The Roster investigation and its fallout

[Wolfie]

So its being reported the club are going to have an investigation into our roster. Now, if they do this, then they have to make the findings public imo, and they are going to have to admit they have stuffed up our roster and stuffed it up pretty badly. Which heads are going to roll? Probably none.

The balance of this squad is appalling. We have seemed so obsessed in trying to sign up every promising, potential superstar on our books that we have neglected to structure a well balanced squad. Where are the low maintainence, good value players who just do their jobs and supplement the game breakers. You need blokes like players Kenny, Dodds, Reed, Stagg, Opacic, Perry etc to offset players like Haas, Staggs, Fifita etc because you just cant keep every good player on your books, you have to let some go or you end up with a squad like we have now.

They are also going to have to look at how many players contracts they have got wrong. Boyd was worth his money on a 2 year deal, not what he got. Oates, Joffa, Milford, Bird, ( although Bird is arguable because if he stayed fit he would probably have been worth his money ) Issako have all got good contracts and havent really lived up to them. I also think signing so many blokes to long contracts isnt helping. I get it for a Haas or Fifita, but not an Issako or Boyd.

And these player options have to stop.

 

[Mister Wright]

That’s soooo easy to say, but in reality so hard to do. Every 2-3 months when a player has a good game there is an article about how the Broncos’ let them get away.

So, we make a decision to sign up younger players so they don’t et snapped up somewhere else, now we’re getting criticised for having too many young players. You can’t have it both ways.

 

[Wolfie]

That’s soooo easy to say, but in reality so hard to do. Every 2-3 months when a player has a good game there is an article about how the Broncos’ let them get away.

So, we make a decision to sign up younger players so they don’t et snapped up somewhere else, now we’re getting criticised for having too many young players. You can’t have it both ways.

Its not that hard to do at all. You dont sign a 30 year old fullback coming off an injury to a 4 year contract. They did it with Boyd, they did it with Gillett. Stupidity.

The decision to sign up so many young forwards was madness. It was never going to work and now we have a lot of money tied up in forwards. There is literally one forward with any experience at this club ( Glenn ) and they tried to get rid of him as well. You need the right experienced guys to help develop players. You simply cant keep them all though and thats what we are trying to do to the detriment of the squad balance.

 

[Scorchie]

How many other clubs have player options like we do (quantity wise)

 

[Cult]

I guess we can start from 2016
-Letting Ash taylor go. He would have been a better player if he stayed with us.
-not transitioning Hunt to hooker was a mistake in hindsight. 1. Boyd 6. Milford 7. Taylor 9. Hunt could have been a great spine

2017
- I feel like Parker could have played another year

2018
- we have to question the Bird signing. How did we not do our due diligence before allowing him to sign such a large contract?
- losing both Marshall and Hunt and excusing the form of the other half

2019
- the entire white anting of Bennett. This was absolutely done the wrong way. In the end we obviously made a shit decision to give Seibold so long

2020
-Croft. He’s a Storm reject. They simply do not let good players leave
- the whole Kahu situation

Off the top of my head this is what I think we need to question. The player options are fucked, the lengths are fucked, the amount of years Boyd was signed for was fucked, the money Milford was signed for was fucked. Signing a bunch of players working under that grubby player agent was fucked, the Ofahengaue contract was fucking stupid. There’s so many things thing club have fucked up over the last few years and I guarantee we don’t hear shit about much of this stuff if they do release their findings.

 

[Twbapony]

Yes but when you talk to anyone you can see where their values lie. If its money, what are you going to do for me, and stuff like that don't sign them as they aren't bringing anything to the table. Anyone who has an attitude of this is what i can bring to the table, I enjoy working in a team, and that line sign them and then equip them with the skill set. Basic first.

 

[theshed]

So its being reported the club are going to have an investigation into our roster. Now, if they do this, then they have to make the findings public imo, and they are going to have to admit they have stuffed up our roster and stuffed it up pretty badly. Which heads are going to roll? Probably none.

The balance of this squad is appalling. We have seemed so obsessed in trying to sign up every promising, potential superstar on our books that we have neglected to structure a well balanced squad. Where are the low maintainence, good value players who just do their jobs and supplement the game breakers. You need blokes like players Kenny, Dodds, Reed, Stagg, Opacic, Perry etc to offset players like Haas, Staggs, Fifita etc because you just cant keep every good player on your books, you have to let some go or you end up with a squad like we have now.

