Wayne Bennett says Darius Boyd is joining the Brisbane Broncos “without any question marks.”
I’m not sure I agree with the veteran mentor on that one – there seems to be a clipboard full of questions that will scream out for answers in 2015.
Here’s just a few of them, and by no means is this an exhaustive list.
Why target and ultimately sign a 27-year-old player when there were better-than-handy, younger options already at the club?
Will showing the door to Josh Hoffman and Ben Barba prove detrimental to team morale?
What does Darius Boyd bring to the Broncos’ corral after a distinctly ordinary and interrupted club season at the Newcastle Knights?
Is he the man who will combine instantly with the likes of Ben Hunt, newcomer Anthony Milford and Andrew McCullough in Brisbane’s new-look spine?
Can there be any guarantee that Darius is over his widely reported mental health issues that put him out of action this year so he could attend rehab in a mental facility?
On his day, Boyd is a top-line footballer capable of producing winning attacking and defensive plays. But, aside from some classy cameos in the rep arena, those days have been few and far between.
In this instance, I realise there is an unbreakable bond between the player and his coach and, of course, we all should make allowances for anyone battling mental health issues.
Darius says his life has changed for the better after reuniting with his estranged mother in recent times. That’s great, but will it necessarily help him assimilate with his new teammates at the Broncos?
He’s an aloof, introverted character at the best of times, and he may have to contend with some people looking sideways at him for being Bennett’s ‘unofficial son’ of sorts.
I am not sure that Boyd is going to be the smash hit Bennett is hoping for next season and beyond. He might battle to re-establish himself at his original football home.
His stats from his 14 appearances for the Knights last season weren’t good.
Boyd scored just three tries, made four line breaks, five hit-ups and came up with two offloads for a Newcastle team desperate for help from the rep star at the back. In those 14 games, he also missed 11 tackles and made 11 errors.
In the modern game, fullback has become arguably the most important position on the field and Boyd’s club stats from the season just past hardly inspire confidence.
Of course Bennett, as the incoming coach, is entitled to choose whoever he likes on his player roster.
He obviously feels that Boyd is the best No. 1 on the rugby league planet, but in my mind, he is far from that. Hoffman, who has been snapped up by the neighbouring Gold Coast Titans, looks to be a much safer bet to me.
Time will prove me right or wrong, but I think the coach might be tripping himself up by standing steadfast by his man.
Jack
Guest
This article has aged well!
Jay C
Roar Guru
This is pretty much the crux of every single disagreement on this site. Selective reasoning and circular logic. You list all the reasons why they had a good year in 2013, but refuse to concede that their poor years outside of that were anything but bad coaching. The thing is I'm not even disagreeing with you on that many points. Mullen is a top shelf player. Having him on the park for a whole season made a huge difference. As did stable (ish) management. As did the players getting paid. You also say "No,they had a very good side..wouldn’t have beaten the Roosters..true." I said they didn't have the cattle to beat the premiers. Who they lost to in the penultimate round and you say no, and then agree with me. I don't honestly think any other coach could have done better. Also, maybe some of the breakout years, short lived rep careers, etc, were a result of having a master coach at the helm. The only thing I'm saying really is that I don't thnk you can count the results of 2014 as a black mark on his career. There was a lot that went on off the footy field. As for the Dad's army approach, I do wonder if maybe after having such quick success at the Dragons, he was under pressure to do the same at the Knights and was trying to buy a team of ready mades? Not sure if this was the case but it seems quite likely. His stints down south seem to have been more about winning premierships than anything else. In Brisbane he was interested in two or 3 years down the road.
Jay C
Roar Guru
pretty good ey
The Barry
Roar Guru
I agree with both of you. I don't think he'll ever have another 2012 but hopefully he can recapture something close to his best. Epic bender crew. What a joke. It doesn't take skill, brains or ability to go out and get hammered.
The eye
Guest
Yes that would be a 5 year olds interpretation of it..puh-leez..Your comments previously suggest you don't know what your talking about and that just confirms it..
