Logan Bayliss-Brow, Brendan Frei, Jordan Pereira, Josh Rogers and Tyson Smoothy have all been left with uncertain futures with the Brisbane Broncos only confirming three end of season departures at their end of year awards night.
As Payne Haas took out his fifth straight Paul Morgan medal as the club's best player, the Broncos paid brief mention to their departing players, being Herbie Farnworth (Dolphins), Thomas Flegler (Dolphins) and Keenan Palasia (Titans).
All three players had their next contracts signed previously, with Palasia being among the first players to decide on a change of club for 2024 following the November 1 deadline in 2022.
But it means that all of Bayliss-Brow, Frei, Pereira, Rogers and Smoothy are all left uncontracted and with the Broncos seemingly yet to make a decision.
Smoothy may be the most likely to re-sign. He played a significant role off the bench for the Broncos during the first half of 2023 following a switch out of the Melbourne Storm system, where he had spent most of his time playing for the Sunshine Coast Falcons in the QLD Cup.
The big question over Smoothy at the Broncos, however, is whether the club will prioritize young gun Blake Mozer heading into 2024, with the junior Queensland State of Origin representative rated as one of the best young dummy halves in the game.
He already needs to move ahead of Billy Walters and Cory Paix for regular first-grade minutes.
Rogers is the other likely to re-sign. He had a strong season in reserve grade and made his NRL debut during Round 27 as the Storm rested most of their top 17. It was reported at the time that he was set to put pen to paper on a Top 30 deal.
Bayliss-Brow, Frei and Pereira have all been on the fringes of Brisbane's 17 but utilised rarely and could be unlikely to re-sign, although the club will still work through their salary cap and top 30 for 2024 over the coming months.
