Brisbane should have re-signed David Fifita long before Gold Coast had a chance to poach the superstar, Broncos director Darren Lockyer admits.
The Broncos could not compete with a $3.5 million Titans offer for Queensland State of Origin forward Fifita and will lose him after this season.
The heavyweight club has been criticised for the roster blunder, with Phil Gould saying that Brisbane should never have allowed Fifita's future to come down to a bidding war.
By Gould's reckoning, Fifita should have been re-signed two years ago. Lockyer said that the Broncos had done their best in the current circumstances but admitted they were too late.
"Hindsight, you'd say yeah, we'd secure him two years ago - but we didn't," Lockyer said on Wide World of Sports' QLDER.
"We did all we could to keep him. We had to be responsible with our salary cap spending.
"Obviously it's disappointing to lose him but it's a hell of a deal for him down there at he Titans. After this year, we obviously wish him well.
"But yeah, hindsight, you'd say yes; it was probably prudent to sign him a couple of years ago but we didn't."
Gould told Wide World of Sports: "You would never ever get to a position where this kid would even be thinking about leaving.
"You would be upgrading and extending his contract the whole time ... you would never get a position where he would even be thinking about other clubs or whether other clubs get a chance to get into the fight.
"Leaving it to this stage in the season where he's coming off contract I think is ridiculous."
Lockyer said that Brisbane was intent on sticking with its youth policy. Though Fifita is departing, the Broncos still boast an exceptional crop of young forwards, including Payne Haas, Patrick Carrigan, Joe Ofahengaue, Tevita Pangai Jr and Tom Flegler.
"I don't think it's time to have a bit of a knee-jerk reaction after losing Dave," Lockyer said.
"I think you've just got to wait until some of these players come back into the team, see how the team plays and then probably at the back end of this year, you get more of an idea if we need to go out to market.
"The team, I think there were some positive signs there for the first 40 minutes last week but they've got to build on that, they've got to make it 80 minutes.
"[Jake] Turpin's back this week, David Fifita might be back, so I guess you'll get a better guide about what the team needs going forward.
"There's this sort of terminology around the long game and the long game is the youth we've got and keeping them together for as long as we can."
The Broncos lost 46-8 against Melbourne Storm last weekend, heaping more pressure on coach Anthony Seibold; who has denied that any rift with Fifita contributed to the star's exit. Brisbane are currently 15th in the NRL, with a dismal 3-8 record and host the Sharks on Friday night at Suncorp Stadium.
Broncos great Sam Thaiday said that the club needed to show faith in the current crop of young players despite their torrid entry to the NRL.
"I just hope that we are smart going forward in some of our signings and key signings," Thaiday said on QLDER.
"I would love to see some more youth grow and develop in our system, maybe prop up some of their pay packets a little bit and really entrust and instill that those guys are going to be the future of our club and they're going to take us hopefully to victory very soon."
Thaiday said that Titans head of culture and performance Mal Meninga, the Australian Test coach, would have been a huge asset for Gold Coast in luring Fifita; plus fellow recruits Tino Fa'asuamaleaui (Storm) and Herman Ese'ese (Knights).
Thaiday said that the rugby league Immortal had been an awesome figurehead for players during his historic Queensland State of Origin coaching tenure.
"He showed a real pride and passion and he instilled that in us. I think he can start that down on the Gold Coast now," Thaiday said.
"I think he can start putting pride and passion in that jersey for some of those young guys that are coming through and they can build their own dynasty, their own legacy now."
Lockyer drew a link between Meninga's fateful decision to join Canberra, where he won three premierships, and Fifita's Gold Coast move.
"I think he's used a lot of his journey when he first went to Canberra as a bit of a guide to the Titans," Lockyer said.
"He went down there, he was one of the first Brisbane players to go down that way, obviously a big name in the game. You look at David Fifita's coming across now.
"I think he's using that as a reference point for what he's doing with the Titans right now."
from WWOS https://ift.tt/3hOxSfJ
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment