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He is set to lose three of his best players but Brisbane coach Ivan Henjak says he is confident the Broncos will remain a competitive force in 2010.
With fullback Karmichael Hunt off to the AFL, rampaging prop Dave Taylor set to join South Sydney and Tonie Carroll to retire for a second time, the Broncos lose key players that took them to within one win of a NRL grand final.
Henjak admits the trio will leave considerable holes in the line-up but he is confident that if the Broncos can carry the commitment that saw them win seven games straight to reach the preliminary final, they can again threaten for the premiership in 2010.
“We’ve got to move on. As a footy team and as a club, we’ve always been able to do that,” said Henjak after his side’s 40-10 loss to Melbourne on Saturday night.
“That is something I’m really proud of this year.
“The players we lost at the end of the year and we’ve lost over the last three or four years and for us to be able to stay competitive and do what we’ve done, keep making the semi-finals and be the team that we are, I’m really proud of everyone in our organisation to be able to do that.
“There will be another lot of new players, some from the (under) 20s and we will pick up a couple on the market and we will move forward.
“We’ve set some good standards again this year and what we’ve done over the last two months I think shows a lot of character and I think if we can replicate that feeling and playing for each other, if we can replicate that again next year we will be competitive again.”
Brisbane’s fightback to even reach the penultimate weekend is a success considering they were labelled a rabble after suffering the club’s worst ever defeat in the 56-0 loss to Canberra two months ago.
It was the Broncos’ seventh loss in eight games and prompted speculation of a cleanout, but Henjak denied any players’ heads were on the chopping block.
“I don’t know where all that was coming from, it certainly wasn’t coming from us,” he said.
“The guys there that have got contracts have got contracts. They showed a hell of a lot of character over the last two months, their positions were never in jeopardy.”
Skipper Darren Lockyer, who is yet to sign a contract for next season but is certain to be at the Broncos, hopes the club can learn from their comprehensive defeat to the Storm.
“It’s a disappointing way to finish but I think when we look back on the season we will take a lot out of it,” said Lockyer.
“We lose a couple of key players in Dave Taylor and Karmichael but it’s a good step for the beginning of next year.
“It would have been a good lesson for a lot of the young kids there tonight.”
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