Rnd #1 Broncos line-up

[Gaz]

Seibs
'”we're building and there are opportunities for guys to make their debut for the club and members should be happy about that”

Still building. Lockyer right on the money - 7th.

 

[WASSHHH]

No such thing as a "former" jailbird. Jaibird encompasses anyone who's in or been to prison. However, it usually denigrates a repeat offender.

Given Hopoate's family history and the incident which put him in prison - repeatedly kicking an unconscious man on the ground and then viciously bashing someone trying to stop what might've become manslaughter - I'm inclined to give Badel a pass on this. This isn't like having a drunken kip in your car with the aircon on.

He might be on the road to public redemption, but he's not there yet. Ask Lodge how that works.

On a more positive note, he seems like a pretty handy player.

I agree with the suspension handed down to Ofahengaue (by the club), I think given the circumstances (third related offence), it’s warranted.

Meanwhile, Scott goes all Butterbean vs. Johnny Knoxville at the police and is somehow permitted (by the NRL) to play round 1.

Nothing to see here...

 

[Foordy]

I agree with the suspension handed down to Ofahengaue (by the club), I think given the circumstances (third related offence), it’s warranted.

Meanwhile, Scott goes all Butterbean vs. Johnny Knoxville at the police and is somehow permitted (by the NRL) to play round 1.

Nothing to see here...

the difference being that Scott has plead "not guilty" should he get found guilty at trial you can bet your last dollar that it will be a different story (assuming he avoids jail)

 

[WASSHHH]

the difference being that Scott has plead "not guilty" should he get found guilty at trial you can bet your last dollar that it will be a different story (assuming he avoids jail)

De Belin has plead not guilty too.

 

[Foordy]

De Belin has plead not guilty too.

yeah ... but his charge meets the criteria for automatic stand-down (i.e. facing 11 years or more in prison)

Curtis Scott isn't facing that sort of sentence

 

[WASSHHH]

yeah ... but his charge meets the criteria for automatic stand-down (i.e. facing 11 years or more in prison)

Curtis Scott isn't facing that sort of sentence

I understand all of that, but it’s not really my point.

There just seems to be way too man grey / discretionary areas and variables in the way the NRL is governed.

Whilst I agree with all of the Broncos decisions, why do we wield the big stick at Haas, Perese and Ofahengaue whilst other clubs don’t and aren’t seemingly required to.

Seems like amateur hour, permanently.

 

[Sproj]

I understand all of that, but it’s not really my point.

There just seems to be way too man grey / discretionary areas and variables in the way the NRL is governed.

Whilst I agree with all of the Broncos decisions, why do we wield the big stick at Haas, Perese and Ofahengaue whilst other clubs don’t and aren’t seemingly required to.

Seems like amateur hour, permanently.

You’ve just described the NRL to a T, make it up as they go.

 

[Tomato Sorcerer]

Bird trained at fullback and lock today.
Isaako at fullback, Arthars right wing. Hoppa right edge and Glen still rehab.
Interesting no Milf or TPJ today, Deardon was at 6. Though super early this morn as I was driving home from knitting classes I did see TPJ doing running drills with a trainer..
Anyone know what’s going on there? And with Milf?

 

[Art Vandelay]

The Broncos lost Savelio early last season, well before the 30 man squad was finalised.

The composition has certainly changed, albeit not as drastically as you'd think. Last year the Broncos had 13 middle and edge forwards in their NRL squad, this year it's 11. When you add the 3 development players from each squad it shakes out to 16 in 2019 and 14 in 2020.

2019 top 29 in March: 1. Haas 2. Lodge 3. Glenn 4. Gillett 5. TPJ 6. Fifita 7. Carrigan 8. Flegler 9. Ofahengaue 10. Tagataese 11. Fensom 12. Fai 13. Mago 14. Su'a 15. Savelio We kept 1-13 the entire year and added Kennedy so the total would be 14, not 13. In addition to Savelio and Su'a we released Roberts and Nikorima and added Kennedy, Segeyaro, Turpin and Dearden to that list, which would still only be 29 players and I never found any reliable source about who nabbed that final top 30 spot but Paix, Farnworth, Coates, Hopoate and Palasia would be the main candidates.

