NEWS Staggs defends Reynolds, hits out at Broncos 'haters'

Kotoni Staggs has defended Brisbane captain Adam Reynolds amid calls for his sacking and has hit back at "haters" as the Broncos' season from hell reaches flashpoint.

The 13th placed Broncos travel to Gold Coast on Saturday four points outside the NRL top eight, where a loss would virtually end their finals hopes.

The Broncos were dismal in their 41-16 loss to Canterbury on Saturday and Titans ambassador and former skipper Gorden Tallis, speaking on NRL 360, took aim at Reynolds.

"I think the team is lacking leadership," Tallis said.

"On Saturday, somebody needed to stand up and put a stake in the ground.

"(Reynolds) didn't do it, and in the (2023) grand final he didn't get them home either.

"If he's the captain and he's not doing it, there might be a chance to put Pat Carrigan there.

"Maybe there should be a change with who gets the 'C' next to their name."

Strike centre Staggs was having none of it and was not surprised former players were putting the boot in.

"(Reynolds) has just come back from being out injured (for 11 weeks) and you can't blame him for what we have been doing. They will pick out anything they can and we just ignore it," Staggs said.

"One hundred per cent (Reynolds is the right man to captain Brisbane). He has done it for the last two years. He led us to a grand final last year. It is not just on Adam. There are 13 guys on the footy field to play their part.

"I still believe he can lead us to a grand final."

Staggs said criticism from Broncos old boys was nothing new.

"It has been like that in the past. I was here in 2020 when we hit rock bottom and it is just the same old thing coming back out," he said.

"We have a great bunch of boys here and we have to stay strong and have each other's back. That noise doesn't get inside these doors here and we just brush it off."

Chris Johns, who won premierships in 1992 and 1993 with Brisbane, said on SEN Radio that the Broncos players had received "too many pats on the back" while other pundits have accused the players of having big egos and a higher opinion of their own form than warranted after losing seven of their last eight games.

"There is going to be pressure on the Broncos. We are a big organisation," Staggs said.

"Whether we are winning or losing there are still people hating us. They don't like to see the Broncos win. We know what we have got to do and we will do it.

"I still believe this team can go all the way. I am not going to give up and certainly all the boys here are not going to give up. We are going to go out there (against the Titans) and put everything on the line."

The Broncos received a boost on Wednesday when second-rower Brendan Piakura trained well after missing last week's loss with a groin strain.

Canberra Times

 

[Manofoneway]

Good on him. We should be trying to protect the team that took us to the grand final. They are our best chance of getting us back there thats for sure.

 

[Jason Simmons]

They can back Reynolds all they like.

Unfortunately they can’t defend or come up with a gameplan, let alone execute one.

Almost all of their tries are from some flashy, flukey play that works once. Structure? Game plan? Defensive resilience? These words mean absolutely nothing to this mob.

 

[McHunt]

He seemed to take a swing at the old boys.

I didn't take that away from the few words I saw. More like he was sticking to the gentle folk of BHQ who like to share their points of view on the team after consecutive losses.

 

[McHunt]

From what I've seen both Staggs and Walsh have come out saying they've got Adams back.
They have to hit the field this weekend and show it's not all talk

Yes, and Reynolds declared they'd collectively looked in the mirror behind closed doors.

They have one game and one game only left to "get a few things right."

 

[Mr Fourex]

Issue is that the Broncos for ages have lacked physicality and an inability to turn it on attitude wise.

I'm surprised that over the years the old boys haven't challenged the ...young-uns, to some kind of physical battle/sports

or perhaps they have

...and lost (?)

 

[Wolfie]

They've won a golden ticket by playing for the Broncos... media all over them and pushing their contract prices up regardless of how good they actually are

Some of them are spoiled by playing for the Broncos, and we have become too weak as a club to stand up and tell some of these players they arent getting the money they want from us. We have players here who have got big money contracts they havent earned. They got them because we got panicked about losing them.

 

[mrslong]

Some of them are spoiled by playing for the Broncos, and we have become too weak as a club to stand up and tell some of these players they arent getting the money they want from us. We have players here who have got big money contracts they havent earned. They got them because we got panicked about losing them.

We do tell them they are t getting the money - and they leave. Flegs, Herbie, etc

 

[Wolfie]

We do tell them they are t getting the money - and they leave. Flegs, Herbie, etc

They are the ones we probably wanted to keep but got suckered into overpaying for others.

 

[LittleDavey]

Some of them are spoiled by playing for the Broncos, and we have become too weak as a club to stand up and tell some of these players they arent getting the money they want from us. We have players here who have got big money contracts they havent earned. They got them because we got panicked about losing them.

By extension, this is also one of the problems with our pathways. We shouldn't have to worry too much if we do lose a Cobbo or a Peeks or a Mam because we should have another one or two potentials behind them. Unfortunately this isn't the case, so we do get panicked because we don't have the replacements we should have.

We appear to be a weak club from top to bottom at the moment, and it's inexcusable.