Busted Broncos

Corey Norman makes a break against the Cowboys

The Brisbane Broncos are not very good. This is not new information or something no one else is saying, but rather an accepted reality in 2013, albeit one we are not used to. We are used to the Broncos being perennial contenders or at least making the finals, as well as Suncorp Stadium being a near impossible place to go and win for an away side.

Obviously with Wayne Bennett now a few years removed from the club and the retirement of Darren Lockyer, that wasn’t going to last forever. It is a transitional phase for the club but Anthony Griffin had seemed like a good coach and they always have a factory of young players to call on to keep them competitive.

However, this season the wheels have completely fallen off. Now you might argue that it has only been three matches and for all we know they will win every game from now until September, but that still doesn’t change my mind.

One thing the Broncos have always done well is develop talent and typically be able to keep that talent at least until salary cap pressure from too much success forces them to make tough decisions. But in 2013, the Broncos are letting their best young player leave at the end of the season with no real foresight or long term plan.

Basically every footy fan I know believe that Corey Norman is the best young player on the Broncos, as well as one of the best young talents in the game. He is clearly at his best with playing his natural position of five-eighth, but due to the signing of Scott Prince he has been put at fullback so far this season. Now that would be fine, even if I disagree with it in the short term, if it simply ended there. Young players have often had to wait their turn while a veteran filled their best position. But now Corey Norman has signed to play for the Parramatta Eels in 2014 and the Broncos do not seem to be all that fussed by it.

The fact that Norman was available and that the Broncos didn’t seem all that intent on re-signing him was an open secret and the Eels were constantly rumoured to be his destination, especially after missing out on Josh Papalii. It is a fantastic signing for the Eels and gives them a long term spine to build around with Hayne, Norman and Sandow in three of the four key positions.

But why would the Broncos simply let him go without a fight? Do they genuinely believe he isn’t that good, do they honestly believe they are set with Scott Prince and Peter Wallace? Or is there more to Corey Norman that we simply don’t know and they didn’t want the headache anymore?

As far as I can tell, Anthony Griffin is simply choosing to build around the newly returned Scott Prince at five-eighth, despite the fact he is 33 years old and already seems to be a shell of his former self. Prince and Wallace together simply do not have enough attacking skill between them at this stage to lead a team to win more than they lose. They are both solid defensively, Wallace in particular, and overall the Broncos are still a good defensive side. But that isn’t going to do all that much when you quite simply cannot manufacture points.

It is a very similar situation to the one the St George Illawarra Dragons find themselves in. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter if you have try scorers and game breaker on the edges or wings, if you don’t have the halves to get them the ball in the right situations you will never get the chance to use those weapons.

But let’s say Scott Prince was playing at his best right now. It is still a horrible decision to let Corey Norman leave. No one beats Father Time and Scott Prince is not someone you can build around at this juncture. Even if you continue to play Norman at fullback, until you decide Prince can’t go anymore, fullback is still a vital position and one worthy of paying Norman the money he received from Parramatta.

The problem is that Griffin has a different mindset to the fans/club at this stage. Griffin needs to think short term because his job is on the line right now. I disagree he is making the correct decisions even in the short term, but even if he was right, it still is valuing short term competitiveness over long term success, which often ends in disaster.

I also do not understand playing captain Sam Thaiday at prop. The guy has been one of the best back rowers in the league for a decade or so and the club is not short of props anyway. I understand that they want to play Glenn, Gillett and Parker and therefore figure they can just put 10 on Thaiday’s back, but it isn’t a best use of their squad in my eyes.

I would move Gillett back to the bench to be the most damaging of impact players and let Thaiday go back to his natural spot at 12.

Broncos’ fans expect success because they have grown accustomed to it and I understand there is a lot of pressure on Griffin to be in “win now” mode. Also, despite the fact that they are Queenslanders, I give Broncos fans just enough credit to understand that they are rebuilding and need to develop their young players for the next golden era.

But there is no rhyme or reason to what the Broncos are doing right now and with this current strategy I can’t see success in either the short or longer term. When Corey Norman is killing it in blue and gold next year, I imagine Anthony Griffin will be shaking his head and wishing he was still coaching in the NRL.

Trial by Team List

Matt Ryan was surprisingly selected on the bench for the Eels

We are finally a day away from the start of the NRL season and that means we now have the team lists for the Round 1 matches. Whilst I already had thoughts on teams that would do better or worse in 2013, sometimes you really need to see what a team is putting out on the field to realise where they have improved or gotten worse.

