NRL 2023: Corey Jensen inks two-year extension with Brisbane Broncos
Brisbane have continued their signing spree by locking away a key part of their forward pack for a further two years, as they prepare to make an assault on the 2023 season.
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Brisbane have continued their $5 million retention drive with NRL grand-final prop Corey Jensen the latest Bronco to ink a new deal.
The quiet achiever of Brisbane’s forward pack, Jensen has agreed terms on a two-year extension in a further boost for the Broncos ahead of Friday week’s premiership opener against the Panthers in Sydney.
Jensen, who played in the Cowboys’ 2017 grand-final loss to Melbourne, was off-contract at season’s end, but he has committed until the end of 2025 in his quest to drive a premiership revival at Red Hill.
A number of Broncos have shown faith in the club’s title vision, with the likes of Corey Oates, Selwyn Cobbo, Deine Mariner, Pat Carrigan, Ezra Mam, Kobe Hetherington and Cory Paix signing new deals over the past 18 months.
Now Jensen has followed suit, his new Broncos deal sweet reward for a 2022 season that saw the 29-year-old produce the best football of his career.
He played 18 games, averaged 113 running metres and posted a 95 per cent tackle efficiency in a fine first season at the Broncos after leaving the Cowboys with his career in limbo.
“It’s great to sign a new deal, I really wanted to stay here so it was good to get something done,” Jensen told News Corp.
“I was off-contract at the Cowboys and I felt I needed a fresh start to rejuvenate my career.
“I came to the Broncos to test myself and freshen myself up.
“Leaving North Queensland took me out of my comfort zone, so it was an eye opener for me and I always felt I had more to give in the NRL.
“It was a new beginning, I wanted to earn the respect of the boys down here.
“I believe I had my best season in the NRL last year and it basically came down to the change of clubs and my attitude to get better.”
Such was his form, Jensen dislodged Queensland Origin prop Tom Flegler from the top 13, starting in 10 consecutive games, impressing with his workrate and reliability.
Walters said Jensen, a veteran of 76 NRL games, would play a key role in his middle rotation as the Broncos chase a finals berth this season.
“We are delighted that he is staying with us for another two years,” Walters said.
“Corey is the kind of player we want at the heart of what we are building here at the Broncos and he will play an important role for us in the seasons ahead.
“Corey is one of those players who sets the standards when it comes to training and preparation - he leaves no stone unturned when it comes to getting ready to play and that was reflected in the way he performed in his first season with us.”
Jensen said he is keen to emulate Broncos front-row legend Shane Webcke and become a regular starter in the engine room.
“I always looked up to Shane Webcke and Steve Price as a kid, they were two blokes who were no-nonsense front-rowers and did their business,” he said.
“Everyone who plays in the NRL wants to be in the starting side.
“We have some very good middles here in Payne Haas and Tom Flegler and we have a great rotation regardless of who starts and who comes off the bench.
“I am happy to do whatever is needed for the team, but my goal is to make the starting side.”
TSZYU’S BOLD QUEENSLAND PLAN AS STAR MIXES IT UP WITH BRONCOS
Tim Tszyu has slammed bitter foe Michael Zerafa as “delusional” as Australia’s boxing star outlined his plan to host a world-title defence in Queensland.
Tszyu stopped into Broncos training on Wednesday to put some premiership-winning punch into Brisbane ahead of their premiership opener against Penrith on Friday week.
The son of Australian boxing great Kostya had a meet-and-greet with Broncos players and, as a Rabbitohs fan, relished a chat with Brisbane skipper Adam Reynolds, the champion halfback who steered Souths to the 2014 premiership.
Tszyu and the Broncos will confront blockbuster assignments just nine days apart in March.
Brisbane face a torrid away clash in round one against two-time premiers the Panthers, before Tszyu takes on American Tony Harrison for the WBO interim super welterweight world title at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena on Sunday, March 12.
The Sydney-born slugger arrived as the golden boy of Australian boxing when he beat Jeff Horn in Townsville in August 2020 and Tszyu revealed he is keen to host a world-title blockbuster on Queensland soil.
A big thanks to Tim Tszyu and his team for stopping by Red Hill 🥊 pic.twitter.com/xD9gG9uib1
— Brisbane Broncos (@brisbanebroncos) February 22, 2023
“It’s good to be at the Broncos to visit the players and it’s a nice facility as well,” Tszyu said as he surveyed Brisbane’s gym at their $27 million training headquarters.
“I’m a Souths fan and ‘Reyno’ is a beast, he has proven himself time and time again in the NRL and talking to him, he is enjoying being at Brisbane and being here at this club. He is a great inspiration.
“Part of my goal was to always come back to this city (Brisbane) to one day fight for a world title.
“I am hoping to one day bring a world title back here and to be fighting here in Queensland.
“I haven’t fought here too often, I fought in Townsville against one of your locals (Horn).
“I was able to prove to the Australian audience (by beating Horn) that I am my own man.
“Now it’s time to go to that next level and that’s to let the whole world know I am Tim Tszyu.”
While Tszyu’s immediate opponent is Harrison, the 28-year-old has not ruled out finally settling scores in a potential domestic world-title showdown with arch rival Zerafa.
Their all-Australian super fight sensationally collapsed 18 months ago when Zerafa pulled out on the eve of the bout amid claims he was scared of Tszyu _ and the ‘Soul Taker’ has no doubt he would pulverise the ‘Pretty Boy’.
There is one condition: that Zerafa, who fights for a world title later this year, brings some gold to the table.
“He’s a loudmouth, that’s all he is,” Tszyu said of Zerafa.
