Should the Broncos make a play for Ponga

[Kooly87]

We made an offer for him at he same time that Melbourne did, he chose them instead.

it's not like he was one of our juniors that we allowed to walk without making an offer.

and we are not guaranteed to sign every player we want, just because they play in Brisbane. both us and the Storm (and probably several other clubs) identified him and made him an offer.

We used to get those guys. Maybe not every single one, but bloody hell, we didn't miss many.

Promising young Queensland kids almost always had Brisbane at the top of their list of choices, but those days are long gone.

It's not even like were just getting less of these guys now, we seem to be getting hardly any these days and it's been like that for some time.

 

[Foordy]

We used to get those guys. Maybe not every single one, but bloody hell, we didn't miss many.

Promising young Queensland kids almost always had Brisbane at the top of their list of choices, but those days are long gone.

It's not even like were just getting less of these guys now, we seem to be getting hardly any these days and it's been like that for some time.

that's because kids use to take less to stay at home ... now they all treat it as a business and take the best offer, not necessarily go with their hearts

every NRL team has scouts in Queensland these days, and we can't just stockpile talent like we used to

 

[NSW stables]

You said it's easy to get 2 players valued at $600K that can comfortably outproduce Ponga, I provided you a list of nearly 20 players paid anywhere between $600K - $1.2M that are all viewed as negative assets and below average for their position.

My point is, you're wrong.

To be fair, yes you have listed under performing players reportedly on 600k+ but he could just as easily provide a list of players on less that are performing so i dont think your justification could mean he is definitively wrong.

 

[Unbreakable]

To be fair, yes you have listed under performing players reportedly on 600k+ but he could just as easily provide a list of players on less that are performing so i dont think your justification could mean he is definitively wrong.

I'm not saying it's impossible to get 2 guys who could outperform Ponga at around the $600K mark, I'm just discrediting the part where he & 007 said we could easily get more value out of two $600K players, it's not easy, if it were easy there would be no bad contracts in the NRL.

Spending $1.2M on a surefire superstar at the age of 21 is much less of a risk than people are making out on here. I'd have no issue with spending that, if not more to get him here, if it were an option.

 

[upthebroncs]

Again, Tanah Boyd will be a gun. We allowed him to leave to Titans. Just like we did with Arrow.

 

[Locky’s Left Boot]

Paying $1.5M a season for one player is salary cap suicide.

I could see the Titans offering him $1.75M and then have him spend half of the season either injured or taking a ‘mental health’ break because....well....
Gold Coast

 

[Kooly87]

that's because kids use to take less to stay at home ... now they all treat it as a business and take the best offer, not necessarily go with their hearts

every NRL team has scouts in Queensland these days, and we can't just stockpile talent like we used to

It's more than that though. We no longer win the hearts and minds of the kids who go on to become the next generation of fans, and in rare cases the next generation of players, and thats arguably more damning than anything else about the current state of the club.

This was a special place to play football at. Being a Bronco used to really count for something, virtually all the old boys bring it up when talking about the place, but you honestly couldn't say that with a straight face anymore when talking about the club in its current state.

 

[Locky’s Left Boot]

Fancy spending 16% of your cap on one player who has played 1 finals game, 3 Origin games and 0 internationals.

Ponga may be a great talent and a future superstar and I do believe he is a player you can build a club around, but in a 30 player team salary cap of $9.6M, that type of deal will more likely than not end in problems.

His management are practically asking for a 200% pay raise meaning the Knights have to find an extra $750k to keep him happy. That could nearly cost them a player like a Mitchell Pearce or a David Klemmer and both of those players have contributed as much to the Knights good patches of form than Ponga has this season. Either that or they go with the obvious option of money balling the team and just getting rid of a heap of mid tier players and bringing in minimum wage players to fill in the gaps.

But this is Newcastle not the Melbourne Storm.

This current Knights side is not even going to play in the finals with their current squad let alone one where they have to lose quality players and rip apart their depth to keep Ponga on the hope he stays injury free for starters, and at that price, you would want him winning games off his own back at least every second week to even remotely justify that price tag.

Unless the Knights can get him on the cap for only $1M and find the rest off the books it is fraught with danger and can potentially set the club back even further from sustainable success.

Paying someone that amount of money in the cap before they have earned it has never ended well. At this stage of his career he is a 10% of your salary cap player not a 16% one. Considering the club paid him overs as a teenage based on potential before he had done anything in the game, that’s a pretty shitty way to show your respect to your club. It’s also making Ponga come across as a greedy flog now especially as they are asking for this upgrade 2 years into a 4 year deal when his team is playing piss poorly and whilst Pearce has had a better overall season. I’m hoping we don’t run into this problem with Payne Haas contract.

 

[Xzei]

manly have the right idea,once again if the reports are correct they are looking to re-sign Jake t and Tom t for a combined 2 mill that is good value for the money spent.

 

[upthebroncs]

Fancy spending 16% of your cap on one player who has played 1 finals game, 3 Origin games and 0 internationals.

Ponga may be a great talent and a future superstar and I do believe he is a player you can build a club around, but in a 30 player team salary cap of $9.6M, that type of deal will more likely than not end in problems.

His management are practically asking for a 200% pay raise meaning the Knights have to find an extra $750k to keep him happy. That could nearly cost them a player like a Mitchell Pearce or a David Klemmer and both of those players have contributed as much to the Knights good patches of form than Ponga has this season. Either that or they go with the obvious option of money balling the team and just getting rid of a heap of mid tier players and bringing in minimum wage players to fill in the gaps.

