Wayne Bennett’s refusal to admit that he has bungled the Broncos’ recruitment efforts over the summer has effectively written off the powerhouse club’s 2018 season.
The arrival of the (injured) Jack Bird and his former teammate Sam Tagataese has done nothing to resolve the biggest issue facing Brisbane, which is a lack of direction from the halves.
The absence of any effort to recruit a quality number seven to partner Anthony Milford in the halves has been staggering.
From the moment Ben Hunt announced he was leaving for St George Illawarra, finding a replacement should have been the Broncos’ number one priority. Instead, Bennett has sat on his hands, refusing to expose any talented youngsters to the big time, or publicly chase any number of off-contract stars.
One can only assume that he thought he had Titan Ash Taylor in the bag, despite the fact he could only return to Brisbane in 2019. When Taylor recommitted to the Gold Coast, Bennett was left as the last coach standing without a chair, with almost every other quality halfback locked away.
That’s right, almost.
In an extraordinary turn of events, Roosters halfback Mitchell Pearce came onto the open market at exactly the time Bennett needed him. Granted, Pearce is not a popular figure north of the border, and any potential recruitment would have had some fans shaking their heads. However, this is a premiership-winning, representative halfback, who could have proved the perfect foil for the more unpredictable Milford.
Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images
Instead, Bennett took a swipe at Pearce, stating that he wasn’t the right cultural fit for the club, despite heavily relying on the likes of James Roberts and Matt Lodge for next year, both of whom have arguably worse off-field form than Pearce.
The coach’s argument that he didn’t want that sort of person in a position of leadership at the club doesn’t hold water, as culture is culture, no matter what number you have on your back.
The issue with putting his faith in Kodi Nikorima as his halfback has nothing to do with talent. Clearly the young Kiwi has ability, but his style and strengths are so similar to Milford’s that it leaves a significant hole in Brisbane’s arsenal.
Neither of the pair are completely comfortable running a team, and neither has a prodigious boot. Just where the Broncos’ long kicking game will come from, outside of Andrew McCullough working out of dummy half, isn’t clear.
This role of steering the team and providing the kicking game would have perfectly suited Pearce, or a number of the other off-contract 7s who appeared an option at different times during the year. But Bennett wasn’t interested, and now he is left with a pair of halves that will be dangerous in open play, but perhaps unable to get their team into the grind as is so often required.
This cannot be compared to 2006, as is oft-quoted by pundits who argue that you don’t need a superstar halfback to win a premiership. Shane Perry, who wore 7 for Brisbane that year, had a couple of things in his favour, most notably a bloke by the name of Darren Lockyer outside him, who could shift his game between team general and running or passing threat at will.
Perry was given a specific set of duties to carry out, and he did those well, allowing Lockyer to float when he needed to or run the team when required. Can Milford or Nikorima perform similar roles? Perhaps, in time, but probably not this year.
The Broncos still have a talented roster, and will win their share of games in 2018, but they just won’t have the key skills in the important positions to win the big ones down the stretch.
The Barry
Roar Guru
It wasn't just Brown though. The Dragons had good teams and good coaches pretty much all the way through from their last win in 79. Mid-80s - lost the 85 GF Early-mid 90s - lost in 92, 93, 96 Late 90s - lost in 99 They had a gun side most of the way through the 2000s, especially 2005. There was a long history of good teams and good coaches being not quite good enough until Bennett won it in his second season at the club. I think Dragon fans owe him a bit more for their first premiership in 31 years than "anyone could have won it"
The Barry
Roar Guru
Spot on Nat It's become a trend to bag Bennett. "Anyone could have coached Bennett's teams to success". But they didn't. Before or after his tenures. Won 6 premierships at the Broncs (incl SL). He leaves and success dries up, they start missing the semis. His first season back and he immediately gets them into a grand final. The Dragons were an under performing rabble before he got there. Within a season they'd won a minor premiership, within two seasons their first premiership since 1979. After he left they were just a rabble. In 2013 the Knights knocked off both of the previous seasons grand finalists in the semi finals and got within a game of the grand final. Massive over achievement when you look at the cattle. Wins a World Cup with NZ as Steve Kearney's assistant. Gets England to within 6 points of a World Cup this year. Again, both massive over achievements. His record is outstanding. It amazes me how short people's memories are and how quick they are to put the boot in.
