No easy ride to top for Broncos young gun Lachlan Maranta

LACHLAN Maranta might be the closest thing to Broncos royalty - but the 20-year-old has not had a red-carpet ride into first grade.

Lachlan Maranta

LACHLAN Maranta was born and raised in the Brisbane club culture but while he might be the closest thing to Broncos royalty he has not had a red-carpet ride into first grade.

The 20-year-old grandson of inaugural club chairman Barry Maranta and son of former 110kg centre Brett Plowman, Maranta is the real Baby Bronco on debut in today's young side to play the Sydney Roosters at Allianz Stadium.

However, had Lachlan followed the wishes of his club-founding grandfather, he would be pushing to become an Australian fast bowler rather than the Broncos' next flying tryscorer.

"He certainly was an exceedingly talented cricketer," Barry Maranta said.

"A lot of young kids have these dual talents, he had to make a choice and then dedicate himself to whatever he chose.

"The pleasing thing is he has not taken short cuts in trying to get somewhere.

"Carl Rackemann and Greg Chappell looked at him and said, 'this kid can go somewhere'.

"But at 16 years of age he had to make up his mind and that is when the lure of the Broncos and other things started to take hold.

"It's our joke, I've been a real pusher for the cricket side of it but he had to make his own mind up.

"What he achieves and wherever he goes doesn't affect the way we feel, we just want to see the talent developed to the best of his ability."

From a club ball boy at the age of five to after-school care in and around Wayne Bennett's office where his single mother Robyn worked as an assistant, Maranta has been surrounded by the Broncos.

He has been so immersed in the club since the day he was born that then coach Bennett and several other senior staffers who have since moved on rang Robyn this week to wish Lachlan well today.

The only time Lachlan wasn't at the Brisbane Broncos was when Robyn was seconded by her father Barry to help establish the London Broncos club in England. 

While Barry is known as the father-figure of Brisbane, he credits Robyn and John Ribot as the two biggest driving forces in building the club in 1987.

So now it stands that the son of one of the most influential servants to the club off the field will finally get to have an impact on the football field.

But Lachlan hasn't been given a chariot ride into the NRL. He has worked his way through the queue of outside backs and finally arrived at the front of the line.

"If he wasn't prepared to do the hard yards and didn't have the talent he wouldn't be where he is now. He has got there on his own merits," Maranta said.

"That is what is good about the Broncos system. (Young players) perculate to the top, they don't jump to the top. If you perculate through the system every step is a learning curve and that is what he has been doing."

It was only last summer that Queensland cricket officials contemplated offering Maranta a return to their game but an ankle injury meant he was unavailable for a Twenty20 League appearance.

Now any chance at a cricket future appears remote with Maranta on the verge of signing a new deal to remain at the Broncos and step into the top 25 squad with the looming departure of Gerard Beale and with Dane Gagai sacked.

After a starring performance for the Queensland under-20s Origin side in April, Maranta had offers to leave Brisbane but the Broncos are in his blood.

"He had a couple of very strong offers from people that knew him when he was a youngster at the Broncos," Maranta said.

"He chose to stay and he has been well rewarded."