Players the Broncos passed on.

[Charmamba]

It seems there are always players coming out and mentioning how the Broncos said no to them for various reasons. Instead of posting in every topic about it I thought we can flame the Broncos in a dedicated thread. (Sorry You need to be online to read this, I know DRM right?)

Saw on Foxsports yet another 'star' that got rejected by the Broncos for being to small, James O'Connor.

Dowling did. He pitched the league-loving kid's case when he was 15, yet he was knocked back for being too small."He's the superstar that league lost. The Broncs and Parramatta, as well, had their chance and it was very disappointing that the call was made on his size not skill,'' Dowling said.
"I spoke to (former Broncos coach) Wayne Bennett last year and he wasn't even told James was once in the system back in Queensland.


Read more: Former Queensland Origin player John Dowling tells how Brisbane Broncos missed out on James O'Connor | Rugby | Fox Sports

 

[Bucking Beads]

Can't get them all. As for O'Connor I wonder how often he would be injured playing a tough game like League. His haircuts are terrible as well.

 

[Charmamba]

My concern is how often we hear about Brisbane passing on a player because he is 'to small' this coming from the club who had Alfie as the halfback for so long.

 

[Bucking Beads]

My concern is how often we hear about Brisbane passing on a player because he is 'to small' this coming from the club who had Alfie as the halfback for so long.

Yeah it doesn't make a great deal of sense. These decisions are made when a kid is 15 as well.

 

[Big Pete]

Well whatever concerns were had aren't there anymore given the likes of Cullen, Nikorima and such.

Even Benn Malley was pretty small for a backrow and we had him since he was 12.

 

[Morkel]

Another beatup. O'Connor was actually tossing up between 2 RU clubs and the Eels. So if anything the Eels missed out on him more than we did.

 

[hayseed]

Every team has a list of players they passed on who succeeded elsewhere, recruiters aren't supplied with tarot cards. Is this really worthy of a topic?

 

[Porthoz]

This ^^^^ Absolutely a non issue!

 

[Charmamba]

Every team has a list of players they passed on who succeeded elsewhere, recruiters aren't supplied with tarot cards. Is this really worthy of a topic?

It's a central topic to discuss players we hear Brisbane passed on, so yeah it beats posting about it in individual topics doesn't it? I mean if nobody is interested in extra Bronco discussions sweet a mod can delete the topic and i'll keep interesting articles to myself in the future.

 

[Mr Fourex]

Every team has a list of players they passed on who succeeded elsewhere, recruiters aren't supplied with tarot cards. Is this really worthy of a topic?

Yeah back up a minute.......they (recruiters) might not have tarot cards, but it's their job to recognise exceptional talent.

That's why they get paid to watch footy.

Good work if you can get it!

 

[Big Pete]

I find these sort of topics interesting.

However, let's not be too critical. There are plenty of factors that need to be considered.

Two easy names

Ben Barba - Apart of our junior academy let go mid 00 due to his size and family's reputation.

Sam Kasiano - One of the players we bought over from NZ. We weren't happy with his progress and opted for other players.

 

[LittleDavey]

My opinion is that the drive for 'bigger' may have come from having Dell and Lote on the wings - they were big enough to mix it with the forwards, and fast enough to mix it with the backs. I wonder if those guys inspired a push for bigger blokes in an attempt to keep the edges super-strong? Unfortunately, most bigger blokes don't have that sort of speed (incidentally one thing we're very obviously lacking) - so it would appear we've in general sacrificed speed for size, which as we know hasn't worked out too well.

Having said that though, maybe I'm wrong, looking back at our wingers since...Kemp, YY, Winterstein and the like...none of them are particularly big.

 

[hayseed]

Yeah back up a minute.......they (recruiters) might not have tarot cards, but it's their job to recognise exceptional talent.

That's why they get paid to watch footy.

Good work if you can get it!

But this is a topic that only comes up when their team is losing. If everyone had a perfect scouting dept, then all games would end in a draw. The enforced salary cap laws have made it tougher for us plus the young Qld kids of today don't hesitate to go interstate to ply their trade. Even if we do sign some kid up, it doesn't mean that he won't go elsewhere in the immediate future. The days of Benny, Ribot and Cyril are long gone and I think some of us still struggle with that. Sure, our scouts may have missed out on a few but I think the main problem lies with head office, we have certain people in high positions who are not suited for it.

This is almost the same squad that started 7-1 last year but are 11-20 since with minimal injuries and SOO duties (by Broncos standards), can't really blame the recruiting staff for that. The problems at this club are much more serious. I probably shouldn't have said that this wasn't worthy of a topic because I have contributed twice now. Any topic which is trying to work out the Bronco's woes is probably a good one.

 

[Ari Gold]

It would be okay to have passed on these guys more if we didnt have such a poor record with the ones we've got.

Maybe recruiters in general need to get this idea of size out of their heads and focus more on who has good footy instincts. If they focused on this then there's no way we have Norman over Barba.

 

[CaptainHook]

Does anyone remember Motu Tony? He played a handful of games for us in 2004 before being released during the year to go overseas. Not really a player the broncos passed on as he played for us but we definitely could have gotten more out of him, particularly when injuries hit.

I thought I read somewhere that Matt Balin had something to do with is in his early years too.

 

[Alec]

Does anyone remember Motu Tony? He played a handful of games for us in 2004 before being released during the year to go overseas. Not really a player the broncos passed on as he played for us but we definitely could have gotten more out of him, particularly when injuries hit.

I thought I read somewhere that Matt Balin had something to do with is in his early years too.

Motu Tony...meh. Karmichael Hunt replaced him very quickly, and we got excellent use out of him before he left for AFL.

Matt Ballin or Nathan Friend certainly would have been handy to have for the past 10 years or whatever.