Dear Broncos, I know, the last thing you need to hear is more criticism.
As a fan of 28 years since I knew what footy was, I’ve been through everything with you. From the glory days of six premierships to Ivan the Terrible and missing the finals for the first time in forever, I’ve stayed strong and will continue to do so. That does not mean some harsh truths can’t be issued and it’s time to get real about the situation.
Depending on who you ask, the problems range from the roster and players that don’t care, the injury toll, the coach to the culture. While there’s issues across all of those areas, that’s not the problem at the rotten core of this situation. Anthony Seibold has been given a bad situation to try and manage.
Anthony Seibold. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Jack Bird and his cool million dollars sitting on the sideline indefinitely destablises the centre/wing situation and adds pressure to the halves. A very expensive and very over-the-hill Darius Boyd forces his inclusion and causes the least damage to the team at centre.
Brodie Croft isn’t the game manager we need yet, which causes Anthony Milford to kick and lead the team far more than is desired. Alex Glenn, Matt Lodge, Jake Turpin, Xavier Coates, Corey Oates, Tesi Niu and Jordan Kahu have all been struck down by injuries, most for the season.
Tevita Pangai Junior can’t stay on the field due to suspensions or haircuts. The COVID-19 break didn’t benefit us but everyone dealt with that, which rules it out as an excuse.
In Seibold’s defence, the culture is problematic and that predates his arrival. A coach can only do so much on that front, a culture needs to be cultivated from within through senior players and ex-players reminding everyone what it means to be a Bronco.
This brings me to what I see as the real problem that the Broncos have – the board. CEO Paul White and chairman Karl Morris are the issue here. While you can’t attribute the club’s decline to any one person, the wheels have been falling off this sputtering wreck for some time and to paraphrase Geoff Toovey’s famous post-match rant, somebody needs to be held accountable.
Sacking the coach is not the answer, it rarely is. Especially a coach with several years left on his contract. Seibold, at a minimum, deserves the same chance that Ivan Henjak and Anthony Griffin had.
For a long time, the Broncos were the club to be at – a cut above, a standard setter, a proven winner and a prized destination. Arrogant, sure, but that arrogance was earned. We kept players for less than market value because the Broncos oozed success.
You only need to look at the David Fifita situation to remind ourselves that the past is the past and our new reality is grim. Ever since Cyril Connell passed away in 2009, the recruitment for the Broncos has been lacking. Connell produced countless stars such as Wendell Sailor, Shane Webcke, Lote Tuqiri and Darren Lockyer to name a few.
Since then, we’ve caught lightning in a bottle with Payne Haas and David Fifita but only have one on the books for the future.
(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
Who is responsible for recruitment? Peter Nolan. Wayne Bennett was once quoted as saying the following, regarding Nolan’s recruiting skills: “I didn’t initially employ Peter as a scout, but he’s been a player and a coach so I’m sure he has some idea”. That is confidence inspiring.
Who did the board appoint prior to this? Andrew Gee. Remember the mysterious $300,000 that went missing? It feels like a lifetime ago but that was the first warning sign.
It’s widely accepted Gee took a bullet for the club but I put this to you – what kind of high-performance, success-oriented club needs bullets like this taken? One where the culture surrounding the club is in disarray.
What stops players doing stupid things off the field more often than not? A great culture. What drives a great culture? Great hirings. Who does the great hirings? The board. It’s time for the Broncos as an entity to clean house.
As Phil Gould proved at Penrith, when you have a successful front office managing the operations, the football team is free to thrive. When there’s a culture of hiring mates and not proven quality recruiters, you get what you have now.
For your sake and ours, bite the bullet and get this done. Love it or hate it, the NRL is a better product when the Broncos are flying high and we’re well overdue.
Randy
Roar Rookie
I get the feeling Lockyer is one of those ex players who probably have this romantic notion that the Broncos can do no wrong and will always be a powerhouse no matter what. Even when he was commentating on 9 he always seemed in complete shock and speechless whenever the Broncos lost.
Aiden
Guest
He’s a good chunk of the problem. Around 35%, along with some individual players and bone headed recruitment.
Nat
Roar Rookie
See I don't mind the club being run by suits as long as the suits are experienced in the role. It absoluetly is a business and one the Broncos have been the best at for very long time. Getting the right people in their positions is critical but we have to separate the footy team from the club. For the team, keep all the old boys as trainers, runners, recruitment and coaches even... to help get the best from the players. I don't want those blokes anywhere near the board. I want educted executives. Definitely not media people. Not even Lockyer. The Broncos are the biggest sporting brand for a reason, they have a competitive advantage and need to use it to attract and maintain quality players. Their share price is directly related to their on-field performace so they need the right people to make those decisions.
Cyril Snodgrass III
Guest
The Broncos biggest problem....a pack full of "promising" young forwards and no hard heads,like Maguire and Gillett
matth
Roar Guru
It may be that his best days were behind him by then. His contacts around the state in the school system were probably also retiring.