Eaglesrock
Guest
Bennett is a has been...showed that at Newcastle...but then was his right head on the job there??
Jack
Guest
Author clearly has an anti-Bennett agenda to run. Team has been miles better since he returned, would have been a proper threat to the Storm last year had McCullough & Boyd not gone down injured and Milford had to play on a bum shoulder. Nikorima's record was excellent last year and it's not like they have nobody at the club who can teach a kicking game - K Walters and D Lockyer were pretty handy by my recollection. Dargan coming in, Scarlett in the lower grades, Milford locked in long term - Bennett has a team for this year and options for the long term. But please, let your Wayne hate continue - nothing gets more clicks!
Jack
Guest
Of course not. Nobody criticises Bellamy.
Jack
Guest
Two different standards with how Bellamy and Bennett are judged by the media. But agree - Wayne knows what he's doing.
Gray-Hand
Guest
Russell Crowe let it slip that Inglis was being paid far more than the amount that had been disclosed to the NRL. He did so publicly. On camera. This isn’t a complaint. It is an observation that the ‘natural advantages’ that People claim that Brisbane have been nullified by certain other clubs for well over a decade. The fact is that it is very difficult for a publicly listed company like the Broncos to cheat the salary cap. The, duty to shareholders, the rules requiring disclosure of spending and the relevant lack of any direct benefit to any individuals taking part in salary cap make a club like the Broncos much less likely than other types of clubs to engage in salary cap fraud. The easiest way to avoid detection of salary cap fraud is for payment to be made between overseas accounts. This makes fraud much easier when the people making the payments and the players receiving the funds already have financial interests, or at least an entity they can trust to accept payment overseas.
Steve
Guest
How is South's salary cap highly suspicious with the Burgii and GI. In both instances they were forced to shed players in order for the NRL to register them. Unlike the Bronco's, where every second player apparently takes a pay cut to play under Uncle Wayne lol. A Broncs supporter complaining about other teams dodgy salary cap deals lol? Now I've heard everything.
zim
Guest
Anyone pointing at the storm and saying it's similar to the broncs is clueless. For starters their forwards are better. Significantly so. They also didn't spend ridiculous amounts on a centre and Brodie Croft is a game managing halfback with a great kicking game. The storm also have plans in place to replace slater and smith in the coming years. Their roster management is far above the broncos. Add to that the storm have actually had success in recent years while the broncos have all the advantage and just keep dropping the ball.
Beastie
Roar Rookie
He took them to 7th actually.
Greg Ambrose
Guest
Surprisingly the Broncos have made the top four just twice in the 10 years since their last title and their average finish on the table is close to 7th in that time. Not a bad result but a bit different to the perception.
Thomas o H
Guest
I see it’s bennett bashing time again (pre season) You gotta laugh!
johnno2
Guest
Bronco Bashing has started early for this coming season BUT , BIRD is the biggest waste of money the Broncos will spend. Should spend most of his football in QLD playing for INTRUST CUP and that's above his talent GO the COWBOYS X Bronco supporter
thomas c
Guest
I'm pessimistic, but want to see what the plan is before judging it. But I think if they can get their forwards going forward, then Nikorima, Milford, Bird, and Roberts should score the odd try. The increased dynamic play would increase questions being asked and make Boyd more effective. The other factors are a) how players have matured b) whether any player implodes off-field and c) the effect of Walters. In terms of recruitment, some depth at 7 and 9 would have been advised. I had thought pearce or lichaa would have been good left field options.
