Player Movements and Rumours 2012

[Big Pete]

Yeah we have a fair few scouts over there. Can't remember where I read it from but it's one of the big areas where we recruit from.

Richard Tuala is the latest player we've recruited from that region, he's one of those players you read about where the scouts were there for somebody else but noticed this guy instead. Giant 18 year old prop who had a taste of NYC this year.

Sam Kasiano is another example which is how he was eligible for Queensland despite living in NZ until he was 15. He's another player we've let slip through.

 

[GCBRONCO]

I don't think our junior development is the issue, we've been signing good talent but for whatever reason we're not producing them as well as they should which is why they're going elsewhere.

T. Sims, K. Sims, Gagai, Beale, Frei possibly Hunt & Baptiste. It's all a bitter pill to swallow, pretty much all those players would be better options than the likes of Slyney, Anderson, Lui, Capewell etc. yet we keep persisting with them.

Despite what that article said, Brisbane do recruit outside of Queensland. We've been recruiting talent from NZ & Northern NSW for close to a decade now. We're still one of the best recruiters in the competition, unfortunately we just haven't found a Lockyer.

Problem is Big Pete and in no way am I saying that I prefer to keep the likes of Lui and Slyney etc over the others, those promising players also come at a price, one which you cannot keep them all without consequences to your side and thats not strictly a money issue either, Beale for example was leaving because it gives him the opportunity for fullback a position he prefers and if he can get a better deal out of it all the better for him and at that stage you can hardly blame the Broncos not fighting to keep him when at that time Hoffman was proving to be the better performer, I also think with Beales departure the door potentially opens for someone like Maranta who IMO was one of the better performing backs towards the end of the season, so thats not necessarily a bad thing either. As for Gagai he brought it on himself, if he had the attitude that Yow Yeh has shown towards his recovery over what could or potentially will be a career ending injury he wouldn't have ever been in a position to have had to leave the club, Yow Yeh would have been over the moon if he could have turned up to training and participate after that Souths gamel the same cannot be said to the player who was given several chances to improve his attitude towards his football. In the end without going through every player you have named there are ones there I think are valid and others that aren't.

And yes we do recruit outside of Queensland but not enough that we should be doing and thats not just from a junior perspective either, players like Chris Johns and Terry Matterson who were largely unknowns and just making their stepup into first grade built the foundation of the club. I don't think our recruitement is that bad, but there is still room for improvement thats my point.

 

[Big Pete]

I don't think anybody ever expects to keep them all but at the same time you don't expect to lose them all either.

I still don't believe we've gotten to the bottom of what happened with Gagai. This was a guy who started the season as one of the Dolphin's best players and it was clear he should have been chosen ahead of Copley at that point. And yet he wasn't. So he shows up late to a few training sessions and so we get rid of him. Something doesn't add up and in the end, the only people who ended up paying for it was us.

 

[Bucking Beads]

The Gagai incident does seem very fishy. Hook certainly does seem to have his favourites as well.

 

[GCBRONCO]

I don't think anybody ever expects to keep them all but at the same time you don't expect to lose them all either.

I still don't believe we've gotten to the bottom of what happened with Gagai. This was a guy who started the season as one of the Dolphin's best players and it was clear he should have been chosen ahead of Copley at that point. And yet he wasn't. So he shows up late to a few training sessions and so we get rid of him. Something doesn't add up and in the end, the only people who ended up paying for it was us.

To some degree I agree Big Pete but there are those who are unrealistic when it comes to player retainment, lets also not forget the club has re-signed Alex Glenn, David Hala, Andrew McCullough, Ben Hunt, Corey Norman, Peter Wallace and Jharal Yow Yeh, quite a few of those players would be recieving upgrades which would have placed difficulty on retaining players who were being chased by other clubs.

As for the Gagai situation, it wasn't just the odd Broncos training he didn't attend, it was also the Redcliffe training sessions he missed, it was much more then just a few training sessions as your suggesting, John Dixon the Redcliffe coach wasn't impressed with his attitude either Beads it wasn't Hook playing favourites, talent doesnt excuse poor attitude be it on the field or off the field especially when it comes to your training. Turn a blind eye to things just cause of ones "potential" and you may find yourself with another Juilian O'Neill on your hands, toxic to your clubs environment.

