Round 1 Lineup

[Foordy]

Really? Have you seen that backline?

yep

 

[Gaz]

Didn't mean to derail the thread with a massive barney over David Fifita. Let me just sum up everyone's feelings so we can move on:

1. Smart money says David Fifta is the brightest forward talent in the NRL, emerging or otherwise, but disgruntled fans of his previous club disagree.
2. Everything’s all rosy at the broncs, 2021 is our year for sure. (credit Tommy).

He is a beauty and I didn’t want to see him leave us. My hope is that he returns when at his peak.

We need to regain our status to ensure our best players want to stay regardless of what’s being offered elsewhere.

Always trouble for spooners to entice their best to stay when shit clubs are offering top rung of the ladder money when the player is yet to reach that level.

We need our administration to be putting as much effort into our players and on field performance as they have done with our shareholders. Trusting this process starts with our new CEO.

 

[Foordy]

We need to regain our status to ensure our best players want to stay regardless of what’s being offered elsewhere.

if we want to go back to those days, we'll need to invent a time machine first ... because in 2021 no player turns down an extra 500k a season

 

[McHunt]

if we want to go back to those days, we'll need to invent a time machine first ... because in 2021 no player turns down an extra 500k a season

Speaking of which, in Bennett's day: could the "unders" we were paying have possibly been located "under the table?"

 

[Jason Simmons]

if we want to go back to those days, we'll need to invent a time machine first ... because in 2021 no player turns down an extra 500k a season

Hopefully some better cap management than players like Bird on $975k, (that we didn’t need) $1m on Milford who has never delivered for that money, $800k on Boyd who shouldn’t have even been playing over the last 2 years and ridiculous overs for journeymen like McCullough, Offa, Kahu and so on, means that we could actually match some of the big offers on actual “superstars” and not have to rely on hope that they accept unders to stay with us...

We have the same money to spend officially under the cap as any other club, we just spend it like drunken sailors...

Stupidly.

 

[Gaz]

if we want to go back to those days, we'll need to invent a time machine first ... because in 2021 no player turns down an extra 500k a season

'Every man has his price' happened well before the Broncs came about ( try the 1700’s ). But yes being ridiculous has its rewards and also it’s downfalls.

 

[PNG Broncos fan88]

Speaking of which, in Bennett's day: could the "unders" we were paying have possibly been located "under the table?"

The fucking board and their fucking coach swap shenanigans - **** them, they will always be responsible for this. Seriously it is going to be extremely difficult to get off bottom place from here on.
Trying my best to be optimistic but just can't see anything but our rookies being rag dolled again this year.

 

[Jason Simmons]

The fucking board and their fucking coach swap shenanigans - **** them, they will always be responsible for this. Seriously it is going to be extremely difficult to get off bottom place from here on.
Trying my best to be optimistic but just can't see anything but our rookies being rag dolled again this year.

Yep. Our squad has gone backwards from last year, IMHO...

Hopefully the coaching / conditioning / medical staff can somehow do an astronomically better job than the previous incumbents, or it is looking like another long year to me too...

 

[Foordy]

The fucking board and their fucking coach swap shenanigans - **** them, they will always be responsible for this. Seriously it is going to be extremely difficult to get off bottom place from here on.
Trying my best to be optimistic but just can't see anything but our rookies being rag dolled again this year.

Moving on from Bennett was the correct call ... hiring Seibold as his replacement was the wrong call ... although IMO, it may have been beneficial for Kevvie in the long run as following Bennett has always been a poisoned chalice

 

[Foordy]

Hopefully some better cap management than players like Bird on $975k, (that we didn’t need) $1m on Milford who has never delivered for that money, $800k on Boyd who shouldn’t have even been playing over the last 2 years and ridiculous overs for journeymen like McCullough, Offa, Kahu and so on, means that we could actually match some of the big offers on actual “superstars” and not have to rely on hope that they accept unders to stay with us...

