As many as nine Brisbane Broncos are in jeopardy to hold onto their contracts for 2021 as new head coach Kevin Walters begins to work the Broncos back up, according to The Courier Mail.
The Broncos finished the 2020 NRL season as the wooden spooners this year and Walters has already signaled that changes will be made.
“I am meeting with the club’s recruitment and retention people and we are going to get stuck into the roster then,” Walters told the Courier mail.
“I will be looking at changes, but it won’t just be my decision. We have a committee who makes these decisions on the roster and I will have discussions with them.”
Among those that could be at different clubs in 2021 are the likes of Matt Lodge, Jack Bird and Joe Ofahengaue.
Lodge has four years left on his current contract but has been connected with the New Zealand Warriors. But Walters wants to see where his body is at, after an injury-riddled 2020.
Ofagengaue has been linked to St. George Illawarra, whilst the Broncos are willing to hand the injury-riddled Bird over to any club that will pay the bulk of his salary, which is just a bridge under $1 million.
Payne Haas, who was named Brisbane Broncos’ player of the year for the second year in a row, said that he is expecting the environment to be different next year.
“You just want to win and we didn’t do that this year, we failed to do that. I know next year is going to be different,” he said.
“Obviously Kev is going to have high expectations and we have to live up to it but that’s the Broncos club in itself. You just have to live up to it.”
The Broncos are expected to cut the quartet of Jordan Kahu, Sean O’Sullivan, Richie Kennar and Isaac Luke – all of which are out of contract this season, whilst the futures of both Brodie Croft and captain Alex Glenn are also up in the air.