 

[JoshNewyKnights]

I don't think our junior development is the issue, we've been signing good talent but for whatever reason we're not producing them as well as they should which is why they're going elsewhere.

T. Sims, K. Sims, Gagai, Beale, Frei possibly Hunt & Baptiste. It's all a bitter pill to swallow, pretty much all those players would be better options than the likes of Slyney, Anderson, Lui, Capewell etc. yet we keep persisting with them.

Despite what that article said, Brisbane do recruit outside of Queensland. We've been recruiting talent from NZ & Northern NSW for close to a decade now. We're still one of the best recruiters in the competition, unfortunately we just haven't found a Lockyer.

Are you thinking Baptiste is going to Newcastle? Because he knocked back the Knights' offer months ago due to it being less than he thought he was worth.

Unless your thinking he will still leave the Broncos anyway?

 

[Big Pete]

GC - We're both on the same page when it comes to recruitment. Overall, it's pretty solid but it could be better. Retaining the likes of Lui, Anderson & Slyney or even signing Stagg ahead of Frei is a good example of what I'm talking about.

I just hope with this new batch of prospects in Timu, Molo & Oates we actually stick with them instead of letting them rot in reserve grade while the likes of Lui are allowed to stink the joint up continually in both grades.

As far as Gagai, based on the available information I feel like we were far too strict to let a player of his ability go. Obviously his behaviour wasn't acceptable and something needed to be done but washing our hands of him didn't seem to add up. Either there was more to it or Hook just wasn't the right coach for him. If the latter is true, then I'm concerned because he was obviously our most talented back coming through the ranks.

Joshy - Welcome to the boards. Baptiste has been linked with a number of clubs, most recently the Raiders. I just hope he enjoys a better off-season and is given a chance to stake his claim. I actually think in a lot of ways, he'd be a better fit for us than McCullough despite McCullough being better overall at this stage.

 

[Foordy]

As far as Gagai, based on the available information I feel like we were far too strict to let a player of his ability go. Obviously his behaviour wasn't acceptable and something needed to be done but washing our hands of him didn't seem to add up. Either there was more to it or Hook just wasn't the right coach for him. If the latter is true, then I'm concerned because he was obviously our most talented back coming through the ranks.

.

The problem is if we hold onto a player just because he has ability then we would be hypocrites if we let another player go under the same circumstances just because he isn't as talented ... before you know it we would end up with many more players missing training sessions and an attitude problem that affects the whole club.

and we end up with a culture of players with poor attitudes expecting to be picked because they have talent we will end up like parramatta ... fighting it out for the spoon most years

 

[Big Pete]

If a player doesn't have the ability they'd be let go regardless.

There are other ways to set a good example instead of releasing players.

 

[Ari Gold]

Agree fully with Pete. There were other ways of disciplining Gagai and frankly I'm not sure what it achieved. Through being released, Gagai is now playing first grade... hardly a punishment on his end. Forcing him to sit out the year IMO would have been a much more effective punishment.

It also doesn't sit well with me that Bennett picked him up. I'm not the biggest fan of WB these days but the fact he was willing to overlook Gagai's indiscretions makes it a little alarming that hook was not.

 

[Alec]

Bennett has a good record of improving the attitudes of many players. Still, I can only imagine how awesome it would have been to still have Gagai in the squad. It wouldn't even be debatable for myself, I'd have him at fullback straight up.

 

[JoshNewyKnights]

Joshy - Welcome to the boards. Baptiste has been linked with a number of clubs, most recently the Raiders. I just hope he enjoys a better off-season and is given a chance to stake his claim. I actually think in a lot of ways, he'd be a better fit for us than McCullough despite McCullough being better overall at this stage.

Fair enough. I was disappointed that the Knights missed out on him because i know he's a player of talent, but it leaves room for our own home grown superstar in the making who will be training with first-grade for the first time this summer, Adam Clydsdale.

