The Prop Dilemna and the Way Forward

[Big Pete]

It's no secret that the Broncos biggest weakness right now is the front row position. Both Thaiday & Wallace have done an admirable job filling in, but as the current Australian Test skipper recently quipped, sometimes your best isn't good enough and I feel that rings true for the Broncos.

So let's discuss the prop situation, as it stands in 2015 and how it will look like going to the future.

Right now, the situation looks very bleak for the Broncos middle. The best prop is out for the rest of the season, meaning two players who are arguably better on the edges (Blair & Thaiday) have been made to put their talents and versatility to use and secure the middle. From there, the situation gets tough. The bench is made up of two squad players in Jarrod Wallace & Mitchell Dodds. The latter was on the sidelines for 18 months, the former struggled to receive game-time until this season for fears that he'd cost the side momentum through penalties or unforced errors.

Unfortunately, there's very little in terms of alternatives outside of Joe Ofahengaue, a rookie who is still making that adjustment from the NYC to first grade.

What happened to the rest of the props?
Martin Kennedy - Released, ultimately suspended by ASADA
David Hala - Released
James Gavet - Torn ACL, out for the Season
Mitch Garbutt - Released
Frank Molo - Suspended till R25
Josh McGuire - Ruptured Achillies, out for the Season

In a nut-shell, things are looking very dire in 2015 and it's going to take something special for the Broncos to overcome that issue which is a shame because your middles are very important when it comes to the intensity and consistency of finals football.

But what about the future?

Let's take a look at what the Broncos Depth Chart will look like in the front row for 2016

Josh McGuire
Adam Blair
Sam Thaiday (subject to signing)
James Gavet
Jarrod Wallace
Mitchell Dodds
Joe Ofahengaue
Frank Molo
George Fai (subject to signing)
Lindsay Collins
Keegan Hipgrave

So it's still fairly inexperienced.

Should Wayne go to the market and see if he can find somebody to help bolster the position or should he continue to persist with this current crop?

Also, should Bennett tinker with the current bench lay-out? Is two props, an outside back utility and an impact bench hooker the best formation for this side?

 

[Sproj]

You invest in the young up-and-comers. With the new interchange rules, our fast, mobile pack will continue to excel and become even more potent when throwing in a more mature Joffa and a rejuvenated Moose.

 

[barker]

Excellent post Big Pete. You've just nailed the reason the Broncos can't win the premiership this year...they are just running out of forwards. They don't lack for courage and determination but they are one injury away from fading out of the finals in the early weeks.
I think Bennett has to go to the market place to buy an experienced front rower for next year (no idea who's available) and they desperately need some size in the front row. The Broncos must surely have one of the smallest forward packs in the competition and that must really wear them down physically over the year.
We have some promising forwards coming through the ranks but no real outstanding 'middle tier' players who are ready to step up and I'm still not quite convinced that Wallace & Dodds are the future of the Broncos. No-one knows what Gavet will bring to the team until he strings a few games together.
Young guys like Offahengaue and Molo are going to take a couple of years before they are really ready for the rigours of weekly football, let alone the young guys from the under 20's.
I think the Broncos will get the mix of youth and experience right in the next couple of years but, sadly, I just don't think we have the forwards left to win a premiership this year.

 

[Big Pete]

As an aside, one area that maybe forgotten in the shuffle, is the impact of poor junior development. Especially for players born in 1992-93 where none of them managed to play first grade for us.

The players we had included...

1992
Korbin Sims
Nathaniel Peteru
Mitchell Frei
Mboya Adams

1993
Stephen Coombe
Daniel Alvaro
Travis Peeters
Caleb Binge

None of those players kicked on at the Broncos, making the situation a lot more difficult.

 

[Huge]

Yes, good post BP. As I've written quite a few times over the last few years we have been light on in the front row and with the loss of McGuire who isn't a heavyweight forward and the suspension of Blair combined it has highlighted the thinness. I know most would disagree but after watching Stagg earlier this year I realised how important a tackling machine who keeps the middle solid is. I don't know if he was considered for our last match or even if he is fit and well but I think he would have made things a little easier for the inexperienced Wallace. I know also that it's not answering your questions.

If WB can pick up an inexpensive proven prop I think it would be a help but as others have said, next years rule changes will likely benefit the McGuire type props. I don't think we need to go investing in big names but the premiership favourites this year certainly do have the bigger forwards and there must still be a role for them. I'd love to see us pick up Mason on small money but naturally not if it cost us other players.

 

[ivanhungryjak]

I would be interested to know that, if the coach had a crystal ball, would he have hung into Garbutt?

Was the reason we let him go early to do with cash, did he get the "surplus to requirements" talk from Bennett and the UK spot came up, or did Bennett just think he wasn't that good?

Not that I blame Bennett for releasing him early - hindsight is a wonderful thing.

 

[Alec]

Definitely need another front rower. I still have fairly high hopes for Gavet, always thought he had the talent...but definitely need at least one more.

