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Darius Boyd is expected to be a Bronco in 2015. Brisbane also have recruited Anthony Milford, and when you add the already present Ben Barba and Josh Hoffman, you have four fullbacks.
So who will be asked to leave the Brisbane Broncos before Wayne Bennett moves back to his old club?
All four players can also play a second receiver role, which makes the mathematics a little easier, but still four does not go into two.
The Broncos have invested 450k a season in Anthony Milford, plus a similar amount in marquee and third-party agreements, for him to be the club’s long-term fullback, but Boyd is expected to get the first crack in the pre-season, pushing Milford to Ben Barba’s number 6 spot.
It is not that Wayne Bennett does not want Barba, but he is taking up $500k a season on the salary cap plus a similar amount in marquee and third-party agreements, and he simply is too expensive. He will likely be the sacrificial lamb.
The 2012 Dally M medalist is signed with the Broncos to the end of 2016, which poses a problem for all parties as there’s a sizeable third party agreement involved and the chief motivation for the original move from the Bulldogs was “family reasons”.
The only other club close to Brisbane is the Titans, a club with their own cap problems, and an abundance of fullbacks and halves.
Hoffman is expected to be shunted to the wing, and while this is clearly his best position, his market value will drop moving from a key position.
The 2015 Broncos backline is likely to like this:
1. Darius Boyd, 2. Josh Hoffman, 3. Dale Copley, 4. Justin Hodges, 5. Daniel Vidot, 6. Anthony Milford, 7. Ben Hunt.
Boyd was signed with the Knights for 600k a season until the end of 2015, providing Bennett was the coach, but unless Barba is prepared to move on, it is difficult to imagine how any creative accounting can fit Test player Boyd inside the cap.
Most commentators automatically assumed Milford would walk straight into the Bronco’s number one shirt, and be groomed as Billy Slater’s successor as Maroons custodian.
Milford made his name in the halves at the Raiders in the under-20s, but at only 178 cm and 88 kilograms, he was considered too small to defend in the front line at NRL level. Boyd (96kg) was expected to do the Darren Lockyer and move to the pivot position.
While Bennett is playing Chinese checkers with his roster, he still lacks a top class organiser. Halfback Ben Hunt has had a breakout season, making the Queensland Origin squad and is one of the favourites to win the Dally M award, but his form over the last two weeks underlines how he struggles with decision making on tackle five.
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