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
As much as I hate the term there's a very simple explanation for this circular logic. Haters gonna hate.
Muzz
Guest
I love this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur4EEE5tbPU
Muzz
Guest
I still watch Barba 2012 footage, it's freakish. But that aura is no longer there! Mentally, he just went through the motions last season which reflected in his performance. For some players, it becomes more about growing up as a man, off the field, before they can continue to progress.
Jay C
Roar Guru
I was a Barba fan tB. My concerns with him are that he has lost 10% of his speed. Possibly as a result of that ankle injury or maybe the extra weight he was made to put on at Brisbane. And he is not safe under a high ball. He drop way too many for a superstar fullback. I would think he would be close to the worst fullback in the league for that. All of his magic came rom speed off the mark which he just doesn't seem to have anymore. But I am hopeful he can re-resurrect his career down in Cronulla. Hopefully his family can keep him away from the nonsense that seems to go on down there. He needs to look after his family, stay away from Epic BC and fine tune his angle running and he can be great again.
The Barry
Roar Guru
It's a bit of a myth that barba only had one good year. He was leading try scorer in 2011 and plenty of his highlight reel moments came from then. He was great that year but it was put in the shade by how outstanding his 2012 season was and probably by the fact that he hasn't done it since.
ducky
Guest
And that halfback gave everything he had every game because he HATED to lose, which is essentially Dan's original point.
Jay C
Roar Guru
You arguments are just circular. It was the players that played well in 2013, beating the Storm. But it is Bennetts fault they didn't make the final n 2014. Anyway look, the coach is responsible for results and at the end of the day I can see how Knights fans could be disappointed with wayne's tenure. His signing was hailed as the revival of Newcastle and it never really got off the ground. But I still think he is one of the best current and definitely the best ever coach in RL. It seemed to me like there was more going on in Newcastle than meets the eye. Tinkler was going belly up amongst other things. As a Broncos fan I am very happy to see him back in QLD, mostly because he left on bad terms last time and I know that he would very much like to set the club he forged up for success long after he retires. I think he will do that with quality systems and assistants.
Muzz
Guest
They had enough to beat the big 3 banana benders plus Widdop
The eye
Guest
No,they had a very good side..wouldn't have beaten the Roosters..true..but Boyd at fullback,rep.wingers,excellent centres..Mullen played 26 games that year and polled more dally ms than Boyd..beau and smith crushed the storm,Rochow had a breakout year..Snowdens played for Aust...Danny..they were better than 7th and fans were relying on the master coach to prove that with improvement on the leader board this year,finally after Bennett announces he's moving on the team fires up and shows what they're capable of by annihilating the dragons in the final round..would never begin to think of using Alex as an excuse..
Zero Gain
Guest
Oh, on twitter, well that is obviously correct the....
dallas
Guest
In 2013 he made 11 line breaks, 11 try assists and 10 tries. That is pretty good i would think.. Mate qld pick safe wingers, he doesnt drop balls or miss tackles. He is proven at origin and test level and is an auto selection. You can bag him all you want but he gets picked in these teams because he is the best player for that position and thats that.
AdelaideWill
Roar Rookie
3 of those years have been played at the Knights with little or no success and last year he scored a total of 3 trys. Not really an impact player and hardly deserving of a place in the QLD team.
dallas
Guest
Over the last 5 years yes easily. Stewart is always injured, same with minichello, morgan and milford are only in there first season and inglis is only in his 2nd season at fullback, the only ones who would be up there is hayne and slater. Boyd was instumental in the dragons success, he probably would have had more try assists than the halves.
AdelaideWill
Roar Rookie
Top 3? what behind Slater, Inglis, Stewart, Milford, Minichiello, Moylan or Morgan - I don't remember the Knights reaching the finals
Linedropout
Roar Pro
That's because Soward is a genuine match winner (Panthers would not have gone close this year without him IMO) and Boyd is a passenger... The only way I see him performing to his potential at the Broncs is if Ben Hunt backs up his superb 2014 performance next year so Boyd has someone to set up his finishes.