Under-pressure Brisbane coach Anthony Griffin’s Red Hill revolution took a dramatic twist on Friday as he appointed Corey Parker and Justin Hodges as the first co-captains in the NRL club’s 25-year history.
Hours earlier he stood alongside a disappointed Sam Thaiday who announced he was relinquishing the captaincy at Griffin’s urging.
The team leadership switch follows a backroom shuffle in September when Griffin dumped conditioning chief Tony Guilfoyle and football manager James Hinchey before headhunting Melbourne’s high-performance guru Alex Corvo.
Several players have also left including Peter Wallace and Corey Norman as Griffin aims to revitalise his playing list through additions including former Dally M winner Ben Barba and ex-Sydney Rooster Martin Kennedy.
The move to appoint 31-year-olds Hodges and Parker to the captaincy, both off contract at the end of the season, has also led to conjecture it could help smooth the way for Australian captain Cameron Smith’s possible recruitment to the club as leader from 2015.
Griffin concedes he something had to give after two underwhelming seasons at the helm for the Broncos including last year’s 12th placed finish, the worst in club history.
“I’ve made those calls, but I haven’t made those for any other reason than because I’m a sore loser too and I’ve got a fierce passion to make sure we’ve got everything in place to go forward, to be successful,” he said.
“I’m under pressure every day mate. It’s professional football and you’re coaching but I’m not going to whinge about that, it’s what you’re in the job for.
“Now the’s time you need to be at your best … now’s the time when you need to earn your money.”
Parker, who narrowly missed out on the captaincy when Thaiday was appointed following Darren Lockyer’s retirement in 2011, is coming off the back of a remarkable 2013 where he regained his Queensland State of Origin place and earned a berth in Australia’s victorious World Cup squad.
The rise to captain also marks a high point for Hodges, whose time at the Broncos hasn’t always gone smoothly with injuries and a two-year stint away from the club at the Sydney Roosters.
Both admitted their commitment to the Broncos meant they couldn’t refuse the call to lead the club during it’s most difficult period.
“It’s a big challenge, it’s obviously fresh for all of us involved and something I know personally myself I’m looking forward to,” Parker said.
“One of Hodgo’s greatest traits is he’s got a lot who want to follow him. Between the two of us, I’m sure we’ll do a good job.”
Both men said they felt bad for Thaiday, who said he remained committed to the Broncos despite Griffin forcing him to consider handing over the captaincy in the interests of his own form.
The Test prop was approached by Griffin following the World Cup, when it was made clear the coach didn’t think Thaiday could play at his best while he continued as captain.
Thaiday said he’d taken a long time to accept his coach’s view and had made the decision to step down with a “very heavy heart”.
“This decision, even though it’s probably one of the toughest ones I’ve had to make in my footballing career, has been made to benefit the team and, myself being a team man, I’m always trying to put the team first,” he said.
“Me stepping down as Broncos captain is hopefully going to help the team in the future.”
mushi
Guest
You serious?
Loris
Guest
And this brilliant insight is based on what exactly?
mushi
Guest
True greatness involves being able to take a loss not whinge like the spoil north shore princess who didn't get the right model Audi for her birthday.
manlyman101
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Mate don't get me started on the roosters
Evander
Guest
That's what I heard, too. He was third man in after Karmichael and Darius. Must have been a huge dunny!
Maroon Blood
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Easy to define the roles, Parker the on-field leader as he will play every game and Hodges the leader at training where he will be watching from his crutches for the majority of the season.
Casper
Guest
so everyone believes nick politis is just a convincing advocate for the roosters & not throwing in a bit of cash to SBW et al, Russell Crowe is not sponsoring mrs burgess in her aussie adventure to keep the 3 boys happy etc. are you suggesting they strip the 2006 premiership off the broncos & give it to the cheating storm? At the time he appointed ST, parker was under the pump to keep his spot in the backrow & that weighed against him but his form went upward as he got older, as opposed to most others in that boat. I reckon alex glenn would be a better long term choice, but he's a kiwi & that works against him. If any of the borderline backs want to consolidate their spot this year, they should be practicing their goal kicking because prince is gone & parker is the sole option. All of the others would be a try & hope option from what I recall because they used wallace as a backup kicker last year. . On the Thaiday captaincy change, I'm sure the broncos are clearing the decks for cameron Smith & AG might find that signature comes with bellamy as the coach until smith retires & gets the job. Smith has to be coming back for more than a 2-3 year twilight of his career role. I reckon he gets a coaching apprenticeship under either bellamy or bennett who then hand over at the right time. bennett is 64 now & bellamy 55. I
Evander
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"The Bigger the lie"? No. Nissen gave evidence on oath. His evidence wasn't challenged by prosecution or defence. As former chairman of the Broncos, he knew what went on. You should be saying, the bigger the truth!
