Sport Confidential: Brisbane Broncos ramp up Jaydn Su’A chase after missing Nicho Hynes
Despite admitting he ‘would have loved’ to land Nicho Hynes, Brisbane boss Dave Donaghy has slammed suggestions the Broncos’ lowly ladder position cost them his signature.
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The Broncos will ramp-up their pursuit of Queensland Origin hit man Jaydn Su’A following Storm fullback Nicho Hynes’ decision to shun Brisbane’s offer and sign with the Sharks.
Brisbane CEO Dave Donaghy has spoken out on the club’s failure to secure Hynes, who was tipped to join the Broncos next season before they were blown out of the water by Cronulla’s three-year, $1.8 million offer.
There are suggestions Brisbane’s lowly ladder position played a role in Hynes’ decision to join Cronulla, but Donaghy scoffed at suggestions that was a factor.
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“We would have loved to have Nicho,” said Donaghy, who had a rapport with Hynes from his time as Melbourne Storm CEO.
“He spoke to me during the process at different points and he outlined the importance of family. That was the major driver around not coming to Brisbane (Hynes has family in NSW) which we fully respected.
“What we discussed will stay between our club and Nicho’s agent. They were professional dealings, everyone was upfront but our position was very close to what the asking price was at the start of the discussions.
“On the way through, Nicho told me there were other priorities which related to family and in the end we didn’t even get to the negotiating table.
“Nicho would have been a great addition to the squad but we wish Nicho well at the Sharks and we’ll move on.
“We have internal options. We have Jamayne Isaako at fullback and young Selwyn Cobbo is coming through our system.”
It is understood Brisbane will now go hard for Su’A, who is off-contract at Souths and is keen to explore a return to the Broncos club that gave him his NRL debut in 2016.
Donaghy confirmed the Broncos have more cash to spend under the salary cap and will continue shopping.
“This (missing Hynes) frees up money for us under the salary cap and we’ll continue to look to strengthen the squad in other positions,” he said.
“We’ve still got a number of players off contract and we want them to be banging the door down to demand that we re-sign them.
“We have a few players locked in, which is terrific, and we are still in the market to look at giving ‘Kevvie’ (coach Kevin Walters) more options on his roster for 2022.”
LODGE MOVE HITS HURDLE
Matt Lodge’s departure from the Broncos has hit a roadblock after rival clubs lowballed Brisbane with offers to secure the in-form prop.
The Broncos are determined to release Lodge from his costly $800,000-a-season contract and he has been linked with a move to Newcastle.
The Broncos are willing to chip in a sizeable compensation deal to release Lodge, but so far have been underwhelmed by the offers from rival clubs to sign him.
Broncos coach Kevin Walters said it looked like Lodge would remain at the club for at least a little longer.
“I wouldn’t have thought so,” Walters said when asked if Thursday night’s game against the Dragons could be Lodge’s last.
“He is playing well. All we look at is week to week, with all of our players.
“It’s great to have him back (from suspension). I’d expect him to be here for a few more weeks yet.”
Lodge’s confusing situation is not being helped by Brisbane’s ongoing search to find a front-row replacement if he leaves.
The Broncos were eyeing off Sharks prop Toby Rudolf, who has experience on Queensland soil, having been part of the Redcliffe Dolphins side which won the Intrust Super Cup in 2018.
Walters has a wrap on Rudolf, but Cronulla moved quickly to thwart a poaching bid, securing the 106kg Rudolf to a three-year upgrade last week.
There is a view Lodge is a week-to-week proposition at the Broncos, but until Brisbane can find an adequate front-row successor, the controversial prop won’t be leaving Red Hill on a transfer deal.
PAPS STILL NOT BACK
Storm star Ryan Papenhuyzen is still not back to 100 per cent after his sickening Magic Round knockout.
Papenhuyzen suffered a severe concussion after being hit high by Dragons centre Tyrell Fuimaono at Suncorp Stadium on May 16.
The gun fullback has not played since and will miss the Storm’s game against Gold Coast on Saturday night.
Melbourne doctors have ruled Papenhuyzen out for at least a month and while his headaches have subsided, he is still not feeling himself.
The incident cost Papenhuyzen any chance of making NSW’s State of Origin side and it is a concern that he is still not close to playing.
The Storm look like they will be remaining on the Sunshine Coast for at least another fortnight due to Melbourne’s Covid outbreak.
WELCH DEFENDS DCE
Maroons prop Christian Welch has come out swinging in defence of Queensland captain Daly Cherry-Evans.
Cherry-Evans has come under fire this week following accusations he was the architect of a coup to oust ARLC chairman Peter V’landys.
A fed-up Welch defended DCE and said the players had been unfairly treated.
“We’ve seen some really classy efforts from some of the media, particularly in Sydney, really go after guys and make it personal, which is disappointing,” he said.
“It’s sad in our game how negativity tends to sell for some of those journos down there. It’s really disappointing.
“At the end of the day, the players are fans like everyone else. We care about our game. We want to be treated like stakeholders.
“We want to see the game grow and develop and be in a better place for when the next guy comes in to play in the NRL or kid at grassroots level.
“We’re a bit concerned with the process that’s happening. We’re not really involved in anything at the moment.”