They are also going to have to look at how many players contracts they have got wrong. Boyd was worth his money on a 2 year deal, not what he got. Oates, Joffa, Milford, Bird, ( although Bird is arguable because if he stayed fit he would probably have been worth his money ) Issako have all got good contracts and havent really lived up to them. I also think signing so many blokes to long contracts isnt helping. I get it for a Haas or Fifita, but not an Issako or Boyd.

And these player options have to stop.

I mean in theory the balance shouldn’t be too bad. Bird, Oates, Milford, Boyd, Glenn, Macca, Gillett and McGuire should have given us the perfect amount of experience spread well across the backs, forwards, and spine. It’s just that they all got injured or are useless (Glenn the exception to some extent, McGuire is a 50/50 call in retrospect, though if Gillett was fit, Moose wasn’t worth keeping). I’m not sure how else the club could have really dealt with it. seeing as Croft is the only signing of worth since then (not including Teo and Luke who were lucky pick ups)D, there doesn’t seem to be much money to throw around.

The issue is obvious, terribly overpriced and too long contracts to the guys who were meant to be the reliable experienced guys. Knowing we kept the wrong experienced reliable players is one thing, doing anything about it now is another. All you can really do is push them out and then try to use their money to recruit reliable mid rangers from other clubs.

Ive thrown around Opecics name a few times too as the perfect cheap replacement for Boyd but that’s not something that we can just click our fingers and achieve. I’d love to push out Offa and Lodge and bring in a couple genuine workhorse forwards to tighten our middle and balance the X factor players. I don’t even know where to start on our spine. Obviously moving on Milf and Croft and finding a fullback and great hooker would be nice but there’s no one on the market as far as I know.

 

[Wolfie]

I still dont get how we managed to let Arrow leave yet we kept Joffa. Now i like Joffa, but anyone who watched them play could see Arrow was going to be a better player. Its things like that which puzzle me.
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I mean in theory the balance shouldn’t be too bad. Bird, Oates, Milford, Boyd, Glenn, Macca, Gillett and McGuire should have given us the perfect amount of experience spread well across the backs, forwards, and spine. It’s just that they all got injured or are useless (Glenn the exception to some extent, McGuire is a 50/50 call in retrospect, though if Gillett was fit, Moose wasn’t worth keeping). I’m not sure how else the club could have really dealt with it. seeing as Croft is the only signing of worth since then (not including Teo and Luke who were lucky pick ups)D, there doesn’t seem to be much money to throw around.

The issue is obvious, terribly overpriced and too long contracts to the guys who were meant to be the reliable experienced guys. Knowing we kept the wrong experienced reliable players is one thing, doing anything about it now is another. All you can really do is push them out and then try to use their money to recruit reliable mid rangers from other clubs.

Ive thrown around Opecics name a few times too as the perfect cheap replacement for Boyd but that’s not something that we can just click our fingers and achieve. I’d love to push out Offa and Lodge and bring in a couple genuine workhorse forwards to tighten our middle and balance the X factor players. I don’t even know where to start on our spine. Obviously moving on Milf and Croft and finding a fullback and great hooker would be nice but there’s no one on the market as far as I know.

With the experienced guys you mentioned, its more the value and length of the contracts we have got badly wrong. Like i said, Boyd on a 2 year deal nobody would have really complained about. Issako is another i dont see why we gave a 4 year deal to ( IIRC that is ). Milf on a 2 year deal the same, nobody would have had much of an issue with. There was no need to upgrade Gillo. We would have had a much better amount of money to play with if we didnt throw around long contracts so easily.

 

[Locky888]

Didn't they already do a "sweeping" review after last years finals flop? These "reviews" are just a ploy to distract disgruntled fans while doing no concrete changes.

 

[Huge]

Its not that hard to do at all. You dont sign a 30 year old fullback coming off an injury to a 4 year contract. They did it with Boyd, they did it with Gillett. Stupidity.

The decision to sign up so many young forwards was madness. It was never going to work and now we have a lot of money tied up in forwards. There is literally one forward with any experience at this club ( Glenn ) and they tried to get rid of him as well. You need the right experienced guys to help develop players. You simply cant keep them all though and thats what we are trying to do to the detriment of the squad balance.

I haven't been a Boyd hater but I absolutely agree with the view that a 4 year deal was out of order. He did have ongoing hamstring issues at the time. I'd think a two + two year deal would have been the right choice with the club having the option. Gillett was a bit different and a foundation type player, reliable as ****.