We have the same money to spend officially under the cap as any other club, we just spend it like drunken sailors...

Stupidly.

matching offers for "superstars" is fine, sometimes ... but matching the offer for Fifita in particular, would have been the same level stupid as the other contracts you mentioned

 

[Jason Simmons]

matching offers for "superstars" is fine, sometimes ... but matching the offer for Fifita in particular, would have been the same level stupid as the other contracts you mentioned

I’m not sure matching the Titans offer would have been a good idea either, but I don’t think we’d have had to. If we could have got near the $1m mark, adding $150k a year on top of our reported existing $850k offer, I think that would have been enough to retain him.

If not, well at least we’d have had $1m to throw at other players to boost our overall squad, but due to cap miss-managment we apparently do not have that money, so ifs and buts is all this discussion will remain.

 

[Foordy]

I’m not sure matching the Titans offer would have been a good idea either, but I don’t think we’d have had to. If we could have got near the $1m mark, adding $150k a year on top of our reported existing $850k offer, I think that would have been enough to retain him.

If not, well at least we’d have had $1m to throw at other players to boost our overall squad, but due to cap miss-managment we apparently do not have that money, so ifs and buts is all this discussion will remain.

it probably would have ... but IMO this was not something the club got wrong. the offer we reportedly made him was a fair offer, maybe even slight overs ... getting in to a bidding war with the Titans would have been bad for us (especially if we ended up winning it). any more than we offered would have been that stupid spending you talked about.

on of cap management, knowing the NRL and logic, suggests that we do have cap space available, 2021 was just one of those seasons where there isn't much value in the free agency market. I firmly believe the club are doing the same thing all clubs do when talking about their cap position, crying poor ... i don't recall a single club talk about having heaps of room to move under the cap, it is always a "tight" cap position or "no money", probably because they are weary of those vultures called "Agents"

 

[pagey]

Speaking of which, in Bennett's day: could the "unders" we were paying have possibly been located "under the table?"

I'd say there could've been some loopholes

Moving on from Bennett was the correct call ... hiring Seibold as his replacement was the wrong call ... although IMO, it may have been beneficial for Kevvie in the long run as following Bennett has always been a poisoned chalice

Expecting the same to happen Melbourne

 

[Mustafur]

Out squad looks slightly worse then a full strength last years squad(which we never saw on the field) but it looks like cap management because there is no way we are paying the same money for the players coming in as the players that left, when they say we have no money my guess is they are not willing to spend till they get the massive opening after this seasons batch of player options are done.

 

[broncsgoat]

Moving on from Bennett was the correct call ... hiring Seibold as his replacement was the wrong call ... although IMO, it may have been beneficial for Kevvie in the long run as following Bennett has always been a poisoned chalice

lol

 

[john1420]

it probably would have ... but IMO this was not something the club got wrong. the offer we reportedly made him was a fair offer, maybe even slight overs ... getting in to a bidding war with the Titans would have been bad for us (especially if we ended up winning it). any more than we offered would have been that stupid spending you talked about.

on of cap management, knowing the NRL and logic, suggests that we do have cap space available, 2021 was just one of those seasons where there isn't much value in the free agency market. I firmly believe the club are doing the same thing all clubs do when talking about their cap position, crying poor ... i don't recall a single club talk about having heaps of room to move under the cap, it is always a "tight" cap position or "no money", probably because they are weary of those vultures called "Agents"

Bang on :)

A club saying they have plenty of room to move under the cap would be as stupid as telling the real estate agent that the house you want is your dream home, and you have a loan for the full amount pre-approved

 

[Cult]

lol

He says it like those things weren’t basically dependant on each other. We were never getting Bellamy.

 

[holdzy]

lol

It was the right call, as Wayne wasn't getting it done. But he should have had his last year and been retained at the club in some form in retrospect.

Not sure JD was the way to go though but who knows? Probably would have done better than Seibold.