The Roster investigation and its fallout

[Big Pete]

It all goes back to 2017. I remember Ikin raising it on the FoxSports podcast that of all the clubs, Brisbane had the most players off contract heading into a new televisions right deal. Nobody knew what the cap was going to be, but clubs were going off early which is why Hunt was signed on $6 million for 5 years and Taylor was offered a million a season to stay at the Gold Coast before a ball was kicked.

It became this mad scramble to try and keep the band together. They kept a fair portion of them but when it was all said and done they definitely came out of that period weaker.

The writing for Arrow was on the wall when the Broncos went ahead and signed Pangai Jr. You throw the Korbin Sims signing into the mix and it was clear that Jai was the odd man out.

Bennett didn't want to keep Ofahengaue. He was on the outer but stuck around because he chose to stay on less while Ese'ese went ahead and got paid. Brisbane were happy to stick with Herman, but they didn't want to tie that much cash up. Ofahengaue to his credit had a genuinely good season in 2018. Seibold then went ahead and signed him on even more than Herman.

Similar deal with Blair and Thaiday. Bennett wanted an old head and would have preferred Adam, but Kearney offered him a deal that was far too good to pass up.

Bird was signed because he has a winners mentality and has qualities nobody else on the open market had. However, he wasn't worth the amount of money the Broncos paid and there were a lot of red flags. Nobody could have expected it to be this bad but that's just how it's played out.

I wrote about it a year ago, but the Broncos recruitment really dropped off after 2016. That was a good signing spree for the club Roberts, Pangai Jr, Isaako, Haas etc. the club was making a lot of smart choices. I even liked the signings of Timu, Seve, Scarlett, Funaki etc. the problem was they stuck with those players too long and didn't keep looking through all those blue chip prospects.

Here's what the review has to focus on as it pertains to 2020. After the 58-0 drubbing, why did the Broncos finalise their 30 Man NRL Squad and 6 Man Development Squad months ahead of the trials? Of all the seasons, why didn't the Broncos wait until the trials or a couple of weeks into the ISC season before finalising those spots?

 

[BroncsFan]

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 think they have realised their issues with recent contracts not being as long... TPJ, Turps, Offa and Oates all re-signed last year on 3 year deals.

A 3yr deal is more manageable as they're all effectively in their first year this year, but by the end of next year they will effectively be free agents. So if a guy like Offa or Oates isn't fulfilling their value by the end of next year then all of a sudden they can be moved on reasonably easy with less than 12 months left on their contract or we just see out their contract and let them go in 2022.

That being said I'd say Lodge's contract may become an issue in a few years... he also signed a 3 yr deal but they've chucked a 2yr player option on the back of it... and it seems to be a pretty high value.

I think his fitness is struggling at the moment due to his knee injury and that he will be fine with the new style of play... but I'd have TPJ and Haas as the starting props with Carrigan starting lock... either way we could be paying a bit of cash for Offa, TPJ or Lodge to be starting from the bench each week

 

[BroncsFan]

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.

The only thing I can think of is circumstance... I'm guessing their contracts didn't line up so it wasn't a decision between one or the other and by the time it came around to sign Arrow we already had Offa on the books as well as Thaiday, Blair, TPJ, maybe Korbin??

And they probably just couldn't offer him enough money to stay.

In hindsight potentially they should've seen Arrow coming through as a better prospect than Offa, but Arrow looked more a lock than a prop (especially under the old rules where size was important) and potentially they saw TPJ or even Carrigan coming through as the long term lock.

Even Offa would've been considered an option at lock moving forward.

Looking at it now Arrow would've been much more handy, but we'd probably be having issues keeping him on a contract now anyway and I believe he's heading to Sydney in part because it will help his partner's modeling career... so potentially we would've been losing him just as he was coming into his prime

 

[Mister Wright]

The only thing I can think of is circumstance... I'm guessing their contracts didn't line up so it wasn't a decision between one or the other and by the time it came around to sign Arrow we already had Offa on the books as well as Thaiday, Blair, TPJ, maybe Korbin??

And they probably just couldn't offer him enough money to stay.

In hindsight potentially they should've seen Arrow coming through as a better prospect than Offa, but Arrow looked more a lock than a prop (especially under the old rules where size was important) and potentially they saw TPJ or even Carrigan coming through as the long term lock.

Even Offa would've been considered an option at lock moving forward.

Looking at it now Arrow would've been much more handy, but we'd probably be having issues keeping him on a contract now anyway and I believe he's heading to Sydney in part because it will help his partner's modeling career... so potentially we would've been losing him just as he was coming into his prime

I haven’t been impressed with Arrow, particularly this season. He is good defensively, but I think he’d be over the moon in getting a massive contract with Souths.

 

[BroncsFan]

I haven’t been impressed with Arrow, particularly this season. He is good defensively, but I think he’d be over the moon in getting a massive contract with Souths.

