Colman’s Call: Too early for Bird call in this Broncos rogues’ gallery

THOSE who label Jack Bird as the Broncos’ “worst-ever signing” are being harsh and premature. How can he be when he hasn’t had a chance to show what he is capable of? Unlike these guys.

Jack Bird. Photo: AAP

THOSE who have been quick to label Jack Bird as the Broncos’ “worst-ever signing” are being both harsh and premature.

How can Bird be described in those terms when, through no fault of his own, he hasn’t had a chance to show Broncos fans what he is capable of?

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And besides, to put Bird in that category is ignoring the claims of some pretty strong contenders for the title.

Like Bird, they arrived in Brisbane with a big reputation and equally big price tag, and like him they failed to live up to the hype.

Jack Bird during a Brisbane Broncos training session. Photo: AAP

Unlike him, they won’t have a chance to prove the knockers wrong. They have come and gone — but the painful memories remain.

Who can forget Motu Tony for instance? OK, a lot of people. He wasn’t in town long enough to make much of an impression, but back in 2004 the Warriors utility back was the Broncos’ biggest off-season buy.

He played just four games before being relegated to Queensland Cup amid reports that he had asked for a release from his contract.

“I don’t know how these things get started, but it’s just not true,” he told reporters.

Later that day the Broncos announced that they had agreed to a release and he was headed to the UK.

Motu Tony training at Red Hill in 2004. Photo: David Kapernick

Then there was Panthers’ premiership winner Joel Clinton, signed in 2008 for three years on a reported $250,000 a season.

Clinton never hit the heights in his time with the Broncos and left with a year remaining on his contract.

It wasn’t all bad news though. The club did manage to recoup some of its outlay in 2009 when Clinton was fined $50,000 for inviting a woman to his hotel room the night before a match against the Storm.

Joel Clinton. Photo: Peter Wallis

The Roosters’ Martin Kennedy was another premiership winner the Broncos hoped would add some starch to their pack.

Signed for $1 million over three years in 2014 he played just 16 games before being dropped to the Ipswich Jets.

The Broncos released him after one season and he returned to the Roosters.

He was later suspended for using performance enhancing drugs although there is absolutely no evidence to suggest he ever used performance enhancers during his time with the Broncos. Either that or they didn’t work.

Martin Kennedy playing for the Ipswich Jets in 2014. Photo: Jack Tran

Perhaps the club’s biggest flop — in terms of sheer bulk — was Dave Taylor.

The Australian Schoolboy star had every natural gift a rugby league player could possibly want: size, speed, skill. If only he had the mental application to use them to the fullest.

The “Coaltrain” made his first grade debut in 2006 aged 17 but played just 49 games for the club over the next four years before joining Souths for an equally frustrating stint.

Dave Taylor at Broncos training. Photo: David Kapernick.

And then there was arguably the grand-daddy of them all — the 2012 Dally M winner and NRL top try scorer, will-o’-the-wisp attacking freak and absolute Broncos dud, Ben Barba.

To be fair, the Broncos knew what they were getting into when they signed Barba in 2014.

Or maybe not — the jury is still out on that — but either way the player who headed to Cronulla after just one year of a massive three-year contract wasn’t the highly-paid answer to Brisbane’s prayers.

Maybe Jack Bird will be. Only time will tell.