But this is Newcastle not the Melbourne Storm.

This current Knights side is not even going to play in the finals with their current squad let alone one where they have to lose quality players and rip apart their depth to keep Ponga on the hope he stays injury free for starters, and at that price, you would want him winning games off his own back at least every second week to even remotely justify that price tag.

Unless the Knights can get him on the cap for only $1M and find the rest off the books it is fraught with danger and can potentially set the club back even further from sustainable success.

Paying someone that amount of money in the cap before they have earned it has never ended well. At this stage of his career he is a 10% of your salary cap player not a 16% one. Considering the club paid him overs as a teenage based on potential before he had done anything in the game, that’s a pretty shitty way to show your respect to your club. It’s also making Ponga come across as a greedy flog now especially as they are asking for this upgrade 2 years into a 4 year deal when his team is playing piss poorly and whilst Pearce has had a better overall season. I’m hoping we don’t run into this problem with Payne Haas contract.

LOL

People were saying the same thing when the Knights signed him for 700k a season after a few NRL games...

Everyone agrees it was a good move.

 

[Foordy]

LOL

People were saying the same thing when the Knights signed him for 700k a season after a few NRL games...

Everyone agrees it was a good move.

while 700k was a risk ... and has worked out well for the Knights ....

1.5 million is another thing entirely ... it doesn't just put him up in elite company ... it puts him up with the best of the best ... quite likely the biggest contract ever offered to a rugby league player in this country

 

[upthebroncs]

while 700k was a risk ... and has worked out well for the Knights ....

1.5 million is another thing entirely ... it doesn't just put him up in elite company ... it puts him up with the best of the best ... quite likely the biggest contract ever offered to a rugby league player in this country

Put it into perspective. Would you rather Darius Boyd and Jack Bird or Kalyn Ponga + 200/300k?

Personally I'd take Ponga and the cash any day

 

[Unbreakable]

It’s also making Ponga come across as a greedy flog now especially as they are asking for this upgrade 2 years into a 4 year deal when his team is playing piss poorly and whilst Pearce has had a better overall season.

Just to clarify what I'm reading, you believe that Mitchell Pearce has had a better season than Kalyn Ponga, is that correct?

 

[john1420]

You said it's easy to get 2 players valued at $600K that can comfortably outproduce Ponga, I provided you a list of nearly 20 players paid anywhere between $600K - $1.2M that are all viewed as negative assets and below average for their position.

My point is, you're wrong.

Yeah, some players are overpaid, and it's definitely something to be careful of

By the way I didn't say it would be easy, just that I think you're better off with 2 guys in the 700k range than 1 at double the price

 

[john1420]

Christ, we can just add him to the ever growing list.

I don't think I'm too far wrong in saying we haven't successfully identified and progressed a genuine star talent from our own backyard and had them go on to real success for the best part of a decade now.

Virtually every single genuinely great Queensland/Brisbane talent for the last ten years has come up through or gone on to succeed at clubs besides the Broncos.
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Thank Christ you're not in charge of the books if that's honestly how you value Ponga.

When the Roosters signed Tedesco he'd never won anything either. He'd played in a losing Origin series and that was it. How foolish you'd look now going by your own logic.

Well i think you'd look foolish signing anyone on 16% of the cap unless that person was the game breaking calibre of a Cameron Smith

Ponga may become that and he may not

It's a hell of a risk

 

[Battler]

Ponga can probably get 500k-1mil in Brisbane just from TPAs. That should be something for his management to consider; there's more money in Brisbane than Newcastle, especially for the QLD FB and one of the faces of RL.

 

[Locky’s Left Boot]

Just to clarify what I'm reading, you believe that Mitchell Pearce has had a better season than Kalyn Ponga, is that correct?

I don’t know about you but the season overall, you could argue Pearce has had a slightly more influential role in the Knights season then Ponga. At the very worst it is neck and neck.

I watched a lot of the Knights games during their hot streak and it was no coincidence Pearce got 6 straight MOTM awards. He was running the show and Ponga jumped on the back of it. Pearce would also be pushing the Dally M Leaderboard over Ponga which would be a fair barometer to how influential he has been in games. Do not forget Ponga had a very slow start to the year when he was at 6 and he has missed more games this year than Pearce. If Ponga was on $1.5M in the knights cap for this season, you would say they are not getting that value.

Just so we are clear I rate Ponga and would fucking love him at Brisbane. But he is not worth 16% of a salary cap. He is probably a million dollar player value wise and you would try supplement that with TPA’s not to blow your cap management. If he became a player where he could single handedly carry an underperforming team over the line consistently on his own back, then the $1.5M discussion has more merit. But Pearce has had a very big role in Ponga’s game this year.

The only player even remotely worth close to 16% of your cap is Cameron Smith and that is because of:

- His big game experience
- How consistent and influential he is in each game
- Never has an off game
- Touches the ball more times than anyone on the field
- His all round game

Could you imagine paying $1.5M for a fullback who may touch the ball like 20-30 times a game tops? You would have to revolve your game around getting him as much ball as possible to even justify the value and then your game plan would become predictable. Ponga is at his best when he can chime in and roam as he pleases.

 

[007]

If someone is so hungry and greedy to chase 1.2+m per season, their mind isnt completely on rugby league nor are their interests with the benefit of the team they are going to. Let him go chase that money in union or Europe.