NEWS Versatile Bird no lock to stay centre

[Wolfie]

Remnant of the hook era?

I'm really not sure, maybe not

 

[Super Freak]

Sounds like Lock is where he wants to end up, maybe we'll move Moose back to prop next season and let Lodge cash in at some Sydney club.

I hope not, Lodge is a better prop than McGuire.

 

[broncsgoat]

Seems fucking crazy to me to move an Australian and Queensland rep lock for a centre/fullback

 

[Lockysillegitimatechild]

Surely everyone knows Bennet will do what he wants. But the topic is usually more interesting as what do you think Broncs should do rather than hail Bennett he can do no wrong...

It’s ok to be stubborn or single minded when you are winning premierships. When you aren’t people won’t be so kind.

I think Bennett’s strengths are his man management and belief he creates. Don’t recall him ever being too good tactically which never mattered much when you have a team full of superstars and/or if they are buying into what you are selling. He lost a bit of aura with Newcastle and losing the GF. And the younger generation is less willing to take less to play for him.

I'm not getting into a Bennett debate on here but....

He's won more premierships then every other current coach in the nrl COMBINED and consistently finishes in the top 4 with a team that will struggle to make the top 8 according to every tugby league expert. Got us from 8th-12th to within 2 seconds from a premership and players are CONSTANTLY coming to the broncos predominantly to play under him (TPJ, lodge and Bird are just recent examples of players we wouldn't have got without him here).

Stop listening to Sydney media. We haven't won a premiership because we got rid of him for 6 years and a man name Bruno Cullen. Since he's been back we have put ourselves in with a chance every year and become a top 4 team.

And on the knights. He did exactly what brown is doing now. He bought experience (eg lillyman, guerra, heighington). He told them the locals weren't up to nrl standard, but they demanded he picked more? 3 wooden spoons later and they do exactly what he was doing anyway. He also got them their best result in 10 years, 1 game from a gf with a rabble of a squad who weren't getting paid for months at a time by tinkler, would you perform to your best if you weren't getting paid? Yet they hail brown as a messiah because he is a media favourite, idiots

He also won premierships with perry and Hornby at halfback, won origins with far inferior squads, got New Zealand a World Cup win and nearly got England a World Cup win. Bellamy won 2/9 orin games I believe?

All of the above indicates he knows more about tactics then every person on this website combined

I like to deal in facts, not just blindly listening to the Sydney media... and yes, I am jumping to the defence of Bennett on here because 1. I am a broncos supporter and he has delivered us every premiership in our history, 2. I'm sick of hearing the absolute bullshit in the Sydney media who hate him similar to what you just said, and 3. We are on a broncos forum and still the medias drivel obviosly has an impact on he minds of people on here

 

[Socnorb]

Free Maccas card, that explains Milford's issue.

Roosters will be in trouble when we play them .

 

[Morkel]

Roosters will be in trouble when we play them .

Biting allegations...

 

[Number6]

I'm not getting into a Bennett debate on here but....

He's won more premierships then every other current coach in the nrl COMBINED and consistently finishes in the top 4 with a team that will struggle to make the top 8 according to every tugby league expert. Got us from 8th-12th to within 2 seconds from a premership and players are CONSTANTLY coming to the broncos predominantly to play under him (TPJ, lodge and Bird are just recent examples of players we wouldn't have got without him here).

Stop listening to Sydney media. We haven't won a premiership because we got rid of him for 6 years and a man name Bruno Cullen. Since he's been back we have put ourselves in with a chance every year and become a top 4 team.

And on the knights. He did exactly what brown is doing now. He bought experience (eg lillyman, guerra, heighington). He told them the locals weren't up to nrl standard, but they demanded he picked more? 3 wooden spoons later and they do exactly what he was doing anyway. He also got them their best result in 10 years, 1 game from a gf with a rabble of a squad who weren't getting paid for months at a time by tinkler, would you perform to your best if you weren't getting paid? Yet they hail brown as a messiah because he is a media favourite, idiots

He also won premierships with perry and Hornby at halfback, won origins with far inferior squads, got New Zealand a World Cup win and nearly got England a World Cup win. Bellamy won 2/9 orin games I believe?

All of the above indicates he knows more about tactics then every person on this website combined

I like to deal in facts, not just blindly listening to the Sydney media... and yes, I am jumping to the defence of Bennett on here because 1. I am a broncos supporter and he has delivered us every premiership in our history, 2. I'm sick of hearing the absolute bullshit in the Sydney media who hate him similar to what you just said, and 3. We are on a broncos forum and still the medias drivel obviosly has an impact on he minds of people on here

The facts are Bennett has won 2 premierships in 17 years. Last one 8 years ago. Pretty good but hardly unquestionable record.