We aren't far off, there really isn't much difference between 1st and last and I cannot count the times where I've seen a bottom team play so well I'm left wondering why they weren't running top 4. It only takes a top team to come out a touch overconfident and the bottom team desperate and committed.

 

[Wolfie]

Didn't they already done a "sweeping" review after last years finals flop? These "reviews" are just a ploy to satisfy the pissed off fans while doing no concrete changes needed.

To me, there has to be a change in recruitment. It needs an overhaul. IT wont happen, but it needs it. When you look at the players based in QLD that we overlooked or didnt think were worth it its criminal for an organisation like ours. JT, Smith, Slater and Cronk are genuine superstars and for us not to pick up at least one of them is shocking.

 

[theshed]

I still dont get how we managed to let Arrow leave yet we kept Joffa. Now i like Joffa, but anyone who watched them play could see Arrow was going to be a better player. Its things like that which puzzle me.
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With the experienced guys you mentioned, its more the value and length of the contracts we have got badly wrong. Like i said, Boyd on a 2 year deal nobody would have really complained about. Issako is another i dont see why we gave a 4 year deal to ( IIRC that is ). Milf on a 2 year deal the same, nobody would have had much of an issue with. There was no need to upgrade Gillo. We would have had a much better amount of money to play with if we didnt throw around long contracts so easily.

mate, 0 arguments from me. The contracts have been disgusting the last couple of years.

 

[Cult]

Player options are ridiculous too. You either have the option to play for the Broncos for whatever we feel is necessary or **** off to Sydney and pay more for your housing, to move your families up there and to fall into obscurity in a few years. We have a history of treating players right, looking after them. Fifita should have been signed by now but if he’s holding us hostage after his Bali incident then **** off. That goes for every player that tries to hold their contract value over our heads.

 

[Huge]

I still dont get how we managed to let Arrow leave yet we kept Joffa. Now i like Joffa, but anyone who watched them play could see Arrow was going to be a better player. Its things like that which puzzle me.
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With the experienced guys you mentioned, its more the value and length of the contracts we have got badly wrong. Like i said, Boyd on a 2 year deal nobody would have really complained about. Issako is another i dont see why we gave a 4 year deal to ( IIRC that is ). Milf on a 2 year deal the same, nobody would have had much of an issue with. There was no need to upgrade Gillo. We would have had a much better amount of money to play with if we didnt throw around long contracts so easily.

From memory the Tits offer was much much greater than what the Broncos could afford at the time. They wanted to keep him but...

 

[Cult]

Fifita can return the moment he puts pen to paper with us. If he wants to **** around he can sit out and another team can have him with no game time. We need to play hard ball with these pricks. If they don’t want to play for the Broncos then I don’t want them.

 

[Sproj]

I still dont get how we managed to let Arrow leave yet we kept Joffa. Now i like Joffa, but anyone who watched them play could see Arrow was going to be a better player. Its things like that which puzzle me.
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With the experienced guys you mentioned, its more the value and length of the contracts we have got badly wrong. Like i said, Boyd on a 2 year deal nobody would have really complained about. Issako is another i dont see why we gave a 4 year deal to ( IIRC that is ). Milf on a 2 year deal the same, nobody would have had much of an issue with. There was no need to upgrade Gillo. We would have had a much better amount of money to play with if we didnt throw around long contracts so easily.

Totally agree, anyone could tell Arrow was going to be a top shelf gun, even in the 20s.

That said, he has that hairstyle in him, didn't know that unfortunately. No one with that hairstyle should play for the Broncos.

 

[Wolfie]

From memory the Tits offer was much much greater than what the Broncos could afford at the time. They wanted to keep him but...

Titans paid him about 350k a year. At the time, we couldnt really compete financially. My take on it though is we put ourselves in a position where we couldnt keep him, and we went with other players over him. Cant remember all the contracts from that time that were getting renewed, but from my point of view Arrow always looked a better prospect than Joffa and he is the one i would have liked to have kept.

 

[Finbar]

That’s soooo easy to say, but in reality so hard to do. Every 2-3 months when a player has a good game there is an article about how the Broncos’ let them get away.

Recruitment shouldn't be based on the media or other clubs talking up our players. We have to shut out all that noise if we want to recruit sensibly. Who cares if we get lambasted for letting players go if it means we develop a more balanced squad and start winning some footy.

Gillette's contract extension while he was out injured and unsure about how he'd come back from a broken neck wasn't smart, but he negotiated using his option year while other clubs showed interest and drove up the price. The Broncos shouldn't have to offer more money than other clubs to keep players, if anything we can offer less because of the lower cost of living