GCBRONCO
International Captain
- Mar 4, 2008
- 22,235
- 20,559
[FONT=&]No Cookies | The Courier Mail
SAM Thaiday spent four years fearing salary cap pressure and the Broncos’ stable of stars would cut short his career at Red Hill before it ever got going.
Now having sacrificed just under $500,000 to finish his career as yet another of Brisbane’s one-club wonders, Thaiday is backing the Broncos’ long history of players accepting less to stay at the club as the trump card in a looming $6 million retention battle royale.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Wayne Bennett undoubtedly has the roster to deliver Brisbane’s first premiership in over a decade, the longest drought in the club’s storied yet relatively short 28-year history.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]But his entire playmaking spine of Anthony Milford, Ben Hunt, Darius Boyd and Andrew McCullough headline a long list of talent coming off-contract in 2017.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Along with the likes of Adam Blair, Corey Oates, Jordan Kahu, Josh McGuire and James Roberts, 14 of Brisbane’s best will hit the open market in a fortnight’s time and will be officially able to field offers from November 1.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Thaiday’s own future was secured last year after he rediscovered his barnstorming best following a blunt ultimatum from Bennett.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The 31-year-old is expected to finish up after 16 seasons with Brisbane at the end of 2018, having spurned offers from Super League and rival NRL clubs that are understood to have trumped the Broncos $400,000 a year deal by around $150K a season.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Thaiday won’t be actively encouraging his teammates to take less money to stay in the maroon and gold, but says the prospect of a premiership in the near future could sway the club’s rising stars to do so, just as he has done for more than a decade.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“We need those guys around to really build the team around and that’s hopefully what the club’s thinking too,” Thaiday told foxsports.com.au.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“Keeping the guys together, it’d give us the opportunity to do that if we’re to keep the Milfords, the Hunts, the Kahus — these young guys that are only going to get better with age and experience.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“They started something with the grand final run (in 2015) and we’re going forward to the next few seasons too.”[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Thaiday himself has had no shortage of cashed up suitors over the years, with the Cowboys making several big money plays for the Townsville local in the past.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Toiling behind an all-star pack in his early 20s, in the same way Next Gen Broncos Joe Ofahengaue, Jaydn Su’a and Jai Arrow are now, Thaiday admits he often considered doing the bolt as he struggled through his first few years in Brisbane.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“There was more of an opportunity for me to venture elsewhere and try and earn some money,” Thaiday says.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“I had a two-year contract when I first came to the club and probably didn’t think I’d play as many games as I did.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“We had some fantastic players at the same time — Petero (Civoniceva), Shane Webcke, pretty much the (Queensland) State of Origin forward pack around 2004, 2005.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“I decided to stay and was very lucky that we won a grand final in 2006. I was hooked on being a Bronco after that, I never wanted to go anywhere else.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“There was definitely times where I thought I wouldn’t go on and have a big career at the club because of the calibre of players that we had there.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“Everyone has to leave at some point, I was just lucky enough that I was able to hang around and build as a player and now I’m a 14-season Bronco.”[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The Broncos, particularly when Bennett is at the helm, have a knack of convincing their best to stay for less.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Darren Lockyer, Shane Webcke and Justin Hodges all shunned lucrative rival offers to finish their careers with Brisbane.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Recently retired skipper Corey Parker also revealed in his autobiography last month that he was offered an extension worth just over $200,000 a year by ex-coach Anthony Griffin in 2013.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]It prompted a blow-up from Parker and a subsequently beefed up offer from the club.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]But he remained at Red Hill, despite interest elsewhere and ended up the second-most capped player in Brisbane’s history behind Lockyer.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Of Bennett’s current cohort, the Eels have already expressed an interest in luring Hunt south, while the Warriors are eyeing off-contract Kiwi back-rower Alex Glenn.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&]With McGuire and Oates firming up their places in Queensland’s Origin set-up, they too will also be in line for healthy pay rises, but Thaiday won’t begrudge any player shoring up their financial future elsewhere.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“It’s always hard. At the end of the day there’s a lot of blokes with young families in the team and you have to look after your family,” Thaiday says.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“I encourage the boys to do what’s best for them. There’s no use in telling the boys to stay if that’s not what they really want to do deep down or it’s not best for their family deep down.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“We’re not in this game for a long time. I’ll put my hand up and say I’ve had 14 seasons as a professional player — that doesn’t necessarily occur for every player.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“You need to make it as much as you can while you can. We’ll see what happens.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“Hopefully they want to be a part of what the Broncos want to do in the future. If not, I give them props for looking after themselves and their families.”[/FONT]
SAM Thaiday spent four years fearing salary cap pressure and the Broncos’ stable of stars would cut short his career at Red Hill before it ever got going.