He improved the team when he came back definitely but two issues. There is a pattern of clubs falling apart when he leaves hardly a legacy to be proud of (admittedly Newcastle not largely his fault but what happens in 2020?) and our replacement coaches were both terrible choices.

5 premierships with broncos were in sides packed with superstars which very much to his credit he put that team together (with help from guys like Cyril and benefits of more flexible caps perhaps and one town team in market where players were less mobile so had most of Qld talent). Similarly Canberra had a pretty awesome team building. Dragons premiership was impressive but that was almost a decade ago. Nz and England were again a sign he is good but he didn’t win by brilliant tactics but with belief and team building and a bit of defensive structure and metal. Which in short competitions with rep players is all you need (see Meninga who isnt tactically great and was crap club coach but awesome Orion coach with right cattle and putting together right support staff).

Obviously he is very knowledgeable and experienced but he has badly muffed up recruitment of late. He has lost more players than would in the past. I acknowledge his skill in team building and man management but it comes at costs of refusal to wrestle well, favouritism and over-reliance on certain players without good backups (some teams third string players can perform when they lose their first two), inflexible tactics that seem to stifle players and attack, and seeming refusal to do anything about players that have stagnated at good enough for years or continually underperform.

Remember as well how highly he is paid. He is paid to deliver premierships at end of day. Many things are out of his control but don’t see where the premiership is coming from at current rate.

 

[Lockysillegitimatechild]

The facts are Bennett has won 2 premierships in 17 years. Last one 8 years ago. Pretty good but hardly unquestionable record.

He improved the team when he came back definitely but two issues. There is a pattern of clubs falling apart when he leaves hardly a legacy to be proud of (admittedly Newcastle not largely his fault) and our replacement coaches were both terrible choices. 5 premierships with broncos were in sides packed with superstars which very much to his credit he put that team together (with help from guys like Cyril and benefits of more flexible caps perhaps and one town team in market where players were less mobile so had most of Qld talent). Similarly Canberra had a pretty awesome team building. Dragons premiership was impressive but that was about a decade ago.

Obviously he is very knowledgeable and experienced but he has badly muffed up recruitment of late.

They weren't superstars when they came into the nrl! Who got them there? That argument is rothfield-level. You want him to coach them to play bad so they don't make rep teams? He coached most of those players their entire careers.

2 in 17 years.... that's the same strike rate as Bellamy. If you take away the cap cheating years their win percentages would be similar as well. On top of that, he has changed clubs 3 times, I'd like to see Bellamy make the top 8 without coach Cameron smith (eg grand final without him they lost 40-0).

The reason those clubs fell to pieces was BECAUSE HE LEFT, how in anyone's mind (outside of Kent, rothfield or Matt johns) that tarnished his record is baffling.

We wouldnt win the doubles without him, and certainly wouldn't have won 2006. 2010 he is the ONLY coach who could have achieved that. Queensland wouldn't be in the position it is today without him setting up the development program. No other coach could get nz or England in the positions hey got and no other coach could get our "bottom 8" squad in the top 4 every year.

Of course losing Connell, and Massey and Gibson for that matter, would have an effect on his ability to bounce ideas off of people. They were the greatest minds in rugby league history. And guess what.....

They all say the same as I'm saying!

 

[broncsgoat]

I'm not getting into a Bennett debate on here but....

He's won more premierships then every other current coach in the nrl COMBINED and consistently finishes in the top 4 with a team that will struggle to make the top 8 according to every tugby league expert. Got us from 8th-12th to within 2 seconds from a premership and players are CONSTANTLY coming to the broncos predominantly to play under him (TPJ, lodge and Bird are just recent examples of players we wouldn't have got without him here).

Stop listening to Sydney media. We haven't won a premiership because we got rid of him for 6 years and a man name Bruno Cullen. Since he's been back we have put ourselves in with a chance every year and become a top 4 team.

And on the knights. He did exactly what brown is doing now. He bought experience (eg lillyman, guerra, heighington). He told them the locals weren't up to nrl standard, but they demanded he picked more? 3 wooden spoons later and they do exactly what he was doing anyway. He also got them their best result in 10 years, 1 game from a gf with a rabble of a squad who weren't getting paid for months at a time by tinkler, would you perform to your best if you weren't getting paid? Yet they hail brown as a messiah because he is a media favourite, idiots

He also won premierships with perry and Hornby at halfback, won origins with far inferior squads, got New Zealand a World Cup win and nearly got England a World Cup win. Bellamy won 2/9 orin games I believe?