 

[Big Pete]

2019 top 29 in March: 1. Haas 2. Lodge 3. Glenn 4. Gillett 5. TPJ 6. Fifita 7. Carrigan 8. Flegler 9. Ofahengaue 10. Tagataese 11. Fensom 12. Fai 13. Mago 14. Su'a 15. Savelio We kept 1-13 the entire year and added Kennedy so the total would be 14, not 13. In addition to Savelio and Su'a we released Roberts and Nikorima and added Kennedy, Segeyaro, Turpin and Dearden to that list, which would still only be 29 players and I never found any reliable source about who nabbed that final top 30 spot but Paix, Farnworth, Coates, Hopoate and Palasia would be the main candidates.

Savelio was released three days after the 29 man squad was announced, a lot of clubs held onto players for that announcement only to let them go soon after.

The final squad was

1. Jack Bird 2. Darius Boyd 3. Patrick Carrigan 4. Troy Dargan 5. Tom Dearden 6. George Fai 7. Herbie Farnworth 8. Shaun Fensom 9. David Fifita 10. Thomas Flegler 11. Matt Gillett 12. Alex Glenn 13. Payne Haas 14. Jamayne Isaako 15. Richie Kennar 16. Matt Lodge 17. Patrick Mago 18. Andrew McCullough 19. Anthony Milford 20. Corey Oates 21. Joe Ofahengaue 22. Sean O'Sullivan 23. Cory Paix 24. Tevita Pangai Jr 25. Izaia Perese 26. James Segeyaro 27. Gehamat Shibasaki 28. Kotoni Staggs 29. Sam Tagataese 30. Jake Turpin

Development Squad
1. Ethan Bullemor 2. Xavier Coates 3. Rhys Kennedy 4. Fanitesi Niu 5. Keenan Palasia 6. Ilikena Vudogo

The only player I'm not 100% sure on is Niu who wasn't officially named in any squad since he didn't turn 18 until August. However he was named as a reserve afterwards so I presume like Dearden the Broncos had to wait.

It shakes out to 13 middles and edges in the NRL side and 3 in the development squad.

 

[Art Vandelay]

Savelio was released three days after the 29 man squad was announced, a lot of clubs held onto players for that announcement only to let them go soon after.

The final squad was

1. Jack Bird 2. Darius Boyd 3. Patrick Carrigan 4. Troy Dargan 5. Tom Dearden 6. George Fai 7. Herbie Farnworth 8. Shaun Fensom 9. David Fifita 10. Thomas Flegler 11. Matt Gillett 12. Alex Glenn 13. Payne Haas 14. Jamayne Isaako 15. Richie Kennar 16. Matt Lodge 17. Patrick Mago 18. Andrew McCullough 19. Anthony Milford 20. Corey Oates 21. Joe Ofahengaue 22. Sean O'Sullivan 23. Cory Paix 24. Tevita Pangai Jr 25. Izaia Perese 26. James Segeyaro 27. Gehamat Shibasaki 28. Kotoni Staggs 29. Sam Tagataese 30. Jake Turpin

Development Squad
1. Ethan Bullemor 2. Xavier Coates 3. Rhys Kennedy 4. Fanitesi Niu 5. Keenan Palasia 6. Ilikena Vudogo

The only player I'm not 100% sure on is Niu who wasn't officially named in any squad since he didn't turn 18 until August. However he was named as a reserve afterwards so I presume like Dearden the Broncos had to wait.

It shakes out to 13 middles and edges in the NRL side and 3 in the development squad.

Have you got a source for that final squad? I couldn't find that information anywhere, either now or when I searched last year. Also, how could Kennedy be in the Rabbitohs' top 30 but our development squad? Would that be legal given the salary cap restrictions on development players? Development players only earn 60k per year, but players 27-30 in 2019 had to be paid 72.5k as a minimum.
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Also, your list doesn't include Hopoate.