Now having sacrificed just under $500,000 to finish his career as yet another of Brisbane’s one-club wonders, Thaiday is backing the Broncos’ long history of players accepting less to stay at the club as the trump card in a looming $6 million retention battle royale.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Wayne Bennett undoubtedly has the roster to deliver Brisbane’s first premiership in over a decade, the longest drought in the club’s storied yet relatively short 28-year history.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]But his entire playmaking spine of Anthony Milford, Ben Hunt, Darius Boyd and Andrew McCullough headline a long list of talent coming off-contract in 2017.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Along with the likes of Adam Blair, Corey Oates, Jordan Kahu, Josh McGuire and James Roberts, 14 of Brisbane’s best will hit the open market in a fortnight’s time and will be officially able to field offers from November 1.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Thaiday’s own future was secured last year after he rediscovered his barnstorming best following a blunt ultimatum from Bennett.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The 31-year-old is expected to finish up after 16 seasons with Brisbane at the end of 2018, having spurned offers from Super League and rival NRL clubs that are understood to have trumped the Broncos $400,000 a year deal by around $150K a season.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Thaiday won’t be actively encouraging his teammates to take less money to stay in the maroon and gold, but says the prospect of a premiership in the near future could sway the club’s rising stars to do so, just as he has done for more than a decade.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“We need those guys around to really build the team around and that’s hopefully what the club’s thinking too,” Thaiday told foxsports.com.au.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“It would give us that premiership window that I think we’re in right now, it’d keep that open.[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=&]“Keeping the guys together, it’d give us the opportunity to do that if we’re to keep the Milfords, the Hunts, the Kahus — these young guys that are only going to get better with age and experience.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“They started something with the grand final run (in 2015) and we’re going forward to the next few seasons too.”[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Thaiday himself has had no shortage of cashed up suitors over the years, with the Cowboys making several big money plays for the Townsville local in the past.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Toiling behind an all-star pack in his early 20s, in the same way Next Gen Broncos Joe Ofahengaue, Jaydn Su’a and Jai Arrow are now, Thaiday admits he often considered doing the bolt as he struggled through his first few years in Brisbane.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“There was more of an opportunity for me to venture elsewhere and try and earn some money,” Thaiday says.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“I had a two-year contract when I first came to the club and probably didn’t think I’d play as many games as I did.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“We had some fantastic players at the same time — Petero (Civoniceva), Shane Webcke, pretty much the (Queensland) State of Origin forward pack around 2004, 2005.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“I decided to stay and was very lucky that we won a grand final in 2006. I was hooked on being a Bronco after that, I never wanted to go anywhere else.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“There was definitely times where I thought I wouldn’t go on and have a big career at the club because of the calibre of players that we had there.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“Everyone has to leave at some point, I was just lucky enough that I was able to hang around and build as a player and now I’m a 14-season Bronco.”[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The Broncos, particularly when Bennett is at the helm, have a knack of convincing their best to stay for less.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Darren Lockyer, Shane Webcke and Justin Hodges all shunned lucrative rival offers to finish their careers with Brisbane.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Recently retired skipper Corey Parker also revealed in his autobiography last month that he was offered an extension worth just over $200,000 a year by ex-coach Anthony Griffin in 2013.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]It prompted a blow-up from Parker and a subsequently beefed up offer from the club.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]But he remained at Red Hill, despite interest elsewhere and ended up the second-most capped player in Brisbane’s history behind Lockyer.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Of Bennett’s current cohort, the Eels have already expressed an interest in luring Hunt south, while the Warriors are eyeing off-contract Kiwi back-rower Alex Glenn.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&]With McGuire and Oates firming up their places in Queensland’s Origin set-up, they too will also be in line for healthy pay rises, but Thaiday won’t begrudge any player shoring up their financial future elsewhere.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“It’s always hard. At the end of the day there’s a lot of blokes with young families in the team and you have to look after your family,” Thaiday says.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“I encourage the boys to do what’s best for them. There’s no use in telling the boys to stay if that’s not what they really want to do deep down or it’s not best for their family deep down.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“We’re not in this game for a long time. I’ll put my hand up and say I’ve had 14 seasons as a professional player — that doesn’t necessarily occur for every player.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“You need to make it as much as you can while you can. We’ll see what happens.[/FONT]
[FONT=&]“Hopefully they want to be a part of what the Broncos want to do in the future. If not, I give them props for looking after themselves and their families.”[/FONT]
