NRL Rich 100: Brisbane Broncos inflated contracts expose massive rebuild job Ben Ikin faces

A staggering six Broncos sit among the top earners of the NRL, but only one of them is arguably earning his keep. See the full list.

Brisbane head of football Ben Ikin started in his new role last Monday and one of his most critical tasks is fixing a Broncos roster he famously labelled “disgusting”.

News Corp’s second instalment of the NRL’s Rich 100 underlines the mammoth task ahead for Ikin as he, coach Kevin Walters and chief executive Dave Donaghy look to construct a roster to make the Broncos a finals force next season.

At the NRL’s premiership big guns Penrith, Melbourne and the Roosters, their highest-paid players are indispensable and integral to their success.

The embattled Broncos have a different problem. Their three highest-paid players this season are underperforming and crippling their salary-cap.

THE FINANCIAL DRAIN

Brisbane’s financial kingpin Anthony Milford, his $1 million deal reduced to $940,000 this season due to the Covid-enforced six per cent salary cuts, has battled injuries and erratic form. On Thursday, the off-contract pivot was told by the club he would not be offered a new deal for 2022, formalising the freefall of the highest-paid player in Brisbane’s 33-year history.

Brisbane’s second highest-paid player, Matt Lodge ($750,000), has been given permission to explore the open market and finally brokered a mid-season transfer to the Warriors, drawing the curtain on his controversial 65-game career.

Then there is Tevita Pangai Jnr ($682,000). The Broncos forward is contracted until the end of next season but Brisbane are running out of patience with Pangai Jnr after repeated suspensions, inconsistent form and the Covid breaches last year which nearly led to his sacking.

Matthew Lodge is Brisbane’s second highest-paid player

Based on our exclusive Rich List, the Broncos are outlaying more than $2 million of their salary cap on players they either don’t want, have moved on or aren’t delivering bang for their buck.

CAN IKIN FIX IT?

In his former role as host of Fox Sports’ NRL 360 program, Ikin was often savage in his appraisal of Brisbane’s list management. Now he walks into the Broncos’ head of football with his eyes wide open about the roster challenges confronting the ailing glamour club.

“There will be a component of my role that is involved with roster management, absolutely,” he said.

That’s one of the most important parts of the footy department, so I will have input in that, as will many other people.

“We have to take a strategic view of not only what we want today, but into the future and that includes what’s in the market and what we have coming through.”

There are six Broncos in this year’s Rich 100. Aside from Milford, Lodge and Pangai Jnr, prop Payne Haas ($517,000), winger Corey Oates ($517,000) and halfback Brodie Croft ($423,000) are other Brisbane players among the highest-paid top liners in the code.

Will Anthony Milford be at the Broncos in 2022?

OVERPAID STARS

That contingent underscores why Ikin believed Brisbane’s roster, and the money some of their stars were earning, was “bent out of shape”.

Oates has been dropped twice this season and was close to asking for a release last month before coach Walters assured him after State of Origin II that he would be given one final chance to prove his worth.

Croft was signed by former coach Anthony Seibold on a three-year, $450,000-a-season deal which expires at the end of next year. His signing has been a bust, with Croft playing 21 of a possible 35 games and dropped several times as he fails to convince Broncos fans he is the No.7 to pilot the club to their first premiership since 2006.

Brisbane are running out of patience with Tevita Pangai Junior

The shining light is Haas. If anything, he is grossly underpaid. The NSW Origin prop tops Brisbane’s metre count every week and has been their best player for two years.

If the Broncos are looking to recalibrate their salary cap, they should make Haas their top salary earner and pay him more than $800,000 a season.

Ikin concedes the Broncos have some tough decisions to make over the next 12 months to compile a roster that will not only haul Brisbane out of the wooden-spoon cellar, but ensure the club meets its annual objective of a top-four finish.

“We have to build capability and balance in our roster,” he said.

“We need strike, endurance, youth, leadership, game awareness, enforcers ... there’s a whole lot of capabilities that sit on a roster that go beyond positional depth.

“You want people who can model premiership habits and they come in many forms, but you need a critical mass of players who can be professional at all times.

CHECK OUT THE RICH 100 LIST BELOW

“If there is a critical mass of guys who are coachable and living the standards everywhere, then that carries the team. It’s constitution, it’s resilience, it’s mental toughness, it’s not just 80 minutes it’s what you do through the work week.

“But what certainly needs to be managed around that is the salary cap, which can be restrictive at times.

“What sits in behind all that is what you can pay players on your roster. So getting the value of your players right and seeing what exists in the marketplace is also an important facet.

“The spine (fullback, five-eighth, halfback and hooker) is hugely important.

“They are the brains of a footy side. I won’t go into details about the specifics of each position, but you know when you have a best-in-code dummy half or halfback or five eighth.

“It’s vitally important we get our spine right.”

Originally published as NRL Rich 100: Brisbane Broncos inflated contracts expose massive rebuild job Ben Ikin faces