VOTE Should the Broncos re-sign McCullough

[Big Pete]

After losing star halfback Ben Hunt, the Brisbane Broncos face an uphill battle in their quest to retain the rest of the squad.

Among the big names coming off-contract is Broncos rake Andrew McCullough. 'Macca' as he's affectionally known is closing in on 200 games for the Broncos and despite being one of the best defensive players in the game is often criticised for his lack of flair.

Broncos fans have long memories and they'll long remember a play in the 2015 Grand Final where McCullough had Parker into space, but selfishly sold the dummy and spoiled what could have been the difference between both teams.

So I leave it up to you guys.

Do the Broncos commit to McCullough?

Or should they try their luck on the open market?

Notable Hookers Off Contract In 2017 - Nathan Peats & Michael Lichaa.

 

[mitch222]

Re-sign him immediately. I really don't want to rebuild a whole new team from scratch

 

[noisetheory]

yes.

 

[Morkel]

Macca is a very hard worker and we've seen the difference when he's not in the team. His lack of speed has been somewhat offset in the past with his working relationship with Hunt, who actually worked together quite well. With Hunt gone, as unfortunate as it may be to lose yet another clubman, I am open to McCullough going elsewhere.

I really rate Peats if he can keep his head on. Open to Parcell too. We do need a strong defensive hooker, it is critical to keeping a tight ruck, which these two are. Berrigan is kind of my template - defensively tireless but a scheming little nugget. Jake Friend, Matt Ballin, those sorts of players (obviously not at 32 years of age and busted up).

I'm not inclined to go for a more erratic, but potentially brilliant hooker like Segeyaro. Too much risk. The only reason Luke was able to get away with it was because there were 16 Burgii all at the top of their game, and a Ben Te'o waiting to smash fuckers who managed to escape the middle third.

 

[M.B.88]

Absolutely we should. He's a very important cog in our spine and the fact he's not on big coin because his apparent lack of flair is a huge bonus.

We need players like Glenn and macca.. reliable but not fleshy. You don't want nuffies filling the cheap cap spots (because of all the money we pay our stars) that players like these guys really help pull a full 17 together

Plus his lack of "flair" can be offset by a kodi nikorima who we again wouldn't have to pay big money to for such little minutes.

Another thing is he possesses a good kicking game. Just wish he'd bloody use it more! Maybe now with hunt on the way out he may pick up some of the responsibility... don't know why he isn't told to kick more. But i hope he does soon.

 

[Unbreakable]

Keep him, he's as reliable as they come and is the best defensive 9 in the comp, I shudder at the thought of our defence without him making 50 tackles a game.

 

[Nashy]

Yep. He's awesome.

 

[Sproj]

Defensively he is unmatched and his service has improved somewhat but I still feel his lack of pace on his passes tends to negate the pace we have in Milf and Roberts at times. We should have kept Granville but didn't.

I don't hate Macca before all the usual comments come in but I also don't think he is irreplaceable. As Morkel said, his major strength was his combo with Hunt.

I feel that an erratic live wire is not the answer but a rare combo of defence and attack is what we could use. As mentioned in another thread, I'd love to pick up Parcell if we lose Macca.

I actually think losing Hunt and possibly Macca will hurt at first but over time (and not a lot of it) IF we get their replacements right, we could actually become a better team.

 

[pagey]

Macca needs to stay , we need stability in the spine!

 

[Jason Simmons]

Macca is a very hard worker and we've seen the difference when he's not in the team. His lack of speed has been somewhat offset in the past with his working relationship with Hunt, who actually worked together quite well. With Hunt gone, as unfortunate as it may be to lose yet another clubman, I am open to McCullough going elsewhere.

I really rate Peats if he can keep his head on. Open to Parcell too. We do need a strong defensive hooker, it is critical to keeping a tight ruck, which these two are. Berrigan is kind of my template - defensively tireless but a scheming little nugget. Jake Friend, Matt Ballin, those sorts of players (obviously not at 32 years of age and busted up).

I'm not inclined to go for a more erratic, but potentially brilliant hooker like Segeyaro. Too much risk. The only reason Luke was able to get away with it was because there were 16 Burgii all at the top of their game, and a Ben Te'o waiting to smash fuckers who managed to escape the middle third.

Unfortunately it seems as if we are seeing that an entire generation of Broncos aren't proving to be the 'cream of the crop' that the 'Hook era' talent scouts thought they would be.

I'm talking about the former NYC players whose greatest achievements seem to be that they have managed to be runners up in an NYC GF and an NRL GF (with considerable help from players outside that core group and a new coach).

I'm talking the likes of Hunt, McCullough, McGuire, Glenn, Reed and probably the most individually successful - Gillett. But the rest such as Norman, Hoffman and so on haven't kicked on the way the talent scouts at the time thought they would and hope was and has often been placed in them, at the expense of others and has led to season after season of mediocrity.

I consider them as a group as having been a solid 'B' team during the era they have been at the Broncs but only in 2015 have they ever come close to being a legitimate 'A' team (no joke intended there) and that was only with the assistance of outsiders such as Boyd, Blair and Milford brought in to cover for their inadequacies.

Overall during their time at the club, we have been the least successful we have ever been and that says a lot about the players, just as it does the 'talent' identification we had at the club, the retention decisions and the coaching.

I am open to the idea of re-signing McCullough, but I'd like the club to have a decent look at other options too...

 

[mitch222]

There are pretty much no other viable options other than Macca on the market. I don't really want to go out and spend 1 mill+ on a hooker

 

[BroncsFan]

Re-sign him immediately. I really don't want to rebuild a whole new team from scratch

So much this.

At the moment we've got hunt gone and several members of the forum are now happy to toss away McGuire, macca, arrow, Glenn and just about anyone else because apparently all it takes to sign a player from another club is just chucking a contract in front of them... but hey it's a business right

 

[Sproj]

You do realise it isn't usually the same people who say the same things about different players right?

 

[Morkel]

I've stood up for Macca for ever, and my opinion of him hasn't changed. The thing that has changed is Hunt leaving, and with the combo between the two no longer relevant, it's one less thing in his favour.

Macca's been a bit of a whipping boy on here. To be honest I can't remember who likes him vs who thinks he's shit, but just about everyone has now commented that he needs to be kept. Is that because people do rate him, or is it simply because Hunt has gone, others may follow, so people just want to hold on to whoever they can before the whole band has split up?

 

[Accept]

Macca is the most valuable member of the Bronco's squad and we witnessed that last season when he missed numerous games due to injury, the Broncos are much weaker without him. WB is aware of this and I don't envision Macca playing anywhere else in the near future.

 

[mitch222]

I've stood up for Macca for ever, and my opinion of him hasn't changed. The thing that has changed is Hunt leaving, and with the combo between the two no longer relevant, it's one less thing in his favour.

Macca's been a bit of a whipping boy on here. To be honest I can't remember who likes him vs who thinks he's shit, but just about everyone has now commented that he needs to be kept. Is that because people do rate him, or is it simply because Hunt has gone, others may follow, so people just want to hold on to whoever they can before the whole band has split up?

I rate him
He may not be a Cameron Smith but he is the right fit for our team. We don't need a running hooker who tries to do it all by himself. We need one that gets the ball to the right people at the right time and he does that. Also, he doesn't shy away from his defence either which is good because it shores up the ruck defence.

 

[Porthoz]

He's no Cam Smith, but who is? So that's a yes from me!

 

[Alec]

I've never rated him highly. Just too slow and dumb with his passes and average in general in attack.