Emcie
Roar Guru
The old boys have been up in arms since Bennett "knifed" Griffin in the back years ago... Too many unchecked egos have taken it upon themselves to speak for the rest and their grand solution boils down to jobs for mates. What's the old saying? Never meet your heroes?
Crow
Roar Pro
Locky is a champion but it’s no point drawing a wage without results. He should be part of the future but his soft temperament has been found out
Crow
Roar Pro
Frankly he is not up to the standard required. You think I’m wrong. Go to the ladder.
Crow
Roar Pro
They developed under the storm system. Your talking about two different decades
Crow
Roar Pro
It’s all about leadership and it comes from the top. Not on field. If it was the military there would be young men on restrictions of privileges and charged for conduct un-becoming as well as prejudicial behaviour. Seriously the broncos are at sea without a Captain. Sad times for a once proud club.
Crow
Roar Pro
What year
Crow
Roar Pro
Good call
LeftRight
Guest
The Broncos have many problems to resolve amongst the players, coaches, support staff and board members. However Siebold is a very big part of the problem. He has made some dreadful decisions that he didn't have to make. Boyd was dropped as captain and replaced by very young 20 something player with stuff all playing experience. He brings in Croft, a third ranked, non starting Storm player, shoves him in beside the poorly performing Milford, and promotes him immediately into the "leadership" group. Early on (but not now) he quoted obscure game stats to somehow justify that a good game had been played (even though the team lost). And now he's absented from the team himself for unspecified family reasons. Additionally, Siebold has demoted older players and installed inexperienced youths to "lead" the team - good old age discrimination. And what's been the result? A divided team, a non performing team, a non existent culture. There's more to fix at the Broncos than Siebold, but he's made dreadful decisions that have been totally within his control, and he shouldn't be excused for this.
Hard Yards
Roar Rookie
Good article mate.
Hard Yards
Roar Rookie
Yeah but Brisbane isn’t called Brizvegas for nothing.
Monorchid
Roar Rookie
Agreed Rellum. That's what I was trying to say in my earlier post too. I get the sense that the corporate "suits" are running a business which coincidently is also a football club.
DC
Guest
Qwetzen are you serious.. We didn't get Billy we had Lockyer at FB and K Hunt in the development why take an unproven kid when the games best FB at the time was Lockyer...When Cronk came in the grade at the time he was an avg hooker at best Melb groomed him to play HB meanwhile we had Swain and guys like Berrigan and Casey McGuire could play as backup hookers all were better hookers then Cronk.. As for Smith he wasn't anything special in his early days and we had Berrigan at hooker with Shane Walker.. Again Smith matured into arguably the GOAT no one saw that.. Inglis first was out of our territory but even if he was at the time they did have Tame Topou who was a gun winger who was so hyped and Leon Bott who was again considered a huge prospect and was one of the fastest in the game throw in Old Minto who was reliable and in the centres Hodges Tate nuff said with Steve Michaels as backup you had Kelly who could play centre wing Darren Smith who could play centre the club didn't a cen wing no one saw GI developing in to what he did not even the storm he was signed by the storm as depth
Nat
Roar Rookie
I don't think Lockyer exempt from this at all. He's on the board and speaks on behalf of them. IMO he's as accountable as the rest. Most punters wouldn't have heard of Morris before they started giving the press quotes about Bennett. Now it's a bit more obvious the whole place is not right.
Flexis
Roar Rookie
I try to not liken football clubs to normal society. But the thing that sticks out for me is the apparent lack of agreed communication. It is becoming more and more evident that Siebold has issues communicating up (board), down (players) and sideways (leaders/captains). In real life if you’re lacking in one of the three you have to be working overtime on the other two to stay ahead of the game. If you’re lacking in two the writing is on the wall. Game over. I can’t even imagine if all three were insufficient. But being a Broncos fan might unfortunately be giving me some insight. Boyd is a leader within the team, formal or not. Lockyer and White are talking a completely different language to Siebold. And the playing group, whether intentionally, through frustration, or simply a lack of execution are not achieving his game plan. Now I’m getting riled up and rambling. The part that sticks out for me was when you mentioned the interview process that resulted in a FIVE year contract being offered. Communication methods are the most common and simplest traits to interview for. Surely they had some professional advice on this. Even if they didn’t, googling “interviewing for dummies” should have quickly revealed Siebold would make a fantastic assistant coach, but raised questions of his management ability. Maybe the board where looking for a quick fix. Hoping to ride off his technical skills and manage the situation themselves. But a five year contract wouldn’t have been offered in such a situation. My guess is they bought the cake without asking about the recipe. I guess football isn’t real life after all.
Walter Black
Guest
" culture needs to be cultivated from within through senior players and ex-players reminding everyone what it means to be a Bronco." Wasn't it Seibold who alienated the old boys club on his arrival in Brisbane ? I also think that having Locky on the board isn't helpful.