Blair said.

"Everyone works hard but there is a special bond here and we turn up over and over again, especially when times are tough. I wouldn't be saying we can't (win the grand final). If we keep doing what we do, you never know what can happen."

No regrets for former Wests Tigers forward Adam Blair

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[Super Freak]

I like what he brings to the team.

I didn't want him to start off with, and his early form didn't exactly change my mind. But as the season went on, he just kept getting better and better. He has stepped it up a gear since the injury to McGuire.

Hopefully, he can keep it up.

 

[jarro65]

I'll go as far as to say that we wouldn't be where we are now if it wasn't for him.

Those two games he missed through a very soft suspension proved what he brings to our side.

I'm a huge fan of Blair.

 

[broncos4life]

It's little secret that I'm a big fan of Blair and I firmly believe he is one of the main reasons we are where we are.

He must look at the Tigers and think "thank ****, I dodged a massive bullet."

 

[M.B.88]

He's arguably been one of our top performers all year. His attitude is just phenomenal. Impossible to value what he does on the field, but especially off it. He's quite the senior player with younger guys and he's such a down to earth fella. Couldn't rate him higher

 

[Unbreakable]

Off-topic a little.. but has anyone else noticed that there's been heaps of good buys this season in comparison to previous years? It feels like almost everyone has performed well at their new teams, if not excelled.

Milford, Blair, Austin, Soliola, Hodgson, Granville, Ennis, Bird, B.Morris, Rona, Lichaa, Ferguson, Green, R.Hoffman - Just off the top of my head

The only bad buys I can think of is Barba, Watmong and Kennedy

 

[bb_gun]

Off-topic a little.. but has anyone else noticed that there's been heaps of good buys this season in comparison to previous years? It feels like almost everyone has performed well at their new teams, if not excelled.

Milford, Blair, Austin, Soliola, Hodgson, Granville, Ennis, Bird, B.Morris, Rona, Lichaa, Ferguson, Green, R.Hoffman - Just off the top of my head

The only bad buys I can think of is Barba, Watmong and Kennedy

I would add Leilua and possibly Garbutt to that list.

I'm so glad that Blair has performed with us. Everyone rightly questioned his signing at the start of the year and the media was quick to write him off as a dud after a few games, but he's really become a core part of our team (as evidenced by our two losses while he was suspended) and his form will hopefully help us go all the way to the big GF.

I know Phil Gould raised it during Thursday's match but can you imagine the butt-hurt among Tigers fans having watched him (mostly) stink up the place for 3 seasons only to finally off-load him and then see him gunning it for us... :laugh:

 

[Unbreakable]

I would add Leilua and possibly Garbutt to that list

Garbutt was only a second-tier signing, I was more-so talking about well known players, Leilua was mid-season also.

 

[Morkel]

I'm not going to claim that I had always thought that Blair would be a success here - just that I was hopeful that Bennett brought him here for a reason because he could see a role for him. So at best I'm claiming a well placed faith in Wayne to know what he's doing.

I wouldn't go so far as to argue that Blair has been our defining signing of the year, as it's hard to see us being the highest scoring team without Milford. But I will argue that without Blair we'd be nowhere near as defensively stout and therefore be a level below the top sides in being able to compete.

Good work AB and good work WB!

 

[Art Vandelay]

Off-topic a little.. but has anyone else noticed that there's been heaps of good buys this season in comparison to previous years? It feels like almost everyone has performed well at their new teams, if not excelled.

Milford, Blair, Austin, Soliola, Hodgson, Granville, Ennis, Bird, B.Morris, Rona, Lichaa, Ferguson, Green, R.Hoffman - Just off the top of my head

The only bad buys I can think of is Barba, Watmong and Kennedy

Maybe the Knights and Panthers should do a roster swap after this weeks game.

 

[Super Freak]

I would add Leilua and possibly Garbutt to that list.

I'm so glad that Blair has performed with us. Everyone rightly questioned his signing at the start of the year and the media was quick to write him off as a dud after a few games, but he's really become a core part of our team (as evidenced by our two losses while he was suspended) and his form will hopefully help us go all the way to the big GF.