As there are every year, there were certainly a few things I found surprising when I read the team lists yesterday, including some players I hadn’t even realised had changed clubs or had forgotten they had changed clubs until I was reminded by seeing their name.

Manly are still going to be a good team and have one of the best young halves combinations in the league, but their success is finally catching up with them as I was surprised by some of the names they picked. I knew Glenn Stewart was out and that Jamie Buhrer would fill in at 13, but I didn’t realise how weak they had become at prop. Brent Kite and new recruit Brenton Lawrence would have to be up there with the worst starting prop combinations in the league. They get the trusty Jason King back in Round 2, which helps enormously, but losing Darcy Lussick to Parramatta in the offseason means the Eagles will be hoping their youngsters (and Ritchie Fa’aoso) really step up and fill the void, because one thing we know is you need a platoon of props to get through the NRL season.

Justin Horo starting in the second row will also be interesting. He is one of those guys I forgot changed clubs and perhaps the change of scenery away from Parramatta will do him wonders as he is very talented.

Parramatta kick the Ricky Stuart era off on Saturday against the Warriors and I must admit how shocked I am that Matt Ryan is named on the bench. I thought he was going to be the direct replacement for Nathan Hindmarsh as the no nonsense tackle machine every team needs, especially Parramatta. Reni Maitua, Ben Smith and Joseph Paulo aren’t a bad back row, but for mine Ryan should be starting and playing near on 80 minutes. Also I still think Ben Roberts might just be the worst player in the NRL, but at least he isn’t starting anymore so that’s an improvement I guess.

The Warriors in the same match have named back rower Elijah Taylor at hooker and he has got to be the biggest hooker I can remember, at least in the modern era. The Warriors have a solid pack, strike weapons outside and I like Matt Elliott as a coach, but they are one of those teams that will live and die by how many points their halves can create. Shaun Johnson took a step backwards last year and needs to find an instant partnership with Thomas Leuluai for the Warriors to get back to winning ways.

The Bulldogs come into the season with four big names all out with Barba and Graham suspended and Kasiano and Pritchard injured. It is a testament to their depth that they are putting out a very solid team across the park anyway. A few years ago whilst at Canberra, Drury Low tore the Under 20’s competition apart, so it will be interesting to see how he goes on the wing for the Bulldogs while Barba gets his life together.

The Cowboys bench is scary. The idea of the Sims brothers and Jason Taumalolo coming on when the likes of Scott and Tamou need a break is frightening. They need young halfback Ray Thompson and new English hooker Sam Moore to complement Thurston and Bowen, but if they do they should be good. That being said, the Cowboys have underachieved before and if they do again this year it might spell the end of Neil Henry.

The Raiders backline depth is also quite staggering. In a game where both Dugan and Croker are out they have still named a fantastic backline. Reece Robinson would start at fullback for half the league and is only playing there because Dugan is out. Frankly if I were David Furner, Croker would struggle to get back into the side given his defensive frailties. Also… EDRICK LEE!

If I didn’t hate the Dragons (as any good Rabbitohs fan should) I would feel sorry for them. Their team just isn’t particularly good this year. Their best player is a winger and as good as he is a winger can’t carry you through a season. I think they have the worst halves combination in the league and whilst their forwards are all serviceable, they don’t have enough attacking potency in the squad. My tip is that Steve Price will be first coach fired in 2013 and watching them in the Charity Shield only made that belief stronger.

The Sharks team is interesting. They had a good year in 2012 but tapered off towards the end. As per usual their forward pack is very good and the signing of Michael Gordon is a big one (should he stay fit) and Beau Ryan should continue his solid play. I do wonder if they should have found a spot for Nathan Gardner somewhere as he is too talented to play reserve grade. I would have picked him over Jono Wright on the wing, despite Gardner’s lack of size. Once again the Sharks fortunes will rely on Todd Carney and he is coming back from a pretty nasty injury, so it is a real wait and see thing with the Sharks this year.

Finally I was surprised and happy to see the Tigers pick Jacob Miller at halfback and move Benji back to five-eighth. They signed Anasta but at this point I think the back row is the right place for him and Miller has been so good at Under 20’s level for so long that it is time he gets a real opportunity to make the halfback spot his own. They have to be patient with him, but if the Tigers want their premiership window to re-open I think Miller at 7 has to be part of that plan.

Obviously I didn’t touch on all teams but that is because the others were all right about what I expected of them. The Rabbitohs and Roosters should be a cracking season opener, even for a neutral and I’ll see you all at the footy.