Unfortunately for Broncos fans, a fish rots from the head

The really successful teams all have one quality in common. Culture. The culture of the organisation permeates into the performance and behaviour of the players both on and off the field. It is usually due to a failure of leadership within an organisation and your analogy of 'rotting from the head' is a good one. At Red Hill it was the dust up with Wayne Bennet that seems to have started the rot. Parramatta, Newcastle, West Tigers etc have all had issues for years. The Bulldogs have gone from a club with strong leadership under Bulldog 'Moore' into an organisation that fails most character tests. The Eels seem to have addressed this in the last two years and their performance has improved out of sight. Newcastle seem to have addressed the drug issues in the last two years or though player behaviour is still an issue. Leadership has to be cohesive without being overbearing and should not interfere in the running of the team. The Panthers got rid of their issue two years ago and look at what has happened. In terms of the Bronco's the leadership issue is both on and off the field. There is no strong senior leadership group on the field. They are all inexperienced 'kids' who fall in a heap when the going gets tough. They should recruit senior leaders rather than specific talented players to get the best out of what they already have.

The problem is 100% management. At one stage things were going beautifully: they had a pack with Thaiday, Parker, McGuire, McCullough and Gillett and were bringing through Sua, Arrow and later on Haas and Fifita. Imagine a pack now with Haas, Arrow, TPG, McGuire, Sua with Carrigan on the bench. But they completely stuffed it and let Arrow, McGuire and Sua go - along with Bennett - and now it's a train-wreck. Complete incompetence. Bennett would have brought Dearden along beautifully. Now they are going to overpay to get Shaun Johnson or Mitchell Moses. Broncos used to develop great players.

I think he did it for Tonga and went okay, but I have no idea if he has or can develop a passing and kicking game worthy of a number 6. I'm thinking a Jack Wighton / Jack Bird type of player.

The six again rule was blamed for Manly's woes as well but I didn't cop that excuse myself. In 2020 Manly lost round one to the Storm and looked well off the pace. By round six under the new rules we were in 7th position and doing well. Turbo gets injured and our slide down the ladder is apparently due to the new rules and not injuries. The rules were cited more and more as a reason why we were 0 from 4 this season. I didn't accept that logic. The new rules didn't stop the team flogging the Titans and Tigers despite being underdogs once Turbo returned. The Broncos looked as good as the Panthers a couple of weeks back and probably should have won the game. I didn't see any evidence that the pack wasn't any good under the new rules in that game. The Broncos have a roster now which could make the eight, particularly with Staggs back but they need to play much better. It's not a title winning roster but if they played as well as Saints did up until now they would be fine.

I still think the board making recordings of fraudulent activity is still one of the mind-numbingly d.umb.ass I have ever heard. Half a dozen people in the room it's impossible for those not to get out at some point. Knowing they were being taped is ikin to standing in a circle with a knife primed in each others back waiting for the leak.

If they weren't spending so much on him and Taylor maybe they could buy a decent rest of the team...

I am not talking about paying overs, I very much doubt that Marshall got overs at Souths, then there was Widdop wanting to return from the UK - could probably have got him for half of what he was on at the Dragons. I accept what you are saying about their careers being too short but what it does is it buys you time, it gives you leadership and it helps bring on some of those youngsters.

Maybe they could've you know, just not pushed out Wayne Bennet. Who needs one of the most successful coaches of all time? Apparently the Broncos.

Kerry, TBH I am not a writer for a start. I promised myself not to write anything as you tend to be a target for a number of people and a number of reasons. If people disagree with me on this issue I'm fine with that as everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I may one of these days but not at present but thanks for replying anyway.

If the large pool of juniors was such an advantage, the Eels and Penrith would have been highly competitive for the last 30 years and Manly and Easts would be perennial wooden spooners. As a Panther's fan I am sad to say we have been mostly rubbish for the last 30 years, closely followed by the Eels. The Roosters don't have a large pool of juniors but they have excellent development pathways and in their last grand final had something like 11 or 12 players that came through first grade with them. Incidentally, Gus built their development pathways too. I would focus less on the size of the pool and more on what you do with the talent you identify. The Broncos weren't successful because they had every junior in Qld, they could still only pick 30 players. They were successful because a Broncos junior went through a process that got them ready for first grade. When SOO came along and the Broncos last half their team and all their spine players, the baby Broncos would come on and they might lose, but they would scare the crap out of established first grade sides and be highly competitive. Two years later, a couple of those baby Broncos would be pulling on a maroon jersey. What changed? Well, it would seem to me that the Broncos decline started when Bennett left. They had a brief upturn when he came back but chose to sack him. The decline continued when he left for the second time. Can anybody see a pattern here?

Never let the truth get in the way of a good story, Pomoz. That's the first rule of journalism. The second rule is, if you can't find a source on which to base a story then make one up and call it "a confidential source" which is in turn protected by a make believe code of practice. I was close to becoming a journalist myself and even worked as a young intern at the old Sun newspaper in the early 80's. So I'm practically an expert at telling "stories". :laughing:

“Pity towards the Broncos? …I absolutely relish the fact the Broncos have dwindled to such a laughing stock. The club has been characterised by arrogance and hubris since day 1” That isn’t an account of mine Nat! Although I admit it sounds a lot like me. :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: Some really valid points well expressed LiM. :thumbup:

You mean like Sam Walker? Yet another loss from the Broncos junior nursery. Pity your chooks couldn't leave the kid to play with club that developed him. But then the chooks have always been the wolf in the fold of the junior development of other clubs. Little wonder though when the only current Roosters junior in their squad is Victor Radley.

GH, my point is they rate well because they have a city of 3 million to themselves. They rate well in Queensland; yet Sydney and elsewhere... not so much. Sponsors want FTA exposure and the Broncos can deliver that to jersey sponsors. It's an enormous commercial advantage that is the envy of the comp. it's a by-product of historical on-field success, but also of geography. On-field, they certainly haven't earned that sort of leg-up over the past 18 months. If we take the first 8 rounds of this season, including round 8 this weekend, the Broncos will have had 7 primetime Thursday and Friday games; last years two grand finalists, 5 each; Souths 4. It's not in anyway reflective of performance.

Every club has a natural advantage in retaining local talent. It's just a matter of how well they use that advantage and just as crucially , if they are a talented crop. Plenty of clubs have concentrated on juniors trying to replicate the past but as the Knights have found as well as the Eels over many years , it only works if they are a superior group.

Any club has an advantage with retaining local talent. It's just a matter of the talent being

Perhaps you should write an article about the subject ?

Hi matth. Yep the eels have to be one of the examples of ‘what not to do’. Golden age of talent coming through and talent scout findings for a club for one of the greatest runs. Then... a mess. Saying there was ‘little plan’ would be over blown. A club manager that was maybe a head of the curve in someways but not up to management in many more. In fighting galore. From a club thats done ok with supporter numbers, money, jr’s area. How could they make such a mess of it. For decades.

Well said. Being a great player doesn't make you a good coach, businessman or mentor. Lockyer would certainly benefit from experience outside of his Broncos circle, even for just a few years.

Also it has been academically tested - turnaround times don’t have a significant affection winning or losing. Travel has a much larger affect on winning or losing. So in reality, all Sydney clubs have a way larger draw advantage than the Broncos or any club outside NSW.