 

[Big Pete]

Have you got a source for that final squad? I couldn't find that information anywhere, either now or when I searched last year. Also, how could Kennedy be in the Rabbitohs' top 30 but our development squad? Would that be legal given the salary cap restrictions on development players? Development players only earn 60k per year, but players 27-30 in 2019 had to be paid 72.5k as a minimum.
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Also, your list doesn't include Hopoate.

The source was the NRL.com website before they changed it to the 2020 season.

Here is a Twitter account that covered the changes.



As they mention, Hopoate wasn't a part of the Top 30 or Development squads last year. Like Petterson-Robati he trained with the club but was only signed on for next year.

I'd imagine Rhys was on the lowest tier of the salary cap and since Souths had paid over six months worth of wages he would have been eligible for the development squad.

 

[ostin86]

No such thing as a "former" jailbird. Jaibird encompasses anyone who's in or been to prison. However, it usually denigrates a repeat offender.

Given Hopoate's family history and the incident which put him in prison - repeatedly kicking an unconscious man on the ground and then viciously bashing someone trying to stop what might've become manslaughter - I'm inclined to give Badel a pass on this. This isn't like having a drunken kip in your car with the aircon on.

He might be on the road to public redemption, but he's not there yet. Ask Lodge how that works.

On a more positive note, he seems like a pretty handy player.

Wtf.......i really don't want to support criminals!!

 

[Art Vandelay]

The source was the NRL.com website before they changed it to the 2020 season.

Here is a Twitter account that covered the changes.



As they mention, Hopoate wasn't a part of the Top 30 or Development squads last year. Like Petterson-Robati he trained with the club but was only signed on for next year.

I'd imagine Rhys was on the lowest tier of the salary cap and since Souths had paid over six months worth of wages he would have been eligible for the development squad.

Hopoate's two year deal was announced in April 2019. Here's a source. https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/04/28...tract-after-daughter-inspires-career-revival/

If Rhys Kennedy received 6 months of wages at the lowest top 30 tier that would be 36.25k. You can only pay development list players 60k. A player can't receive less than their contract value in a player transfer, but even if they could that would mean that either A) The Broncos only paid 23.75k for 6 months of Kennedy or B) Kennedy received 66.25k over the full 2019 season and played off our development list. Scenario A has the Broncos paying less than minimum wage pro-rata and Kennedy receiving less than minimum wage for the second half of the season. Scenario B has a player on the Broncos development list earning more than 10% over what development players are allowed to be paid. No disrespect to Wacko, but I think the more likely scenario is that he's wrong as the alternative is a pretty flagrant salary cap breach.

 

[Big Pete]

Hopoate's two year deal was announced in April 2019. Here's a source. https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/04/28...tract-after-daughter-inspires-career-revival/

If Rhys Kennedy received 6 months of wages at the lowest top 30 tier that would be 36.25k. You can only pay development list players 60k. A player can't receive less than their contract value in a player transfer, but even if they could that would mean that either A) The Broncos only paid 23.75k for 6 months of Kennedy or B) Kennedy received 66.25k over the full 2019 season and played off our development list. Scenario A has the Broncos paying less than minimum wage pro-rata and Kennedy receiving less than minimum wage for the second half of the season. Scenario B has a player on the Broncos development list earning more than 10% over what development players are allowed to be paid. No disrespect to Wacko, but I think the more likely scenario is that he's wrong as the alternative is a pretty flagrant salary cap breach.

Wacko was just reporting from the same source I was, the official website.

2019 NRL signings: Player transfers and contracts

Confirmed NRL player transfers and signed contracts for the Telstra Premiership.

web.archive.org

The minimum wage for an NRL squad player in 2019 was 72,500. If we presume Kennedy was a part of this pay band and was paid for his 7 month and 24 days worth of wages he would fit quite comfortably in the development pay band for that season.

 

[Art Vandelay]

Wacko was just reporting from the same source I was, the official website.

2019 NRL signings: Player transfers and contracts

Confirmed NRL player transfers and signed contracts for the Telstra Premiership.

web.archive.org

I saw that. And then I looked at the current page. https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/03/03...r-as-top-30-rosters-finalised-for-every-club/

The current page, under new faces, lists "Ilikena Vudogo, Keenan Palasia, Jamil Hopoate, Xavier Coates (all upgraded from development contracts)".

