Late night gaming, sleep-ins, weight problems: Inside story of why Selwyn Cobbo fell out of favour with the Broncos

Broncos fan favourite Selwyn Cobbo is a complex case of a young star with all the raw talent in the world, but without the professionalism to match. PETER BADEL reveals how the Red Hill riddle became the Dolphins’ dilemma.

On Monday, a relative of Selwyn Cobbo walked into Brisbane’s opulent $27 million headquarters at Red Hill for a heart-to-heart with Broncos bosses.

He told the club he was worried about Cobbo’s welfare and appealed for help to get the enigmatic Broncos cult hero happy again.

It was a sentiment of concern first triggered three weeks ago, when Broncos coach Michael Maguire privately made the call to drop Cobbo in favour of Josiah Karapani for the Titans clash.

Maguire tried to keep Cobbo’s axing secret to protect him. It only took 24 hours for the selection cat to slip the bag.

Now the elephant in the room is why the Broncos seemingly failed Selwyn Cobbo and whether someone, anyone, can extract the best of one of the most exciting talents of the past two decades.

Four days after Cobbo’s relative sat down with Brisbane hierarchy, the Cherbourg sensation has quit Brisbane, inking a one-year deal with cross-town foes the Dolphins.

Evidently, Red Hill’s problem is now Redcliffe’s riddle.

Superficially, it would be easy to accuse Brisbane of mismanaging their salary-cap in their botched bid to retain the Origin star but the real narrative has been the Broncos’ endless battle to save Cobbo from himself.

The frustration for the Broncos is that Cobbo’s remarkably rare and raw natural ability is not commensurate with the level of professionalism required for sustained success in the NRL.

His talent is unquestioned. What’s ringing alarm bells is whether Selwyn really wants it badly enough.

Selwyn Cobbo’s talent in unquestioned, but is his professionalism at an NRL level? Picture: NRL Photos

After four years of bending and twisting like a Russian contortionist to give Cobbo one crucial ingredient critical to performance - happiness - Brisbane have been left scratching their heads playing with the NRL’s version of Rubik’s cube.

With his cheeky smile and funny one-liners, it’s impossible not to like Cobbo. It’s why Broncos fans adore him. He floats through life free of the stresses that chew up mere mortals and that carefree attitude explains why he eats up the pressure of playing in a State of Origin game at age 20 as if strolling along Queen St Mall.

But loveable Selwyn is also complex Cobbo.

In 2022, 24 hours before Brisbane’s biggest game of the season, a last-round clash against the Dragons to determine if they made the finals, Cobbo slept in and turned up late to the captain’s run.

Selwyn Cobbo slept in and turned up late to the captain’s run for a fixture against the Dragons in 2022. Picture: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

Some insiders were filthy. Coach Kevin Walters was under pressure to drop him. Walters, who always had a soft spot for Selwyn because he saw parallels with his former Broncos teammate, the legendary Steve ‘The Pearl’ Renouf, gave him a reprieve. The Broncos lost 22-12 and missed the finals.

Earlier that season, in his maiden Origin game, the Maroons team bus was ready to go to training. One Maroon was missing. Coach Billy Slater began a search. Cobbo was found asleep in his room by a Maroons staffer, who pulled the debutant out of bed and hurriedly packed his training bag to get him on the bus.

Selwyn Cobbo also had a case of sleeping in during his maiden Origin game in 2022. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Last year, Broncos teammates were concerned with Cobbo’s preparation for games. He had a penchant for playing computer games, particularly Fortnite, into the wee hours. He would text Broncos players at all hours, including one text at 3am, just hours before Brisbane were due to travel for an away game.

Cobbo is hardly the first NRL star to burn the candle at both ends. Renouf was never the greatest trainer but foundation Broncos coach Wayne Bennett would cut him some slack because he knew The Pearl would deliver when it mattered most.

For most of his career, Cobbo has delivered, but he has hit choppy waters under Maguire, who is driving tougher standards at the Broncos that will make some and break others.

Maguire has tried to connect with Cobbo. In March, Maguire, seeking no fanfare, quietly hopped in his car and drove to Cherbourg to meet Cobbo’s family and glean an understanding of the Indigenous community that has shaped the Broncos matchwinner.

The pair went horse riding. They broke into laughter when Maguire almost took the type of disastrous tumble that saw Robbie Kearns famously miss an Origin game in 1999 after falling off a horse at a NSW bonding camp and breaking his leg.

Selwyn cobbo and Michael Maguire.

But their simpatico has been tested in recent months. Cobbo was happy to start at centre this season, accepting he won’t play fullback whilever Reece Walsh is fit at the Broncos, but Maguire sees him as a winger.

Weight is another factor. Cobbo tips the scales at around 105-106kg but Brisbane’s high-performance team ideally want him to emulate Latrell Mitchell and drop a few kilos to handle the many kilometres he runs in an NRL game.

Maguire says there is no bad blood at all. The pair chat happily at training, but Brisbane’s salary-cap was another headache. Cobbo is one of Brisbane’s highest-paid players this season on $650,000.

Selwyn Cobbo’s Broncos journey has come to an end. Picture: NRL Photos

The Broncos painted themselves into a salary-cap corner. It was almost impossible to justify an upgrade north of $700,000 for a player viewed by Maguire as a winger. It was the type of salary usually associated with a member of an NRL senior leadership group, which is why Brisbane ultimately opted for Kotoni Staggs over Cobbo.

There is a view the Dolphins are buying damaged goods but Redcliffe coach Kristian Woolf will back himself to hit it off with Cobbo.

Woolf is framed as a ruthless taskmaster but amid the discipline he has an understated care and compassion that saw the Queensland bush lad from Mt Isa buy into the Polynesian cultural values that famously swept minnows Tonga to the semi-finals of the 2017 World Cup.

Cobbo is at the crossroads but at 23, time is on his side to be a champion of the code. He’s far from finished.

If Woolf patiently planes away the rough edges, the Dolphins will turn a rough diamond into a title-winning gem.

The risk is worth the reward.

Originally published as Late night gaming, sleep-ins, weight problems: Inside story of why Selwyn Cobbo fell out of favour with the Broncos