Brisbane Broncos crisis: former teammate turns on Darren Lockyer
The off-field fractures at Red Hill are becoming more pronounced after one of the club’s most beloved figures publicly challenged his former teammate and Broncos board member Darren Lockyer on social media.
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There are off-field tensions at Red Hill with Broncos legends and former teammates Steve Renouf and Darren Lockyer at loggerheads in an explosive development to Brisbane‘s form crisis.
Renouf has taken aim at Lockyer, labelling him a “big part of the problem” as pressure builds on the former Broncos, Queensland and Australia captain to find solutions to one of the darkest chapters in Brisbane‘s 32-year history.
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Lockyer is one of the most influential figures at Red Hill. Brisbane’s most-capped player with 355 games, Lockyer now has a variety of roles at the Broncos, being a long-serving board member as well as a panellist on the club’s recruitment-and-retention committee.
He is a sounding board for Broncos coach Anthony Seibold and was also hired by the club this year to provide leadership training to players amid criticism the club is not developing future captains.
Lockyer and Renouf won two premierships together in 1997-98 and have always had a strong off-field relationship, but that hasn’t stopped ‘The Pearl’ publicly calling out board member ‘Locky’.
“I love you mate but you have to share the responsibility here,” Renouf posted on social media.
“You are on the board, part of recruitment and also leadership. You put yourself up as an influential administrator so it makes you a big part of the problem!”
Contacted by Sport Confidential, Renouf added: “I tweeted Locky because he has been involved in the club for a while and the roles he has are important. Being a board member he has to be vocal. He has to get in there and make himself known.
“He has got to speak up because people will listen.”
MORRIS’ MEDIA BEEF
Karl Morris has opened up about the toughest part of being chairman of the Brisbane Broncos – the media.
A stockbroker and finance expert, Morris is a multi-millionaire and one of the country’s most successful businessmen.
He has been chairman of the Broncos for nearly three years and overseen two of the most tumultuous periods in the club’s history – the sacking of Wayne Bennett and Brisbane’s current form slump that has thrust the pressure on coach Anthony Seibold.
When he was appointed chairman in December 2017, Morris told News Corp that managing the retirement funds of 600,000 people as the boss of Q-Super would be more demanding than running a football club.
But he has since changed his tune and a lot of that has to do with the relentless scrutiny on the Broncos.
“Media, I’m serious,” Morris said when asked what the toughest part of the job was.
“If we didn’t have the pressure of media focus the job would be a lot easier.
“Last weekend, there were eight games and we represented roughly 75 per cent of the media on the weekend.
“I understand that. We are a strong club and when there is a void of news, we are good copy.
“We are trying to take the pressure off the coach, the coaching team and the players so they can concentrate on what they should be doing.”
Morris is not a natural media performer but has become more comfortable with the fourth estate during his chairmanship.
BELLAMY ALL BLACKS LINK
Storm coach Craig Bellamy would be asked to work with the All Blacks if the proposed hybrid blockbuster against Mal Meninga‘s Kangaroos goes ahead this year at Suncorp Stadium.
The NRL and New Zealand Rugby are currently mulling over the financials of the proposal, with the brainchild of the All Blacks-Kangaroos concept, Dean Lonergan, having tabled multimillion-dollar offers to both parties.
Kangaroos coach Meninga has met with NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo to discuss the match and under the NRL Immortal’s plan, he would push for Bellamy to be sent to New Zealand to help the All Blacks.
Bellamy has been the NRL’s best coach of the past decade and Meninga believes his knowledge of the game and work ethic could help the All Blacks learn the nuances of rugby league if the match gets the green light for December 5.
While the NRL is uncertain about backing the concept, the NZR remain genuinely interested. The NZR board wants the game to happen and is attracted by the financial terms, but if the NRL won’t come to the party, an All Blacks-Kangaroos blockbuster will not be realised.
While on Bellamy, the Storm coach has thrown his support behind besieged Brisbane coach Seibold, urging him not to panic at the Broncos.
Seibold was a former assistant to Bellamy before leaving Melbourne to forge his own career as a head coach at South Sydney in 2018 before joining the Broncos last year.
Seibold is currently under major pressure as the Broncos fight to emerge from a five-game losing streak in 15th place, but Bellamy says not even he is immune to major form slumps, recalling some dark times at the Storm.
Bellamy knows the culture of the Broncos well, spending five years at the club as an assistant to Wayne Bennett in the late 1990s.
