Move to Broncos from struggling Wests Tigers just what Adam Blair needed

BRONCOS prop Adam Blair wants to finish his career in Brisbane and admits leaving Wests Tigers was the best thing that could have happened to his career.

Bronco's Adam Blair. Picture: Gregg Porteous

ADAM Blair, the wannabe All Black who found his niche in rugby league, wants to set the record straight.

One, he’s not quitting the Broncos to return home for a career swan song at the Warriors. He plans to sign one final deal to finish his career at Red Hill.

And two, he says the NRL has botched official records of his age. Every available NRL source lists Blair’s birthdate as March 20, 1986, making the Broncos enforcer 31.

But the Kiwi international insists he was born in 1987, meaning he has only just turned 30.

“Have you got that on record now?” Blair says, hoping his declaration reaches the ears of NRL record-keepers.

“That’s another year in the legs.”

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Adam Blair’s career is back on track after his move to the Broncos. Picture: Gregg Porteous

In the brutal world of the NRL, where every year is like a gold nugget, the 12-month discrepancy is significant for it buys Blair more time to build on the decorated rugby league career he never envisaged.

On Friday night at Suncorp Stadium, Blair celebrates another special milestone when he runs out for his 250th first grade game.

There is a sense of poetic justice in his feat being recorded against the Wests Tigers, the club where Blair went off the rails as a footballer. At his lowest ebb, Tigers fans excoriated Blair, deriding him as an overpriced dud from Melbourne.

Blair is too nice and too professional to say it bluntly, but he believes Wests Tigers must provide more resources to extract the best of their players. His cultural analysis of the Broncos and Melbourne should ring alarm bells for Tigers hierarchy.

Adam Blair in action for the Wests Tigers.

“That’s what I took for granted, the things we got given to us at Melbourne,” said Blair, who was thrown a lifeline by the Broncos in 2015 after three turbulent years at the Tigers.

“When I left, I realised it wasn’t going to be like Melbourne — the things we got put in front of us wasn’t going to be like that at the Tigers.

“I can’t speak for other clubs but the Broncos and Storm are similar when it comes to professionalism and how they go about their business and what they give for their players to perform week in, week out.

“It does fall back on you. But if you are doing the right thing at training (at Melbourne and Brisbane), you will succeed. These clubs put everything in front of you.

“If you aren’t performing at a club like those two, then you haven’t used the resources they have given you.”

Blair flashes a wry grin when the Tigers’ current malaise is raised with him.

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Coach Jason Taylor was sacked two months ago. Two of the Tigers’ Big Four — James Tedesco and Aaron Woods — have signed elsewhere for next year. A third pillar, young gun Mitchell Moses, was granted an immediate release to join Parramatta 48 hours ago.

The Tigers travel to Suncorp in a world of hurt. Blair is just glad to be away from the soap opera, relishing life in Brisbane with his wife and two young boys at a club that shares his work ethic and appreciates his leadership qualities.

“Are you talking to me from previous experience?,” Blair says with a laugh when asked about the Tigers’ latest dramas.

“They have been through some tough times and trying to rebuild their club and get through to the other end of what has been happening down there.

“Eventually, it takes a toll on you as a player. You can only control what you can control but it (the off-field turmoil) does filter down and put pressure on players individually and as a group.

“I got an opportunity to come here and I couldn’t turn it down. It was a great club with great staff, especially with Wayne (Bennett, Broncos coach). He helped get me back on track to where I am now.”

Blair has heard the whispers. Former Broncos assistant Steve Kearney is now coaching the Warriors and eyeing off Blair, mindful of the effect his training habits have on younger players, especially those of Polynesian descent.

Blair was grateful for the stability at the Broncos. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

The premiership-winning enforcer is off-contract at the end of next season, but plans to ink another deal with the Broncos for a 14th season of rugby league.

Not bad for a bloke who dreamt of being an All Black in the mould of his hero, New Zealand rugby icon Zinzan Brooke.

“I used to play six, seven and eight in rugby so I looked up to Zinzan Brooke and Josh Kronfeld,” Blair says.

“Those guys were great All Blacks and I thought I would be one of them one day. But my family sent me to Australia when I was 16 and I took up rugby league.

“To get to 250 games is a massive achievement. When I first went to Melbourne, I remember them saying the average first grader played only 50 games. When I got to 50, I said I’ve made it, everything after that was a bonus.

“There is speculation going around about my future, but to be honest, I want to stay at the Broncos. Why would you want to leave when you are at such a great club with a great history?”