Former Maroons star and current Brisbane Broncos Football and Performance Director Ben Ikin has provided insight into some of the talent the Broncos have secured for the 2022 NRL season.
While the Canterbury Bulldogs are the club who have added more signatures than any other club, the Broncos have themselves been on something of a signing rampage.
The club are looking to turn around back-to-back bottom four finishes, something of a dismal two-year period for the club.
The club have signed Adam Reynolds and Kurt Capewell as their marquee signings, but also added Corey Jensen, Ryan James, Brenko Lee, Billy Walters and Jordan Pereira.
They have also re-signed 16 players, while 12 players have been confirmed to depart Red Hill with another four still off-contract and not announced either way, with Kevin Walters desperate to clean out his roster.
Ikin told Broncos.com.au that the club wanted senior players who could educated.
“We wanted some senior guys that could educate that big group of young talented players how to be professionals. Adam Reynolds ticks that box, Kurt Capewell ticks that box.”
“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," Ikin said.
Those young forwards include Patrick Carrigan, Payne Haas, Jordan Riki and Thomas Flegler, while Logan Bayliss has also been signed to the club.
The Broncos have lacked experience in the forwards heavily over the past 24 months, and that will only be hurt further by the retirement of former club captain Alex Glenn.
There are hopes James and Capewell will alleviate that, with Capewell coming off a premiership season at the Panthers.
Reynolds will be expected to play a similar role in helping the squad grow in confidence and experience, with halves including Tyson Gamble and Cory Paix on the roster.
Gamble will be expected to have first shot in the halves alongside Reynolds in 2022, and the winning culture Reynolds and Capewell - who fought it out in the grand final - will bring will be critical in aiding turning the ailing Broncos around.
Brenko Lee is also coming directly out of the Melbourne Storm system and could add to the insights.
The Broncos have an exciting future with so much young talent at the club, but 2022 will be time to realise it as their fan base grows impatient ahead of the arrival of the Dolphins in 2023.