“With Zerafa, if he has something presentable like a world title, then so be it, that would be the easiest fight to win a world title if he’s got one.
“Besides that, let him go and fight in shows of 200 people, I’m alright with that.
“Stuff Zerafa, don’t worry about him. I have no interest. He lives in a deluded world, he is very delusional.
“Whatever, let him live in his own world.”
Tszyu is taking a huge risk by fighting Harrison ahead of his mandatory world-title showdown with Jermell Charlo, but the unbeaten super welterweight is up for the challenge.
“I would be stupid to sit at home on my arse and do nothing,” he said.
“If you see what I do on a regular basis in training and what I do to people, that question (taking a risk) wouldn’t be asked.
“The way I feel is line them all up, line up all the fighters in that top position, the top five, line them up all one by one and each one of them is going down. This is my year to prove it. Australia knows, the whole world will know soon.
“I know I will be the unified champion (by beating Charlo), I know that.
“I do a lot of damage. I am not speaking out of arrogance, this is just what I do. I have been hurting people and I just enjoy what I do. It sounds cruel, but I enjoy punching people in the face and giving out that hurt business. T
“There is something pleasurable about it.
“I feel most at peace when I’m in that ring, when I’m in that zone hammering my opponents.
“When they have blood coming out, I am most at peace. It gives me a purpose and a belief that this is what I want to do, and that this is what I am supposed to do.”
NRL YOUNG GUN BREAKS SILENCE ON PANTHERS SNUBBING
– Travis Meyn
Dolphins whiz kid Isaiya Katoa has assured coach Wayne Bennett he is ready for an NRL baptism of fire as maligned five-eighth Anthony Milford fights for his first grade future.
Katoa, 19, has thrown his hat in the ring for a round 1 NRL debut with the Redcliffe expansion club on the back of an impressive pre-season trials campaign.
The former Penrith prodigy is one of the NRL’s hottest young talents, having dominated schoolboys footy before making his Test debut for Tonga in last year’s World Cup.
That was despite being shunned by the Panthers following his Dolphins defection.
Milford has been pencilled in by Bennett to wear the Dolphins’ No. 6 jersey in Sunday week’s historic clash with the Roosters at Suncorp Stadium.
But the 206-game veteran produced a less-than-inspiring fortnight of trials, opening the door for Katoa to press his claims to partner halfback Sean O’Sullivan.
In his first interview as a Dolphin, “Izzy” Katoa said he was ready for the NRL if Bennett needed him.
“I’d like to think I’m ready,” he said.
“But I know when it comes down to it, it’s all about hard work and putting in the effort at training. I’ll put my head down, work hard and earn my spot in first grade.
“Nothing is given. You have to work hard for it and that’s my next goal. I want to get better and learn as much as I can under the experienced boys we’ve got here.
“The goal is to play a (NRL) game, but in the short term it’s to keep working hard and earn the spot up there.
“That comes through playing with the Cup team and working hard at training, getting better and learning from the older boys.”
Bennett is expected to show faith in Milford and protect the untested Katoa by developing him in the Hostplus Cup – Queensland’s reserve grade competition – with the Redcliffe Dolphins.
But it seems it’s only a matter of time before Katoa is elevated to the top grade after he outplayed Milford in the pre-season, featuring in all three of the Dolphins’ trials.
He started at halfback against the CQ Capras and Cowboys before replacing Milford at halftime in last Sunday’s loss to the Titans.
Milford did not return to the field and Katoa showcased his class with a deft pass for backrower Connelly Lemuelu to score in what was a poor final trial for the Dolphins as they were hammered 40-16.
Katoa said he was enjoying his time at the Dolphins after being benched by the Panthers last year following his decision to leave the club as he faced being stuck behind NSW Origin halves Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai.
Katoa was man-of-the-match in Penrith’s SG Ball grand final victory, but was then put on ice as the Panthers opted to develop their long-term prospects instead of the Dolphins-bound playmaker.
“It was hard (to leave Penrith), having grown up there and playing all my junior footy there,” Katoa said.
“I knew with the opportunity here at Redcliffe, I was holding myself back if I was going to stay at Penrith (behind Cleary and Luai).
“If I wanted further development, there’s no other coach you want to be coached by (than Bennett). That was a massive decision for me.
“In terms of not being able to play for Penrith after the SG Ball season, it didn’t hurt my development. That wasn’t really something that slowed down my development, I was still getting in some footy at my high school.
“It would have been awesome to play a couple more rugby league games, but I still got a lot of footy with my rugby union school (Barker College) which was awesome.”
Katoa was impressive in three World Cup matches for Tonga, where he was coached by Bennett’s assistant at the Dolphins, Kristian Woolf.
Milford’s Samoa outpointed Tonga in the quarter finals, with Katoa returning to Australia to join the Dolphins and begin his journey to the NRL.
Now the well-spoken and polite teenager is on the cusp of realising his NRL dream.
“It’s been a massive move but it’s an awesome club. I can tell it’s a very family-orientated club and there’s a great culture around the boys,” he said.
“It’s awesome to have the Storm boys (Jesse and Kenny Bromwich and Felise Kaufusi) that came here in our leadership group. They set the standards and lead by example as well. As a young kid, I admire what they do as older boys.
“I’m loving it. It’s (playing all three trials) helped getting a lot of footy in me, especially as a young kid.
“(Bennett) just wants me to put in the effort, come in and work hard and bide my time and not think too far ahead.
“I have to learn off all the older boys … be a sponge.”
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Originally published as NRL 2023: Corey Jensen inks two-year extension with Brisbane Broncos
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