All of the above indicates he knows more about tactics then every person on this website combined

I like to deal in facts, not just blindly listening to the Sydney media... and yes, I am jumping to the defence of Bennett on here because 1. I am a broncos supporter and he has delivered us every premiership in our history, 2. I'm sick of hearing the absolute bullshit in the Sydney media who hate him similar to what you just said, and 3. We are on a broncos forum and still the medias drivel obviosly has an impact on he minds of people on here

Well put Wayne.

 

[Number6]

They weren't superstars when they came into the nrl! Who got them there? That argument is rothfield-level. You want him to coach them to play bad so they don't make rep teams? He coached most of those players their entire careers.

2 in 17 years.... that's the same strike rate as Bellamy. If you take away the cap cheating years their win percentages would be similar as well. On top of that, he has changed clubs 3 times, I'd like to see Bellamy make the top 8 without coach Cameron smith (eg grand final without him they lost 40-0).

The reason those clubs fell to pieces was BECAUSE HE LEFT, how in anyone's mind (outside of Kent, rothfield or Matt johns) that tarnished his record is baffling.

We wouldnt win the doubles without him, and certainly wouldn't have won 2006. 2010 he is the ONLY coach who could have achieved that. Queensland wouldn't be in the position it is today without him setting up the development program. No other coach could get nz or England in the positions hey got and no other coach could get our "bottom 8" squad in the top 4 every year.

Of course losing Connell, and Massey and Gibson for that matter, would have an effect on his ability to bounce ideas off of people. They were the greatest minds in rugby league history. And guess what.....

They all say the same as I'm saying!

They weren’t superstars but he largely had the entirety of Queensland to pick from back then. As said not saying he isn’t very good, probably the best in his generation especially late 1980s to 2010. That is damn impressive.

But is the game passing him by in several key areas is my main concern.

There will always be luck, other coaches and players that have huge influence coach doesn’t do it alone.

As for the clubs falling apart post him that is a huge issue and criticism. You shouldn’t be building systems in a multi million dollar organisation that is wholly dependent on one person no matter how good someone is. If u are dependent on one person what happens if they get a better offer, get sick or have enough? Surely he has a responsibility to help create systems and people that endure beyond him. That’s part of building your legacy. He will retire sooner or later. If they is the pattern it will be five years recovery without even a premiership or two to show for his second stint here.

 

[Kyall]

We ain’t winning premierships but let’s keep doing the same thing over and over with WB and his decision is the only decision for the entire club because of his achievements in the past.

 

[Wolfie]

We are streets ahead of where we were under Henjak and Hook now Bennett is here.

 

[Kyall]

We are streets ahead of where we were under Henjak and Hook now Bennett is here.

I’m not saying Bennett is a bad coach or has lost it or anything what I am trying to say is that he needs to either change the players playing style or make changes to the regular 17.

 

[Lockysillegitimatechild]

They weren’t superstars but he largely had the entirety of Queensland to pick from back then. As said not saying he isn’t very good, probably the best in his generation especially late 1980s to 2010. That is damn impressive.

But is the game passing him by in several key areas is my main concern.

There will always be luck, other coaches and players that have huge influence coach doesn’t do it alone.

As for the clubs falling apart post him that is a huge issue and criticism. You shouldn’t be building systems in a multi million dollar organisation that is wholly dependent on one person no matter how good someone is. If u are dependent on one person what happens if they get a better offer, get sick or have enough? Surely he has a responsibility to help create systems and people that endure beyond him. That’s part of building your legacy. He will retire sooner or later. If they is the pattern it will be five years recovery without even a premiership or two to show for his second stint here.

So please... offer us a solution... paul green? He was taught by Bennett and outside of a last second premiership over us Bennett actually has a better record then him the past 3 years. And you do realise he won't bring Thurston with him? And the all time classic, Bellamy? His ENTIRE career he has had Cameron smith there. Granted, as I implied before talent is a mix of nurture and nature but bellamys record without smith is totally massively embarrassing (25% win ratio and 2/7 origin games). Bennett has a track record WITHOUT future immortals in his team (dragons 2010, nz and England world cups, Newcastle to the preliminaries). Bellamy lost a gf 40-0 without his on field coach.

So who? What's your solution? Do you want to coach us? Griffin again? This type of grass is always greener thinking is what got us in this mess in the first place. We will never win premierships like we used to but because we don't people think it's a sign of Bennett losing it? Compare his current record to any other coach with a comparable squad, he far exceeds them. Plus, he's the one who got us such a great record that we compare it too. The reason we will never have that many premierships as regularly is simple, professionalism! We led the way and now everyone has caught up. Premierships are going to be further between but we are going the right way about and putting ourselves in a good position year after year.