manlyman101
Guest
Manly - Rooster recent history 05 - rd13 manly 22 syd 18 06 - rd 4 manly 30 syd 20 07 - rd17 manly 56 syd 0 08 - rd13 manly 42 syd 0 09 - rd13 manly 38 syd 18. Rd23 manly 44 syd 12 2010 - 2011 - rd22 manly 36 syd 8 2012 - rd11 manly 18 - syd 10. Rd16 manly 52 syd 14 2013 - an asterisk in the history book. So as you can see manly has been dominating the roosters for quite sometime now its funny how you all forget true greatness. Ask Freddy after he got sacked ask Chris Anderson after the 56-0 beat down. And 09 the roosters claimed the almighty spoon.
Muzz
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INCORRECT- They were fined in 2004 for a salary cap breach.
manlyman101
Guest
Realistically mate the world isn't black n white these things,happen in all walks of life! There are a lot of grey areas in this world. The Nrl is a business at the end of the day a business needs to turn over a profit. If this did happen as you say it makes sense that the Nrl covers up the exposing of there flagship team. The golden boys!!! Especially if the Nrl is owned by media company news Ltd. Imagine the effect if they were found guilty and the Nrl along with them for covering it up. All I can say is this the world is full of grey areas most people are ants who follow the leader and do as there told. The bigger the lie the more people will believe it. Take 9-11. A recent poll was taken were 52% of Americans do not believe the governments official story. The Bigger the lie
Evander
Guest
The Bennett arrangement isn't the relevant one. It's the payments to the players that Talbot made and that Nissen confirmed in his testimony. Broncos players were paid to visit hotels and coalmines that Talbot owned. And when Webcke retired in 2006 he was straight away put on one of Talbot's company boards and he also toured Europe with Talbot in 2007. Fascinating that News Ltd (who own the Broncos) and the NRL (which was half-owned by News Ltd at the time) didn't follow all this up. And when Talbot died in a plane crash, Gorden Tallis told the media that Talbot had been very generous. What does all this mean?
Evander
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Manly are the only club since 1991 that hasn't been fined by the NRL for breaching the salary cap. The Silvertails are clean skins.
manlyman101
Guest
-Talbot confirmed to The Sunday Mail in December that he had made secret cash payments to Bennett since 2004 as part of a financial arrangement said to be worth $1 million over 10 years- so what does all this mean? They cheated like the storm? Now that this group of elites have moved on there club has gone down hill.. but players retire coaches move on and other clubs rise up.. speak to me evander!!! What do u believe happened?
manlyman101
Guest
Sounds like politis and the roosters last year mate.. I will have a geez at the names above. Where's oikee??? Maybe he can shed some light.. just goes to show that cash is king!! Didn't they win back to back in that period?
Evander
Guest
About 20 rich businessmen who 'mentored' the players were known as the Thoroughbreds. The chairman was the late Ken Talbot, the billionaire coal miner, who admitted being generous to the players and secretly paying Bennett $100,000 a year. Talbot was charged with bribing Queensland politician Gordon Nuttall. At Nuttall's trial former Broncos chairman Don Nissan, who worked for Talbot, testified that Talbot paid Broncos players money under the table. Because Nissan refused to be interviewed by the NRL, the issue conveniently went no further. Google the above names to read the newspaper articles for yourself. A massive cover up. The Thoroughbreds got the boot when Bennett left the Broncos and the club hasn't won anything since.
manlyman101
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Thoroughbreds? Explain I'm interested.
Evander
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The biggest loss for the Broncos was the Thoroughbreds in 2007. Since they took their money away, the Broncs have struggled big time. on and off the field. Suddenly they couldn't keep players like Folau nor sign players like Inglis. I wonder why.
Evander
Guest
= WTF!
Gaz
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Bennett ran the footy team in those days as opposed to News Ltd these days. The former was interested in winning football games the other lining their pockets. Members are simply losing interest and no matter how much money the current crew spend on marketeers nothing at the Broncos will improve until they spend some money on class players. Until then they are only kidding themselves.