Broncos coach Anthony Seibold meets with out-of-favour Melbourne halfback Brodie Croft
A top secret meeting between Brodie Croft and Broncos coach Anthony Seibold is the greatest indication yet the Melbourne halfback will wear Brisbane colours next year.
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The Broncos have moved within striking distance of signing Brodie Croft after Brisbane coach Anthony Seibold held talks with the out-of-favour Storm halfback in a Sydney cafe on Thursday.
Seibold has made the acquisition of Croft his No.1 recruitment priority with the Broncos mentor spotted meeting with Croft as he looks to bolster his scrumbase options to make Brisbane a premiership contender next season.
The Courier-Mail understands the Broncos have around $110,000 in the salary cap to spend on Croft, who has played 22 games this season but has been controversially overlooked for the Storm’s finals campaign.
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Croft’s snubbing by coach Craig Bellamy prompted his management to ask permission from Melbourne to explore the open market, a request that was accepted by the Storm.
With limited funds under the salary cap, the Broncos need to offload at least one player to accommodate Croft, with Brisbane giving injury-ravaged utility Jack Bird, who is on $900,000 next season, the opportunity to find another club.
The former Australian Schoolboys playmaker is currently on around $300,000 at the Storm.
Should a rival club pick up Bird, it would give Brisbane the salary-cap funds to sign Croft. Should Bird remain at Red Hill next season, Brisbane would most likely have to rely on a subsidy from the Storm to complete a transfer for Croft to wear Broncos colours in 2020.
Either way, Seibold is determined to get his man and pictures of him chatting with Croft over coffee is compelling evidence the Broncos coach wants the Cooper Cronk-lookalike on his roster next year.
While Seibold is a huge fan of boom halfback Tom Dearden, who made his NRL debut this year, the Broncos coach believes the 18-year-old needs more time to develop into a week-to-week NRL shot-caller.
The Broncos are not the only club eyeing off Croft, who has fielded interest from Sydney-based rivals in recent weeks following his stunning fall from grace at the Storm.
When Cronk left the Storm at the end of 2017, Croft was hailed as the perfect successor to the Queensland Origin champion, but the 22-year-old has struggled to consistently take charge in the No.7 jumper.
Croft would be a good fit for the Broncos. He was a Broncos scholarship holder as a 13-year-old and hails from Dalby, the same Queensland bush town that unearthed current Brisbane hooker Andrew McCullough.
Croft’s potential arrival at Red Hill could see him form a halves pairing with Anthony Milford next season, giving Brisbane more playmaking options after hooker Jake Turpin finished the 2019 campaign at halfback.
Originally published as Broncos coach Anthony Seibold meets with out-of-favour Melbourne halfback Brodie Croft