 

[Big Pete]

Clydsdale is a good 'un, hopefully he makes it, if only so it'll prevent your lot from nicking another one of our players. :001_tt2:

Agree Alec RE: Gagai at fullback. In 2010 I had him down as our long term fullback ahead of Hoffman.

 

[GCBRONCO]

If a player doesn't have the ability they'd be let go regardless.

There are other ways to set a good example instead of releasing players.

And perhaps there is but when a player is refusing to respond to messages to pick up his act with regards to his attitude towards training its doubtful that without a real response and not just a token one to that behaviour or turning a blind eye to it isn't really solving the problem, he was already playing Queensland Cup, outside of dropping him further or standing him down for the rest of the season which doesn't necessarily even mean he he would respond in a positive fashion to that what else can you do? give him a token fine? Tell him his a naughty boy? It wasn't like the club cut him after a single offence they did give him fair amounts of opportunity to pick up his act and quite frankly if our club's coach and management weren't clamping down on this stuff I would be extremely disappointed because it shows they lack the backbone to make the necessary calls, just to keep a player who has potential. The club has more then just a players talent to consider in situations like this, theres also fans, public relations, sponsers etc its not as clear cut as saying oh well his talented and all he did was miss several training sessions, so lets just let that slide and give him a token punishment to look like we are doing something, you need to show to all your players this won't be tolerated otherwise you risk it spreading.

 

[GCBRONCO]

Disagree here, Gagai never stepped up when in first grade for the Broncos and never convincingly put a case during that time when in the NRL to be in first grade longterm where other backs since 2010 after making their debuts have, Hoffman despite his poor form this season has shown since his debut to be the far better performer overall, it wasn't until leaving the club he showed any real form in the NRL that you could make a case for and even that wasnt at fullback.

 

[Big Pete]

His issues at training didn't sound anything different than what Renouf, Thaiday or Hodges all went through. It wasn't until he was overlooked for Copley that he started to go off the rails a bit (to what extent, nobody other than those involved know). That seems to me that there was a disconnect between Hook & Gagai which Hook as coach should have sorted out. Gagai isn't like Taylor who was often set weight goals and seldom achieved them, Gagai put on the weight Hook wanted, played as well as what Hook wanted and yet was still over-looked when the opportunity arose.

I also disagree that Gagai never stepped up. He was great for us against Parramatta and scored a vital try against the Storm last year. He played as well as what you could expect of a rookie and he was never given the opportunity to prove himself afterwards.

 

[GCBRONCO]

Renouf had to work hard to get to where he was and he responded to the things he needed to improve on when told by the club, he also showed with his diabetes which at the time before being diagnosed he thought may have been the end of his career like Yow Yeh has been showing that hurdles can be overcome when your prepared to work for them, something Gagai showed lack of anytime in first grade or in the lower grade when told to pick up his act. I also don't buy the blame Hook angle, Dixon dropped him as well from the Dolphins because of his attitude.

As for Gagai stepping up, sorry but I disagree especially compared to the efforts of Maranta showed this season, Gagai had a few good games but he also had some really poor ones, Maranta for example on the otherhand had never looked out of NRL standard any game this season in a team performing poorly, far better achievement IMO.

 

[GCBRONCO]

Can I just add too from personal experience similar to what Renouf went through when your presented a hurdle in your life the easy thing is to make an excuse for not working on overcoming it, I myself have epilepsy diagnosed at the age of 21 and for a while I used it as an excuse to effect my life, it was easier to do that then face what really needs to be done, I used to drink heavily to eaise the pain, I even drove despite the advise of my specialist but it wasn't until I got a massive kick up the backside from my parents that I responded, then I realised the reality, it was time to face the truth and I did, wasn't easy but it could be done. I'ts been a tough 9 years and I have had my fair share of setbacks, injuries from seizures etc but I'm starting to make real progress.

For me in all aspects of life attitude towards everything is important, even more so then success imo. I'm still not driving a car yet but I have recently got clearance to drive my forklift at work again because of the progress I have been making.

Frankly I just wanted Gagai to clean up his act, if that took leaving the club then so be it, better then wasting his talent all because of his attitude, sometimes you need that kick up the backside to see the truth.