NRL 2021: Kevin Walters reveals the Brisbane Broncos have many more players to cut
Kevin Walters says he has a plan to turn things around at the Broncos - a plan that will see a very different roster in place in 2022.
NRL
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Canberra hooker Josh Hodgson remains on Brisbane’s radar as the Broncos prepare for a $3 million fire sale to bring the battling NRL club back to life.
New Broncos CEO Dave Donaghy and coach Kevin Walters have started to put their stamp on the club after launching a full-scale review into Brisbane’s shocking plight, which has already seen football boss Peter Nolan and fitness chief Andrew Croll depart.
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The Broncos are staring down the barrel of back-to-back wooden spoons after crashing to last place on the NRL ladder following Thursday night’s 46-0 loss to South Sydney.
As the Broncos were being battered by the Rabbitohs, news broke that Brisbane forward Tevita Pangai Jr had been given permission to speak to rival clubs, joining prop Matt Lodge at the Red Hill exit.
Walters has already released Jack Bird, Andrew McCullough, Joe Ofahengaue, Tom Dearden and Reece Walsh from their contracts as he goes about constructing a playing roster he believes can bring the Broncos back to life.
And they won’t be the last with Pangai Jr, Lodge and the likes of out-of-favour winger Corey Oates and fullback Jamayne Isaako’s futures at the Broncos clouded.
Walters is desperate to free up salary cap space and is looking to shed the majority of the playing list he inherited from former coach Anthony Seibold.
“We’ve got a plan in place, we’ve been saying it all year, about restructuring our roster,” Walters said.
“That’s what it’s about. We need to restructure our whole football club.
“There’s no real reason why Tevita (has been told to go). We’ve got to restructure our roster. That’s what we have to do. Not everyone can stay.
“The salary cap certainly comes in to play with it all.
“We came up with a decision and there will be more decisions to come because clearly we’re not in a good place at the moment and things need to change.”
The off-field bloodletting at the Broncos started on Friday when Nolan and Croll were sacked and it’s set to continue in the dressing room, with 11 off-contract players yet to be offered new deals.
Captain Alex Glenn, $1 million five-eighth Anthony Milford and centres Dale Copley and Jesse Arthars are all expected to depart Red Hill.
Walters said he had to build resilience at the Broncos following two years of poor results.
“With what’s gone on here the last couple of years, their mindspace isn’t that strong. We’re not a very resilient football side,” he said.
“There’s many things that aren’t working for us. It’d be wrong to single out one thing. When we’re in the position we are, there’s a lot of things going wrong.
“It’s delicate because you don’t want to bring (new players) into the environment we’re in at the moment. We’ll try to get the timing right.
“The priority is to have a look at ourselves and implement that plan.”
At this stage, Brisbane’s only two new signings for 2022 and beyond are South Sydney halfback Adam Reynolds and fringe Storm centre Brenko Lee.
The Broncos have been linked to Raiders No. 9 Hodgson, who is off-contract at the end of 2022 and unlikely to be offered a long-term extension.
At 31, Hodgson could be a risky signing for the Broncos and Canberra CEO Don Furner said the Raiders were in no rush to offload the England international.
“The reality is Josh is no trouble for us under the salary cap, we just can’t offer him anything close to what he is on in 2023,” Furner said.
“We’re not in a hurry to get rid of Josh at all. There’s been a lot of speculation but no-one has honestly contacted us about Josh, including the Broncos, so certainly not at this stage.
“He is with us until the end of 2022 and we are more than happy for Josh to fulfil his contract.
“We want Josh here, we want his experience at the club, particularly during what has been a tough time for us this season.
“We need Josh’s experience and leadership as much as ever.”
Facing a three-four game suspension for a crusher tackle in the Rabbitohs game, Pangai Jr’s 96-match career for the Broncos could be over.
The bulldozing forward has been a rocks-or-diamonds style player for Brisbane since 2016, but captain Alex Glenn believes the 25-year-old was just finding his feet.
“I get along with Tevita very well and he is a future star of this game,” Glenn said.
“He has been working really hard the last two or three months. I’ve been talking to him about his routine and he is speaking to the right people about constantly being in good habits to be consistent every week and I thought he has been doing that
“His weight is under control which was one of his hardest things to deal with. He is a guy that his body weight can fluctuate over a weekend but I thought consistently he was doing really good so that is a hard pill to swallow.”
WHY RAIDERS WON’T RELEASE JOSH HODGSON TO BRISBANE BRONCOS
The desperate Brisbane Broncos are in for a massive shock if they think getting Josh Hodgson to walk away from the final year of his current contract at Canberra is the simple answer to Kevvie Walters’ deepening crisis.
The fact is the Raiders have had absolutely no communication with anyone about potentially releasing the star Englishman and, what’s more, they have no plans to let Hodgson go for 2022.
This is despite constant speculation the Broncos want Hodgson to team up with Adam Reynolds next year to try and drag the embattled former powerhouse out of their shocking situation.
Hodgson’s future has been a topic of debate for most of the season but he has settled back into the starting team now ahead of Tom Starling who is back playing off the bench.
And this is the combination the Raiders want to move forward with, especially given Hodgson’s experience can help fill the void left by the recent departure of homesick halfback George Williams.
The Raiders also have zero interest in signing Shaun Johnson as a replacement halfback for Williams, but they are keeping a close eye on Gareth Widdop.
There has been suggestions the Warriors are keen to get Widdop for the rest of this season but he is on a huge deal at Warrington and is not expected to leave any time soon.
Williams’ exit has freed up some valuable salary cap space but the Raiders are in no rush to hit the market if it’s not for the right player.
The Raiders are currently using Sammy Williams as the starting halfback and also have a talented youngster in Brad Schneider who is on the way up.
While they are looking at outside options like Widdop for next season they may still decide to promote internally, and this is where Hodgson’s experience will be vital.
Hodgson had his best game of the season in last week’s 38-16 win over the Broncos and Ricky Stuart will need him to be on his game again when they take on St George Illawarra in Saturday’s crucial showdown at WIN Stadium.
What the Raiders are really focused on at this minute is making sure outside noise doesn’t cause any further distractions as they try and salvage this season.
The last thing they need is for Hodgson’s future to again blow up into an issue because of the Broncos’ desperate plight.
There is no question though the noise coming out of Brisbane is getting louder and louder.
It was again a hot topic of conversation in the wake of Thursday night’s humiliating 46-0 capitulation against South Sydney after a shattered Walters ordered an urgent review of the entire football operation.
In comparison the Raiders rediscovered some form in the win over the Broncos and if they can back it up against the Dragons they could finish the round back in the top eight.
The Dragons started the round eighth on the ladder but on equal competition points (12) as the 10th placed Raiders, with the Sharks and Warriors also starting round 15 on 12 points.
The Raiders have gone cold on Matt Dufty following Dufty’s poor performance in last week’s loss to the Bulldogs, but a final decision on those negotiations isn’t expected until next week.
—Paul Crawley
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