Jimmmy
Guest
Hi Nat, the Broncs were smart to avoid Pearce. He couldn’t organise a drinking sssion at that place next to Suncorp. Do I think the Broncs have the team to take it out in 18? No I don’t . But they are a real top four chance and will win many more than they lose. What more could a fan want?
Bunney
Roar Rookie
Big call Cam. I worry a little about the Nikorima / Milf combo, but let's see how it pans out. In Wayne we trust
Nat
Roar Guru
I'm with you Picard but you could argue the Storm have done the same. Cronk is noted for his tacticle kicking not long-bombs. Macca kicking from dummy is 10m more than they would've achieved and everyones on-side.
Gaz
Roar Rookie
Broncs recruitment for this year is good enough to get them into the eight, maybe the four, and anyone thinking otherwise needs a second look. A premiership this year though is another story but if we make the four, injury free, anything can happen. Don't underestimate the need to recruit for backup players during origin and to control those resources in order to hold onto our up and comers. Both are most important and I personally prefer to see the club keeping the likes of Carrigan, Fifita, Haas and others, then going out and buying a Pearce. It’s all well and good for the haters saying we have a 'one team town advantage' however we can't keep all the potentially good ones and some will invariably slip through the process. Just imagine if we could recall all the players in other clubs that we had nurtured through to NRL status - that would be fun. This so called advantage (including TPA,S) couldn’t help Bennett keep Hunt, Moga, Ese or Arrow - players he publicly espoused he didn’t want to lose. Any recruitment can never be perfect or as simple as going out and buying a halfback to win a premiership. Can't wait for the season to begin and if our recruitment officers have covered our bench, origin period and injury’s than we’ll be up there with the best of them.
Gray-Hand
Guest
The Storm issues are significant when you take into account how many times they have knocked Brisbane out of the finals. People talk about awarding Parramatta the premiership for the year that they lost a grand final to a salary cap cheating Storm - well, the Storm knocked out the Broncos in the Semi final, and it was a much, much closer game. The Storm continued to benefit from their earlier breaches even after the became cap compliant because the vast majority of the star players and the systems that were developed around them were still in place. The Roosters were given special dispensation by the NRL to pay Sonny Bill Williams outside of the cap, and won a premiership off the back of him. Souths salary cap has been highly suspect with regard to the Burgii and Inglis. Inglis had all but signed with the broncos
Gray-Hand
Guest
The Storm issues are significant when you take into account how many times they have knocked Brisbane out of the finals. People talk about awarding Parramatta the premiership for the year that they lost a grand final to a salary cap cheating Storm - well, the Storm knocked out the Broncos in the Semi final, and it was a much, much closer game. The Storm continued to benefit from their earlier breaches even after the became cap compliant because the vast majority of the star players and the systems that were developed around them were still in place. The Roosters were given special dispensation by the NRL to pay Sonny Bill Williams outside of the cap, and won a premiership off the back of him. Souths salary cap has been highly suspect with regard to the Burgii and Inglis. Inglis had agreed to terms and all but signed with the broncos before signing with Souths. Shortly thereafter, Russell Crowe boasted of paying a million dollars for him on an American talk show. This was before $1 million was a realistic amount for any player. Crowe subsequently back tracked once the NRL queried him, but it smells. Souths subsequently won a premiership off Inglis, and have no doubt been able to recruit other players based on his presence. The Broncos would have been able to do the same. It is well understood that Manly were able to assemble and maintain a top team by manipulating the salary cap by heavily backdating contracts and deceiving other players as to the value of future contracts. While not technically a breach of the rules, it is amoral and did result in an unfair advantage. The NRL has talked about prohibiting such contracting practices in the future. All of the above have served to nullify the ‘natural advantages’ that Brisbane apparently has. Had the not engaged in that activity, Brisbane would probably have won at least a couple of premierships during that period.