Brisbane Broncos Football and Performance Director Ben Ikin has rejected criticism about the club’s recruitment strategy, revealing how their veteran signings will help the club rebuild and return the club back to its glory days.
Fresh off the news that prop Patrick Carrigan has reportedly knocked back a two-year deal with Brisbane, with the Dolphins emerging as an interested suitor for the Queensland forward, Ikin spoke confidently of the club’s plans and explained the thinking behind bringing veterans Ryan James, Adam Reynolds and Kurt Capewell to the club.
“We wanted some senior guys that could educate that big group of young talented players how to be professionals,” Ikin told SEN.
“Ryan James was just a really quality purchase in the sense that yes, he’s at the back end of his career, but he’s still playing good football, and with all these great, young forwards we’ve got coming through, we thought he’d be a great extension for the coaching staff to have on the shop floor.
“Not so much to show our players how to play the kind of footy that they need to realise their full potential, more how to prepare.
“There’s that old saying that ‘performance loves preparation’, and Ryan James was brought in to show the guys that being elite starts on the gym floor, starts on the training paddock, and we thought he’d be a great example of that for our young blokes.”
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While several youngsters have gone on to leave the club in recent amid the Broncos struggles on the field, Ikin assured Broncos fans the club has a solid base of younger players coming through.
“We are pretty happy with what we have got, we are a development club,” Ikin said.
“We want to give every opportunity for young guys that we have got coming out of the Academy to find their way into a system and being given the right coaching to develop into NRL stars.
“Our Academy is best in code. We just want to get better at educating those guys once they drop into the NRL system, valuing them appropriately and being able to keep them.
“Even in the last couple of years our Academy has developed Tom Dearden who is up at the Cowboys, Sam Walker at the Roosters and Reece Walsh at the Warriors.
“We also developed David Fifita and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui from the Titans so these guys have all come out of our system and if we get it right at the top end, they should be staying.
“For us that is what we are trying to balance.
“In the past there has probably been a bit of ad hoc decision making around the roster from coach to coach and GM to GM. No one’s fault, all decisions seem good in isolation, but we ended up with a list that was somewhat out of balance.
“So for us it was about righting the ship.”
Ikin revealed the Broncos still have room and money to spend on their roster if the right player becomes available for 2022.
“We go into next year with two spots left to fill and some cash to spend, which was very different this time last year,” Ikin said.
“Beyond that we would like to give those that we develop the chance to fill the top 30.
“But if we need to go to market then we will have names on a board like every other club and make the decision when it is the appropriate time.”
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