However, according to the previous page Hopoate wasn't even on a development contract, and Kennedy was - yet he is absent from the 'new faces'. Hopoate's deal is listed as ending this year, putting the first year of his reported two year deal as being 2019. That's two contradictions from the same source for just one team. I don't believe there is a salary cap compliant way Kennedy could have been on the development list for us if he was in the top 30 for Souths earlier in the same season. When player transfers happen the new club has to at least be paying the minimum wage. We know players can't be paid less money than their contract stipulates and we know you can't pay a development list player as much as a top 30 player. We know Kennedy was listed in the Rabbitohs top 30 pre season and he played first grade in round 3 as part of a four forward bench when Dean Britt (top 30) played NSW Cup. So there's no way he was both falsely listed in the top 30 and received an exemption to play that week. He signed with us within a week of his last game for the Rabbitohs first grade side, so not enough time for a contract to be torn up and a lower one for a new team drawn up, even if such a move was legal.

 

[Big Pete]

I saw that. And then I looked at the current page. https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/03/03...r-as-top-30-rosters-finalised-for-every-club/

The current page, under new faces, lists "Ilikena Vudogo, Keenan Palasia, Jamil Hopoate, Xavier Coates (all upgraded from development contracts)".

However, according to the previous page Hopoate wasn't even on a development contract, and Kennedy was - yet he is absent from the 'new faces'. Hopoate's deal is listed as ending this year, putting the first year of his reported two year deal as being 2019. That's two contradictions from the same source for just one team. I don't believe there is a salary cap compliant way Kennedy could have been on the development list for us if he was in the top 30 for Souths earlier in the same season. When player transfers happen the new club has to at least be paying the minimum wage. We know players can't be paid less money than their contract stipulates and we know you can't pay a development list player as much as a top 30 player. We know Kennedy was listed in the Rabbitohs top 30 pre season and he played first grade in round 3 as part of a four forward bench when Dean Britt (top 30) played NSW Cup. So there's no way he was both falsely listed in the top 30 and received an exemption to play that week. He signed with us within a week of his last game for the Rabbitohs first grade side, so not enough time for a contract to be torn up and a lower one for a new team drawn up, even if such a move was legal.

Maybe Jamil was the mysterious sixth player? I doubt it since Niu was listed as a reserve twice while Hopoate was never considered but that could be what the NRL website is playing at. Either that, or they were too lazy to go into depth so it was easier to dump Hopoate with the development players when technically he was just on a train and trial deal.

What we know is that he had signed a deal for 2020. He may have still been with the club training with them but only in a official train and trial capacity similar to Pride Petterson-Robati. They may have even considered him for that final squad before ultimately going with Keenan Palasia who earned his deal mid-season.

We don't know any of the technicalities of a 27-30 squad player transferring mid-season to another club. We know he had signed an NRL deal for 2020, but for 2019 he may have been eligible for the development squad since the Broncos were only going to pay him less than half his $72,500 salary he was entitled to.

At this point your guess is as good as mine. That's just the squad the Broncos submitted when they had to finalise their Top 30 squad.

 

[Art Vandelay]

What we know is that he had signed a deal for 2020. He may have still been with the club training with them but only in a official train and trial capacity similar to Pride Petterson-Robati. They may have even considered him for that final squad before ultimately going with Keenan Palasia who earned his deal mid-season.

"I’m stoked. I came up to the Broncs for a train and trial and my goal was to get an NRL contract. That’s done now so my next goal is to play first grade,"

"I called my mum and dad first. They are my biggest critics and they were over the moon with the news. I have to keep performing and hopefully Seibs picks me to play first grade."

"He said it is easy to send train and trial guys back to their Intrust Super Cup sides, but then he said that I had done everything to give them no choice [to sign me] which was pretty good."

- Jamil Hopoate, April 2019. Source: https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/04/28...tract-after-daughter-inspires-career-revival/