Stop listening to the Sydney media mate. They are also the ones who put brad Arthur, Brian smith, daniel Anderson, Ricky Stuart and Stephen Kearney as greater coaches then Bennett at certain times throughout his career. They have a LITTLE bit of an agenda I think, possibly...

 

[Lockysillegitimatechild]

I’m not saying Bennett is a bad coach or has lost it or anything what I am trying to say is that he needs to either change the players playing style or make changes to the regular 17.

We have changed our style dramatically over the past 4 years. More then most teams, without the lull of a change over...

 

[lynx000]

So please... offer us a solution... paul green? He was taught by Bennett and outside of a last second premiership over us Bennett actually has a better record then him the past 3 years. And you do realise he won't bring Thurston with him? And the all time classic, Bellamy? His ENTIRE career he has had Cameron smith there. Granted, as I implied before talent is a mix of nurture and nature but bellamys record without smith is totally massively embarrassing (25% win ratio and 2/7 origin games). Bennett has a track record WITHOUT future immortals in his team (dragons 2010, nz and England world cups, Newcastle to the preliminaries). Bellamy lost a gf 40-0 without his on field coach.

So who? What's your solution? Do you want to coach us? Griffin again? This type of grass is always greener thinking is what got us in this mess in the first place. We will never win premierships like we used to but because we don't people think it's a sign of Bennett losing it? Compare his current record to any other coach with a comparable squad, he far exceeds them. Plus, he's the one who got us such a great record that we compare it too. The reason we will never have that many premierships as regularly is simple, professionalism! We led the way and now everyone has caught up. Premierships are going to be further between but we are going the right way about and putting ourselves in a good position year after year.

Stop listening to the Sydney media mate. They are also the ones who put brad Arthur, Brian smith, daniel Anderson, Ricky Stuart and Stephen Kearney as greater coaches then Bennett at certain times throughout his career. They have a LITTLE bit of an agenda I think, possibly...

Would you stop with the comment that anyone that does not agree with your rose coloured view of the Broncos and Bennett is listening to the Sydney media. To be honest with you, it makes you sound like a petulant 12 year old (I could think of a few other adjectives, but I will keep it clean). Reasonable people will hold different opinions to yours. This does not mean that they have been influenced by anyone.

As to your comment re the initial Broncos squads from 1988 to 1993, out of interest, how old are you? Bennett had the benefit of picking the eyes out of the Queensland state of origin squad for his initial squad. You know, people like Wally Lewis, Gene Miles, Greg Dowling, Greg Conescu, Langer. They were in fact superstars. He then added to that squad players like Gillmeister, Lazarus, Peter Jackson etc. Your comment that he developed those players is nonsensical.

And in the last three years, Green has coached a team to the premiership over us in 2015 and coached a wounded team without two of their best players to a grand final last year. In what universe has Bennett out-coached Green in the last three years?

 

[winslow_wong]

So please... offer us a solution... paul green? He was taught by Bennett and outside of a last second premiership over us Bennett actually has a better record then him the past 3 years. And you do realise he won't bring Thurston with him? And the all time classic, Bellamy? His ENTIRE career he has had Cameron smith there. Granted, as I implied before talent is a mix of nurture and nature but bellamys record without smith is totally massively embarrassing (25% win ratio and 2/7 origin games). Bennett has a track record WITHOUT future immortals in his team (dragons 2010, nz and England world cups, Newcastle to the preliminaries). Bellamy lost a gf 40-0 without his on field coach.

So who? What's your solution? Do you want to coach us? Griffin again? This type of grass is always greener thinking is what got us in this mess in the first place. We will never win premierships like we used to but because we don't people think it's a sign of Bennett losing it? Compare his current record to any other coach with a comparable squad, he far exceeds them. Plus, he's the one who got us such a great record that we compare it too. The reason we will never have that many premierships as regularly is simple, professionalism! We led the way and now everyone has caught up. Premierships are going to be further between but we are going the right way about and putting ourselves in a good position year after year.

Stop listening to the Sydney media mate. They are also the ones who put brad Arthur, Brian smith, daniel Anderson, Ricky Stuart and Stephen Kearney as greater coaches then Bennett at certain times throughout his career. They have a LITTLE bit of an agenda I think, possibly...

I think bennett is great but he needs help from someone younger to keep up with the modern game. He probably realised this last season and brought back Kevin Walters. No doubt he has the aura and plenty to offer still but can't get too complacent with his past coaching credentials and must be willing to evolve even at his age which isn't easy.

 

[Wolfie]

I’m not saying Bennett is a bad coach or has lost it or anything what I am trying to say is that he needs to either change the players playing style or make changes to the regular 17.

I think that's what he will try to do with Bird at lock