The Brisbane Broncos are under siege.
A second Brisbane team is set to enter the NRL in 2023, the Titans are now a genuine rival - on and off the field - and along with the Storm, Warriors and Cowboys have shattered the illusion that the Broncos don’t lose players they want to keep.
First it was star forward David Fifita’s decision to turn down a lucrative deal to join the Titans last season.
Then the Warriors prised boom fullback Reece Walsh from Brisbane’s grasp earlier this season and the Cowboys snared halfback Tom Dearden.
Now the Storm have managed to lure Queensland Origin winger Xavier Coates to Melbourne.
Brisbane s leadership void has been laid bare after scans confirmed Pat Carrigan s season-ending ACL rupture.
His absence, coupled with first-choice skipper Alex Glenn still being sidelined by a calf problem, now has a quintet of unlikely captaincy contenders being lined up by coach Kevin Walters.
Glenn is still 2-3 weeks away, meaning playmakers Jake Turpin and Anthony Milford are in the captaincy mix alongside forwards Payne Haas, Matthew Lodge and Tevita Pangai jnr.
Walters is yet to make a call on who will lead the Broncos in Friday s Magic Round clash with Manly and beyond.
But he is hardly spoilt for proven choices given Milford is fighting for his career at the club while Haas, Lodge and Pangai have courted off-field controversy with alarming consistency.
Why can t he (Folau) play, Iles said. The most telling piece of data of all is that two-thirds of rugby league supporters believe sponsors have too big a role in deciding who gets to play and who doesn t. The ACL is committed to a free and fair opportunity for all Australians to play sport and earn a living without fear of discrimination. Anything less is an abuse of human rights.
Reynolds serious about Red Hill move The Broncos are privately confident of getting their man after coach Kevin Walters and new chief executive Dave Donaghy flew to Sydney last Sunday for talks with the South Sydney halfback.
Broken Broncos Part II: The salary cap and contract bungles holding the club to ransom
Rugby League by Travis Meyn and Peter Badel 30th Apr 2021 5:22 AM
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Kevin Walters dream job quickly turned into a nightmare when he took the reins at Red Hill, inheriting a salary cap disaster and patchwork roster. But these problems have only sparked the club legend into action. NEW BRISBANE CEO Dave Donaghy will lead a wide-ranging review of the club which could see numerous heads roll after chairman Karl Morris admitted there was more pain ahead for the strife-torn Broncos. In the second part of a series investigating the crash of the Broncos, The Courier-Mail can reveal one of Donaghy s first tasks will be to thrust Brisbane s battling football operations under the microscope when he starts on Saturday.