Bennett has always been good at getting the most out of his front rowers. I'd be looking to sign a budget one with potential. I'm just thinking of how lucky the Roosters got with Moa or the Dragons with Cooper. Maybe look at someone in the Super League?

 

[mitch222]

With Teddy Blair back this week, we should be a lot stiffer up the middle with our prop rotation. We have two solid starters in McGuire and Blair, Thaiday is more than capable to fill in up front too if needed, and a couple of solid bench options in Wallace and Dodds who just aren't ready to start yet. To put it blunt, there wouldn't be many teams in the comp that would have a decent front row rotation if you took their main two props out. And this size debate is absolute bullshit. The dogs had a monster pack against us on the weekend and won by two and that's with our two starting props out. Blair is no midget, McGuire plays like a demon and makes you metres every game and Wallace & Dodds hold their own. If you go out and buy another established prop (which wont come cheap) then you weaken another area in the team. A front row rotation of McGuire, Blair, Wallace, Dodds & Thaiday got us to the top of the ladder and I'm fairly certain we could win a title off that combo right there.

 

[ivanhungryjak]

With Teddy Blair back this week, we should be a lot stiffer up the middle with our prop rotation. We have two solid starters in McGuire and Blair, Thaiday is more than capable to fill in up front too if needed, and a couple of solid bench options in Wallace and Dodds who just aren't ready to start yet. To put it blunt, there wouldn't be many teams in the comp that would have a decent front row rotation if you took their main two props out. And this size debate is absolute bullshit. The dogs had a monster pack against us on the weekend and won by two and that's with our two starting props out. Blair is no midget, McGuire plays like a demon and makes you metres every game and Wallace & Dodds hold their own. If you go out and buy another established prop (which wont come cheap) then you weaken another area in the team. A front row rotation of McGuire, Blair, Wallace, Dodds & Thaiday got us to the top of the ladder and I'm fairly certain we could win a title off that combo right there.

And the likes of Joe O and Frank Molo (hopefully) with a good preseason under their belt and another season older and wiser in the background, I like the way the team is shaping up for next year.

 

[I bleed Maroon]

I reckon we should go to the market. Blair can continue to do his thing while we have a quality prop to partner McGuire in the starting side.

 

[Unbreakable]

The bad news is that there's no elite off-contract props available for 2016 or 2017 that would be a realistic target for us. (K.Sims, Napa etc are all signed long term) It looks like we're, for the most part, stuck with what we've got for the next couple of seasons.

Short of us letting Thaiday & Glenn walk and offering Sam Burgess $1m a season to come back to the NRL, we probably aren't getting any top-line props any time soon.

Let's hope Joe or Francis can step up next year.

 

[Unbreakable]

And although I was semi-joking, I don't think it's impossible that Sam could be lured back for next season, he's primarily playing Union for a shot at the Rugby World Cup (Which starts in a week or so), he was also a Broncos fan as a kid. He'd probably be asking for at the very least $1m - $1.2m per season, which we could probably afford if we let Thaiday & Glenn walk and use the Hodges retirement fund, I think we'll also be rid of the Barba payments next season as well.

1. Boyd
2. Copley
3. Reed
4. Kahu
5. Maranta
6. Milford
7. Hunt (c)
8. McGuire
9. McCullough
10. Burgess
11. Oates
12. Gillett
13. Parker

14. Nikorima
15. Blair
16. Gavet
17. Wallace

A man can dream..

 

[Sproj]

Two years is not long-term. Hasn't KSims been impressive this season though!!

 

[Alec]

The problem with our front rowers is that they are all very similar. You need a good balance. McGuire and Gavet are the only ones that are kinda different.

 

[tommy]

If Sam Burgess comes back to the NRL it would probably be with the rabbits , didn't you see how him and Russell Crowe were staring into each other's eyes after the GF last year .

 

[I bleed Maroon]

I would love to sign Burgess but I can't see Bennett spending a million a season on a prop

 

[Morkel]

To be honest, I don't think there's anything the Broncos have done wrong, nor is there anything we should be doing to "rectify" the situation. Just unlucky.

The player that everyone seems to be ignoring is Hannant. Had he not faded so badly last year (for whatever reason, coaching, 3rd party deals, better offer from Cows, whatever) he could very well still be on our books and doing what he's now doing for the Cowboys, except in a Broncos jersey. Again, most of that is out of our hands, coaching & cap issues aside.

We've been doing well without our number one prop, and except for the Manly trap, should have won against the Bulldogs without our second best prop as well.

Add to this:
* Gavet breaking down early (he's the mongrel prop we need off the bench)
* Wallace & Dodds not yet showing themselves as capable of deputising in a starting role
* Blooding and developing rookies like Molo, Offa etc
Then we're really not doing anything wrong, and as others have mentioned, we're not doing any worse than most teams would without 4 of their best props down (if you include Molo & Gavet). Just... that's the luck we've been dealt.

 

[Wolfie]

I've mentioned him before, but i would be looking at Chris Hill from Warrington. At 6ft 3'' and about 115 kgs he is the big body we need imo. He plays big minutes, he is aggressive and good defensively. Also pretty fast and has good footwork.