NRL 2021: Tom Dearden’s manager claims Broncos pushed him out of Red Hill

Tom Dearden's manager has accused the Broncos  of playing mind games with the young half while praising the Cowboys' 'relentless pursuit' of his star client.

Johnathan Thurston will mentor Tom Dearden next season. Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty

The Broncos have been accused of playing mind games with Tom Dearden and “kicking him from pillar to post” in the wake of the Brisbane playmaker’s defection to Queensland arch rivals the Cowboys.

As North Queensland prepare to enlist club champion Johnathan Thurston to mentor the rookie, his manager, Sam Ayoub, has broken his silence on the contract spat that has led to Dearden’s demise at Red Hill.

Dearden will link with the Cowboys from next season on a three-year deal worth $1.1 million, but if the Toowoomba-born playmaker had his wish, he would have finished his career as a one-club champion at the Broncos.

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Just last week, Broncos coach Kevin Walters insisted Dearden was part of his future and vowed not to lose him, but Ayoub claims the 20-year-old was never given the opportunity to show his loyalty.

“Tom would have stayed at the Broncos for life but they have done nothing but kick him from pillar to post,” Ayoub said.

“I read somewhere that the Broncos didn’t want to get into a bidding war with the Cowboys for Tom’s services.

“You can’t be in a bidding war if you don’t make a player an offer — and the Broncos never made him an offer.

Tom Dearden was dumped just 24 hours after announcing his move north.

“I spoke to Pete Nolan (Broncos football-operations chief) and he said he was waiting on ‘Kevvie’ (Walters) to decide what he wants to do.

“We gave Brisbane every opportunity to retain him. Tom is a loyal kid with country values but in the end the Cowboys, to their credit, were determined to get him.”

Since he joined the Broncos as a 15-year-old, Brisbane scouts have rated Dearden one of the most gifted playmakers to come through their development system, but alarm bells have begun to ring internally.

The former Australian Schoolboy has won four of his 22 NRL games for an 18 per cent success rate.

Tom Dearden has been dropped for this weekend’s clash. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty

As Brisbane’s starting halfback, Dearden has not won a match in almost two years, losing 15 consecutive matches in the halves after guiding the Broncos to an 8-2 defeat of the Warriors on May 25, 2019.

While Walters seemingly provided mixed messages about where the halfback stood at the Broncos, Ayoub said the Cowboys were determined to get their man after a preliminary meeting in February.

“Every player likes to be wanted and the Cowboys were genuinely relentless in their pursuit of him from day one,” Ayoub said.

“They never changed their mind. The Cowboys were committed and they knew where Tom was headed as far as his football career was concerned.

“Tom was in development camps for the Cowboys when he was 14. Even when the Broncos signed him to a scholarship, he played his footy in Mackay before he came to Palm Beach Currumbin as a 17-year-old.

“From the time I met him as a 15-year-old, he was a fan of ‘JT’ (Thurston), so he’s looking forward to his next chapter at the Cowboys.”

Johnathan Thurston will mentor Tom Dearden next season. Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty

Cowboys football-operations chief Micheal Luck said Thurston - the halfback champion who delivered North Queensland‘s maiden premiership in 2015 - will play a key role in Dearden’s development in Townsville.

“We’re happy to have Tom,” Luck said.

“JT is around so we would be foolish not to pair them up.

“Jonno is very busy with his life, he has plenty on but he is in and around the club. He was one of the best halfbacks of all-time and he‘s in our backyard so if he has time, we’d love to have him here mentoring Tom.

“He has a high opinion of Tom so I‘m sure he’d be happy to help him.

“Tom showed a lot of ability as a junior and in his 20-odd games of footy, we think he can be attractive to the way we want to play footy and the way we want to run our team.

“He will be a big addition in the coming years.”

Originally published as NRL 2021: Tom Dearden’s manager claims Broncos pushed him out of Red Hill