New Broncos coach Kevin Walters has the biggest challenge in the NRL and in his first few weeks in the job he'll be faced with some make or break roster calls.
Brisbane's wooden spoon year was characterised by failures across the organisation but there is little doubt that the roster has some massive holes in it that need to be plugged before the 2021 season.
Chief among them is the halves, with rugby league Immortal Andrew Johns calling for the club to move on from Anthony Milford.
Throw in Jack Bird, who has barely got on the field since moving to Brisbane on an eye-watering deal worth close to $1 million-a-season and there's a $2 million re-think with no easy fix, given that both are contracted for next season.
After starting the season like a world-beater Brodie Croft has also been a failure in 2020, with Tom Dearden emerging as the only Broncos half to offer hope for the future.
However, with Croft, Milford and Bird all contracted, the Broncos will be left with a bill even if they manage to move one or more of them on. That will leave them requiring a cut-price short-term solution, with former Bronco Benji Marshall one name floated as an experienced option for a one-year deal.
Marshall is keen to play on after being cut by the Tigers but is a difficult proposition to weigh up, according to Johns, after a season that was almost bi-polar in the sense that he was brilliant in attack but widely criticised and dumped from first grade due to poor defence.
Johns struggled for a clear answer when analysing the Benji option for Wide World of Sports' Freddy and The Eighth, laying out the conundrum Walters will face when he sits down to consider his halves options for 2021.
"I understand the merit behind it, Benji this year in attack has just been dynamic as always but his defence has been poor on occasions, really poor," John said.
"Against Newcastle a couple of weeks ago Kalyn stood him up a couple of times. Look, they could probably use his attacking genius and his mentoring, he's really good with the young players…"
Whether or not Benji is the right solution in the halves, there's little doubt the Broncos need to add experience to a very young roster, with Darius Boyd's retirement removing another 337 first grade games from the starting side.
Johns and NSW coach Brad Fittler argued that the backline was where those additions should be targeted with both shooting down unwanted Bulldogs veteran Aiden Tolman as an option.
"I don't think they have problems in the front row," Fittler said.
"They've got some really good young forwards who are going to be better with an off-season, (Thomas) Flegler and (Patrick) Carrigan, all these players," Johns added.
"They just need to be taught how to hang in and how to defend a ruck. Their defence around the ruck this year was just awful and that's the game, the ruck is the game.
"Every tackle is a competition, you need to win the ruck. Win every tackle, win the ruck then you defend better."
New Broncos coach Kevin Walters has the biggest challenge in the NRL and in his first few weeks in the job he'll be faced with some make or break roster calls.
Brisbane's wooden spoon year was characterised by failures across the organisation but there is little doubt that the roster has some massive holes in it that need to be plugged before the 2021 season.
Chief among them is the halves, with rugby league Immortal Andrew Johns calling for the club to move on from Anthony Milford.
Throw in Jack Bird, who has barely got on the field since moving to Brisbane on an eye-watering deal worth close to $1 million-a-season and there's a $2 million re-think with no easy fix, given that both are contracted for next season.
After starting the season like a world-beater Brodie Croft has also been a failure in 2020, with Tom Dearden emerging as the only Broncos half to offer hope for the future.
However, with Croft, Milford and Bird all contracted, the Broncos will be left with a bill even if they manage to move one or more of them on. That will leave them requiring a cut-price short-term solution, with former Bronco Benji Marshall one name floated as an experienced option for a one-year deal.
Marshall is keen to play on after being cut by the Tigers but is a difficult proposition to weigh up, according to Johns, after a season that was almost bi-polar in the sense that he was brilliant in attack but widely criticised and dumped from first grade due to poor defence.
Johns struggled for a clear answer when analysing the Benji option for Wide World of Sports' Freddy and The Eighth, laying out the conundrum Walters will face when he sits down to consider his halves options for 2021.
"I understand the merit behind it, Benji this year in attack has just been dynamic as always but his defence has been poor on occasions, really poor," John said.
"Against Newcastle a couple of weeks ago Kalyn stood him up a couple of times. Look, they could probably use his attacking genius and his mentoring, he's really good with the young players…"
Whether or not Benji is the right solution in the halves, there's little doubt the Broncos need to add experience to a very young roster, with Darius Boyd's retirement removing another 337 first grade games from the starting side.
Johns and NSW coach Brad Fittler argued that the backline was where those additions should be targeted with both shooting down unwanted Bulldogs veteran Aiden Tolman as an option.
"I don't think they have problems in the front row," Fittler said.
"They've got some really good young forwards who are going to be better with an off-season, (Thomas) Flegler and (Patrick) Carrigan, all these players," Johns added.
"They just need to be taught how to hang in and how to defend a ruck. Their defence around the ruck this year was just awful and that's the game, the ruck is the game.
"Every tackle is a competition, you need to win the ruck. Win every tackle, win the ruck then you defend better."
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