“I don’t know what is going on or whatever at the Broncos, but it’s certainly a tough time for the whole club and you don’t like to see any team go through that,” he said.
“All the clubs have times when you go through tough periods. We lost five games in 2012 and I got a few envelopes with hate mail. One guy cut up his season tickets and said you’re a disgrace after we had five losses in a row.
“I don’t know what has happened there but everyone goes through a tough time, you just have to try and ride it out.”
HODGES COULD SAVE BRONCOS
Former Broncos under-20s mentor Craig Hodges has emerged as one possible option to help embattled Brisbane coach Anthony Seibold fix his Red Hill crisis.
Steve Kearney was originally linked to a return to the Broncos to help Seibold but the sacked Warriors coach has made it clear he has no interest in reprising the assistant‘s role he former had under Wayne Bennett.
That has opened the door for other candidates such as Hodges, the Easts Tigers coach who is currently on the sidelines and available due to the cancellation of the Intrust Super Cup competition.
Hodges knows the DNA of the Broncos well, having formerly coached Brisbane‘s under-20s side. He has mentored several current Broncos including Corey Oates, Pat Carrigan and Joe Ofahengaue and later worked with the likes of Darius Boyd, Anthony Milford and Alex Glenn as an NRL assistant to Wayne Bennett.
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Hodges was also an assistant coach at the Titans in recent years before leaving the Gold Coast to take charge of the Tigers.
Hodges popped in to Red Hill yesterday to watch the Broncos train and is well respected in Queensland league circles for his experience and man-management ability.
LAUGH OFF THREATS
Former Queensland Origin star Chris Walker has simple message for Broncos players who are copping death threats. Don’t stress.
Walker received numerous death threats during his turbulent career in the NRL, particularly after his big-money move to Souths, and took to social media to rally in support of the Broncos.
“My only advise (sic) to the players from the Broncos who are getting death threats, ignore them, that’s what I did,” Walker wrote.
My only advise to the players from the Broncos who are getting death threats, ignore them thats what I did, no one is ever going to tell you they are going to kill you, its the way ones that say nothing are the ones you gotta watch, Ive had plenty of death threats when I played..
— Chris Walker (@iam_chriswalker) June 30, 2020
I later found out they were from Mum and Dad... gotta love a good death threat 😂😂 https://t.co/AfSvHGIsRF
— Chris Walker (@iam_chriswalker) June 30, 2020
“No-one is ever going to tell you they will kill you, it‘s the ones that say nothing are the ones you gotta watch.
“I’ve had plenty of death threats when I played.”
Walker’s former teammate Kevin Campion had a lighthearted reply.
“Your death threats were from your teammates,” Campion said with a laugh.
TITANS CROWD CAPPED
The Gold Coast Titans will play their first genuine home game of the season in front of fans but they will not get to make the most of Queensland’s 10,000 crowd cap.
The Titans have only been cleared to have 2000 people at Cbus Super Stadium when they take on Cronulla.
While Queensland stadiums are allowed to have up to 10,000, Cbus is yet to be trialled with new COVID restrictions and the Sharks game will be a test run.
If everything runs smoothly, the Titans are hoping they can increase their crowd capacity when they host the Warriors next Friday night.
The Warriors traditionally have a strong following on the Gold Coast and should draw a decent crowd.
‘F’ WORD BANNED BY GOLD COAST
The ‘F’ word has been banned at the Gold Coast Titans and it’s not the swear word you might be thinking of.
Titans players have been banned from talking about the prospect of Broncos superstar David Fifita joining the club.
After numerous failed recruitment attempts, the Titans have introduced a ban on speaking publicly about recruitment and retention.
That has even filtered through to the playing group, with players instructed not to answer questions about whether they would like Fifita to join the club next year.
BOOTLESS BRONCO
Broncos coach Anthony Seibold’s assistant Kurt Richards turned up to Suncorp Stadium with one shoe last Saturday night.
Richards forgot one of his fancy dress boots to go with his team uniform and had to issue an SOS for his wife to drop the boot off to stadium security.
Maybe it was a bad omen for the 30-12 loss to the Gold Coast Titans that was to come.
UNCLE WAYNE IS CALLING
Which Brisbane media personality’s phone rang during Broncos five-eighth Anthony Milford’s press conference on Tuesday? The name that flashed up on the phone in front of Milford’s eyes was none other than ex-Broncos coach Wayne Bennett.
Originally published as Brisbane Broncos crisis: former teammate turns on Darren Lockyer