I know Phil Gould raised it during Thursday's match but can you imagine the butt-hurt among Tigers fans having watched him (mostly) stink up the place for 3 seasons only to finally off-load him and then see him gunning it for us... :laugh:

And I'm pretty sure the Tigers are paying most of his contract.

It's been awesome.

 

[Allo]

I've liked him ever since he tried to punch out Glenn Stewart

But yeah like most, wasn't keen on his signing. In hindsight, we should have realised how bad the Tigers were(are) and that Adam would be nowhere near the player he was at Melbourne while being there. He was probably equally lazy because the discipline/coaching allowed him to and also because the Tigers are nowhere near as structured as the Storm. Adam is obviously a guy who revels in 'having a job' (a Bennett/Bellamy's wet-dream), something he didn't have at Wests. No surprises he's killing it again with us.

Very happy with his year so far, especially post-McGuire. Ideally that shouldn't have needed to happen but it's hard to complain about it.

 

[Porthoz]

After the 3 years of mediocrity at the Tigers, I was completely against the recruitment, but he has come a long way, and is close to the value he gave the Storm, and the second best newcomer at the Broncos, after the inevitable Milford.

Just goes to show how much the organisation/coaching around players can influence their performance.
WB has always been able to make his forwards perform to high standards, and he certainly hasn't lost his touch.

 

[Morkel]

You'd have to blame the Tigers' use of Blair for his bad form. He was a better player in Melbourne where his role was simplified. He was purchased by the Tigers to be all things - ball-player, workhorse, hard runner & defender, but most importantly the mongrel they were missing. In the end he was undisciplined, running around giving away penalties, flopping, and basically doing nothing productive. It's no surprise that he's improved with a simplified role once again.

 

[M.B.88]

You'd have to blame the Tigers' use of Blair for his bad form. He was a better player in Melbourne where his role was simplified. He was purchased by the Tigers to be all things - ball-player, workhorse, hard runner & defender, but most importantly the mongrel they were missing. In the end he was undisciplined, running around giving away penalties, flopping, and basically doing nothing productive. It's no surprise that he's improved with a simplified role once again.

Exactly. Keep it simple. That way you know when people are or aren't doing their job

 

[Big Pete]

Another tip I got extremely wrong.

When it was initially reported, I really didn't like the idea at all. Blair's form since 2009 had been very poor and it seemed like it was a signing based on desperation more than anything else. I've never really been a fan of signing players for the sake of it, and thought it'd be more important to look after our young talent.

However as we got closer to the season, I started to buy into his signing, especially after the WCC clash. The first half of the season was really touch and go with him. I remember a few members of the media were quick to dub him the worst buy of the season. For mine, his performances in recent weeks just highlight how well he's adjusted to the club and all the hard-work he's been putting in. I don't think he's among the best prop forwards in the game or anything, but he's certainly a handy asset and the Broncos missed him when he wasn't there.

Then again, if I knew the Tigers were paying a fair chunk of his deal at the time, I never would have been that upset about it in the first place.

 

[Foordy]

I was vocally against the signing of Blair and after the first 6 rounds i felt vindicated in that opinion.

But he has been really good for us, and certainly value for money.

You can add it to the long list of things i was wrong about this year.

 

[M.B.88]

Another tip I got extremely wrong.

When it was initially reported, I really didn't like the idea at all. Blair's form since 2009 had been very poor and it seemed like it was a signing based on desperation more than anything else. I've never really been a fan of signing players for the sake of it, and thought it'd be more important to look after our young talent.

However as we got closer to the season, I started to buy into his signing, especially after the WCC clash. The first half of the season was really touch and go with him. I remember a few members of the media were quick to dub him the worst buy of the season. For mine, his performances in recent weeks just highlight how well he's adjusted to the club and all the hard-work he's been putting in. I don't think he's among the best prop forwards in the game or anything, but he's certainly a handy asset and the Broncos missed him when he wasn't there.

Then again, if I knew the Tigers were paying a fair chunk of his deal at the time, I never would have been that upset about it in the first place.

I'd say he's getting close to being one of the best forwards in the game. . His work off the ball can't really be calculated and has been phenomenal all year. . But in recent weeks his work with the ball has blown oppositions away. His offloads are class! They're well out preforming parkers offloads..