TITANS FEAR LOSING CAMPBELL JR
Titans co-captain Jamal Fogarty fears the Gold Coast could lose rising fullback talent Jayden Campbell.
Campbell, the son of foundation Titans star Preston Campbell, will make his NRL debut in Saturday night’s game against Melbourne on the Sunshine Coast.
Campbell, 21, moves like the wind and is supremely talented, but the Titans last month locked up Origin representative AJ Brimson for a further five years.
That has clouded Campbell’s pathway at the Titans.
“I’ve been inspired by Jayden,” Fogarty said.
“The hard thing is we’ve just locked down AJ for the next five years.
“Him and ‘JC’ play the same position. I’m sure the club can find a way to have both of them in the squad moving forward.
“He is only 21 and hopefully he can stay at our club and be a 250-300-game player for our club.”
Campbell is off-contract at the end of 2022 by the Titans have an option in their favour to retain him for 2023.
FIFITA MEDIA BAN ENDS
The Gold Coast Titans’ media ban on $3.5 million star David Fifita went up in smoke this week.
Apart from brief on-field post-game broadcast interviews, the Titans have banned Fifita from media commitments this season, believing the 21-year-old is not equipped to handle the press.
But their season-long ban ended inadvertently on Monday after Fifita was named in Queensland’s State of Origin squad.
Wearing Maroons sponsored clothing, Fifita joined his Queensland teammates in a full-team media session at Suncorp Stadium and conducted multiple interviews.
He was friendly with the media and handled questions well, even asking for feedback from reporters after he finished interviews.
The Brisbane media contingent reported that Fifita handled the commitments well, making a mockery of the Gold Coast’s stance on their highest-paid player.
BREATHING FIRE AT NRL CENTRAL
Below is the image that is sure to ignite war in the NRL expansion battle for a second Brisbane licence.
The Firehawks have largely flown under the radar, but the Easts Tigers-backed consortium have ruffled feathers in the expansion fight by sensationally advertising their bid … right out NRL headquarters!
A van has been driving up and down Driver Ave, the road right outside League Central and the Sydney Cricket Ground at Moore Park, all week parading a large Firehawks logo.
The artwork was the idea of Rich Digital, the company owned by former Rabbitohs boss and ex-NRL head of football Shane Richardson, who is a key player in the Firehawks bid.
ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo were admiring the lovely view of Moore Park’s green space across the road when they were greeted by an enormous Firehawks logo as the van chugged along for hours on end.
It remains to be seen whether the advertising campaign works, but there is no doubting the strength of the Firehawks bid. Easts Leagues club has $25 million in the bank and Richardson believes the Firehawks’ brilliant set-up at Langlands Park makes them the ideal choice to set-up a cross-city river rivalry with the Broncos.
HATCHING A PLAN TO GO WEST
The Brisbane Jets’ expansion bid has received a massive shot in the arm with Queensland Rugby League chairman Bruce Hatcher declaring the NRL must “go west” to combat the AFL in a sporting turf war.
The NRL faces a critical decision on where to place Brisbane’s proposed second team in 2023. There is Dolphins bid in Redcliffe’s northern catchment and the Firehawks in Brisbane’s inner-south while the Jets plan to service the city’s western corridor beyond Ipswich and Toowoomba.
The Brisbane Lions are building a $70 million state-of-the-art facility at Springfield and Hatcher believes if the NRL wants to expand in 2023, the code must fight fire with fire to win the hearts and minds of the blue-collar belt.
“It’s an incredibly bold move by the Lions going to Springfield and we are anxious to see a Toowoomba side eventually coming into the Intrust Super Cup,” Hatcher said.
“There is no doubt an AFL side in that region will draw support, so I think we should be countering that.
“We would have rocks in our head to be ignoring Logan, Ipswich and Toowoomba in that western growth region when the rival AFL code is setting up base there.
“We now have that western corridor in Brisbane that is screaming out to be supported.
“Redcliffe are the powerhouse of the three bids, but the western corridor is the growth area of Queensland and with AFL there, we have to combat that.
“I believe it’s important the Gold Coast Titans have to be supported in this expansion process, but we can’t continue to ignore the growth in that western corridor.”
WALK ON WILD SIDE FOR ITALY
Italy have reached out to the Walker brothers, Ben and Shane, to help the Azzurri in their 2021 World Cup campaign.
The Walker duo steered Ipswich to their first ever Intrust Super Cup premiership in 2015 and have temporarily walked away from coaching after almost snaring NRL gigs at the Titans and Warriors in recent years.
But the former Jets co-coaches could be back in the world of coaching after being sounded out by Italian officials as advisers for the end-of-year World Cup tournament in England.
Several NRL stars have played for the nation, including James Tedesco, Nathan Brown and Paul Vaughan, and the Azzurri could be a dark horse if the Walker brothers opted to join forces again as Italy’s Ipswich-based ‘Spaghetti Twins’.
SHOOSH
Which selfish State of Origin star refused to take a pay cut during last year’s Covid crisis?
While peers on much more inferior salaries agreed to sacrifices to help the game, the Origin player in question dug his heels in and demanded every cent of his pay, to no avail.
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