Is it 800k for 5yrs??

That's a huge contract for him to basically be playing prop, because surely Murray stays at lock.

 

[Mister Wright]

Is it 800k for 5yrs??

That's a huge contract for him to basically be playing prop, because surely Murray stays at lock.

That’s pretty close to what it is. Not sure who they’re losing to free up that money though?

 

[Morkel]

I was under the impression we wanted to keep Arrow, but not at the money the Titans offered, and we had Carrigan coming through. It wasn't a choice between Arrow or Offa. The latter was mostly playing as a prop anyway.

Of all the things to blame on Seibold, he can't foresee this many injuries. Our squad isn't that bad when you throw Bird in the backs, despite the lack of game time, he has experience, winning experience, which we currently lack.

 

[WASSHHH]

Teaser: I’ve seen the report, roster’s fucked.

 

[holdzy]

Teaser: I’ve seen the report, roster’s fucked.

It's a top 8 team at full strength imo. When was the last time we had our full strength team on the field? Start of 2019? Shit's fucked.

 

[Allo]

My undying love for the man aside, looking at Gillo’s deal as objectively as possible, it says to me they had an idea to make him captain for until Patty came through and got a few years under his belt.

It’s why Glenn was on the block.

Of course they should have pulled the contract or amended it as soon as he got injured. But I suppose they were hoping he’d be sweet and they wouldn’t have to keep adding years if they went that way post-injury.

There may have also been a bit of ‘if he has to retire, at least he’ll get some nice retirement cash.’ Which I get, but as far as the salary cap goes you just can’t be that generous.

 

[Allo]

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.

I’m willing to give him a pass.

He’s clearly still depressed after the break up.

 

[WASSHHH]

It's a top 8 team at full strength imo. When was the last time we had our full strength team on the field? Start of 2019? Shit's fucked.

No one at the Broncos should yearn for top 8; the top 4 should be the absolute minimum.

The fact we are now dipping our toe in the waters of wanting to be a top 8 team tells you all you need to know about how far away the team, the coach and the administration is from getting anything right, including roster management.

Yes, injuries and suspensions have crippled us, but that's just how the cookie crumbles some times. The best teams, with well balanced rosters, absorb injuries and suspensions and keep finding ways to win.

Since about 2017, we have a knack for finding creative new ways to lose.

 

[Wolfie]

I was under the impression we wanted to keep Arrow, but not at the money the Titans offered, and we had Carrigan coming through. It wasn't a choice between Arrow or Offa. The latter was mostly playing as a prop anyway.

Of all the things to blame on Seibold, he can't foresee this many injuries. Our squad isn't that bad when you throw Bird in the backs, despite the lack of game time, he has experience, winning experience, which we currently lack.

Thats right, it wasnt a choice between Arrow or Joffa at the time. My point was more we should have probably had a bit more foresight to see which one was going to become the better player.

Its not just about giving all these youngsters good contracts though. There isnt enough experience and there isnt enough of the type of player that just gets the job done with no fuss. Our squad is either young kids with very little experience, overpaid player who dont perform or players at the end of their career.

 

[badyon]

The problem is the sense of entitlement from the players with regards salary at the moment.

They believe their own hype , achieve little, and think they all should be on at least 750k.

We will be over Boyd Bird and Milfs contracts soon enough, but if guys like TPJ, Joffa, Lodge all think they are worth 5-800k a year, and we are dumb enough to pay it then we will always be screwed.

Particularly if the players keep on pissing and moaning like little bitches about each other's worth.

Need good honest toilers, not guys with hype that once looked good in age group comps.

Anyone stalling on contracts over the next few years should get the Roosters-Latrell boot out the door.

 

[Foordy]

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.

they definitely should have let a couple of them walk and endured the fans wrath

 

[Wolfie]

they definitely should have let a couple of them walk and endured the fans wrath

They could have built our pack around Haas, Fifita and Carrigan. TPJ and Lodge i do think are good players, but we could have let one go. Joffa isnt worth the contract we gave him. I think everyone knows after this contract Lodge will be off anyway. I think it was Matty Johns who said we needed somebody like James Graham even if he didnt play much because of what he would offer off the field for these forwards we have.

The issue i have with these young blokes is they get huge contracts these days without really earning them. You get fans calling to get them signed up long term ( Coates is the one at the moment i see that about ) but in the scheme of things they have done nothing.

 

[Broncapz]

HUGE CONTRACTS SHOULD NOT INCLUDE PLAYER OPTIONS

 

[heartly87]

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 bet if we look back the media had articles about everyone of those players being targets for big money at other clubs. I believe we have been manipulated by the NSW media and the NSWRL into being internally fixated on talent. We have not been in play for any real big time players and have paid overs on all except Payne.