Bennett back to the Broncos in 2014?

[Grandpa Joe]

It is a concern that the Dragons are an absolute mess now, and pretty much since their inception as a joint venture, they had generally been one of the stronger clubs. God help us if the same thing happens to us once Bennett goes.

However, if Bennett can win a premiership while he's here, then you'd probably take a Dragons-like aftermath. With the age of the players he's signed, that's what we're banking on, I suppose.

Does reek of that doesn't it?

Almost like his banking on it this year as Bedsy's swansong....

Anyone else fuming that he didn't have surgery much earlier?

 

[Jekk]

Does reek of that doesn't it?

Almost like his banking on it this year as Bedsy's swansong....

Anyone else fuming that he didn't have surgery much earlier?

Yeah I don't get it. "Long term problem" "Needed surgery for a long time" I'm just not sure if beginning of season would be the time I'd think NOW is a good time

 

[Billy]

Boyd will leave when Bennett does.
Rochow will be a better front rower than Snowden by then.

Where is McKinnon?

Don't know about halfback. I think our best bet is stealing some other clubs junior.
Souths have a young guy stuck behind Reynolds. Canberra has a great NYC half too.

If Bennett does 4 years here he will be in his late 60s and the only place he will be going is shady acres retirement village, and Boyd is too young for their side.
Forgot about McKinnon.

 

[Junior11]

Time to close this thread I think ho ho ho

 

[jamesgould]

To be fair to Bennett, he has brought in some young guys. Frei, Gagai, BJ, Dylan Smith, Tapine, Pakua, Proudler, De Saxe, Tuha - all new young guys - and we have a good crop of our own juniors coming through like Jackson Hill, Clydesdale, Roose, Pat Mataútia and Rouse to name a few.
I think we will see a transition from the old guys to the young guys if Bennett stays for his full 4 years.

Team at the end of the Bennett era

Boyd
Uate
Gagai
BJ
McManus
Mullen
Tom Rouse
Snowden
Clydesdale
Jackson Hill
Tapine
Roose
Korbin Sims

Frei
Rochow
Tetevano
Chad Redman
Will Smith
Tyler Randall
Pat Mataútia

We would definitely need to sign an experienced forward or two for that pack ...

Will Smith I can see starting once Gidley's gone. With him and Mullen in the halves I suppose we wouldn't be too badly covered there. Beats Soward and Fien, anyway!

Backline still looks great.

 

[slotmachine]

The successful teams these days seem to spend huge money on their stars, then fill out the roster with cheap juniors.

Getting cheap halves (like Manly in 2011, Souths at the moment) also helps.

 

[Billy]

We would definitely need to sign an experienced forward or two for that pack ...

Will Smith I can see starting once Gidley's gone. With him and Mullen in the halves I suppose we wouldn't be too badly covered there. Beats Soward and Fien, anyway!

Backline still looks great.

Well the benefit of players like Smith, Scott, Gidley, Buderus, Mason, Tahu, Costigan, Faálongo, Cuthbertson etc retiring is that it frees up a lot of salary cap space.

 

[Ms.Nobody]

The difference with Bennett at the Dragons was he had the team that was competing and going deep into the finals without him. They would just choke at the final hurdle. They had the team and a much more advanced squad than the Knights did/do.

 

[Tim]

Why is there so much Bennett hate for bring in older guys. It clear he needed to change the teams attitude above all things. The whole losing culture. Having older guys that know what it takes generally makes the younger guys strive harder to be like them.. By the time the older guys move on the hope is that the same attitude and toughness has worn off on the younger guys. Well be well placed to cover their losses by then.

 

[Billy]

Why is there so much Bennett hate for bring in older guys. It clear he needed to change the teams attitude above all things. The whole losing culture. Having older guys that know what it takes generally makes the younger guys strive harder to be like them.. By the time the older guys move on the hope is that the same attitude and toughness has worn off on the younger guys. Well be well placed to cover their losses by then.

It's a good plan if we can get some quality young players in over the next three seasons (counting this one). He has made a good start with Gagai, BJ and Frei in the senior squad, and a bunch of Kiwis and queenslanders in the 20s and reserve grade.

So far he is on track, and I can see him snapping up a few young guys as they come on the market. He made a bid for Klemmer, who is just the type we need, and I can see him bidding for any young prop who looks like he might be rep standard.

 

[Junior11]

Don't worry Tim, for the last year or 2 there's been a few people on here who have always whinged about Bennett "getting rid of our locals" and replace them with senior players. Majority of us know how beneficial it is having experienced players in the squad to not only give us a winning and hardened mentality but also to help bring up and develop our juniors in the best possible way.

I think we definitely need to sign up a beast prop or 2 and maybe a hooker for next year if we can't work out the Gidley/Roberts situation, the rest I think we'll be well off for the next few years at least. We have a stack of amazing rookies and plenty of established young/ish guys already in the team. We'll still have Tinkler after Bennett leaves so we could even get Hasler or Bellamy and sign 5 rep players or Bennett might stay and we'll never fall like the Dragons have for all we know. I'm sure we'll be smart enough to have long term plans, the whole point of Bennett and Tinkler being at the club is to assure us we're a benchmark team for a long, long time.

 

[Billy]

Don't worry Tim, for the last year or 2 there's been a few people on here who have always whinged about Bennett "getting rid of our locals" and replace them with senior players.

That's just silly. Wayne showed very early that he understands the need for local players, which is why he signed Buderus from Taree, Mason from Wangi, Tahu from Cardiff, Rochow from Maitland, Quinn from Valentine - virtually every quality local who has come on the market. The only guy he passed on was Ennis - and i think he had enough of Ennis at the broncos.

 

[jamesgould]

Why is there so much Bennett hate for bring in older guys. It clear he needed to change the teams attitude above all things. The whole losing culture. Having older guys that know what it takes generally makes the younger guys strive harder to be like them.. By the time the older guys move on the hope is that the same attitude and toughness has worn off on the younger guys. Well be well placed to cover their losses by then.

I think hate's a bit of an exaggeration, if you're referring to this thread.

 

[Joshhh]

I think we can call this case closed for now

Hey Matt, I read your statement about how you have not had a discussion with Wayne about him leaving for the Broncos next season, but since these rumours have come out, have you personally asked him since if there's anything to it?

Matt Gidley: Wayne is firmly committed to our Club. Yes I have spoken to him and he wasn’t even aware of the report in the Brisbane paper when I did. The key for us it to not let rumours distract our focus on the games and season. It is a tough competition and we can’t be reacting on every rumour that is reported on.