Lockyer: Why Croft didn't work out at Broncos

2 years ago 262

Broncos manager Darren Lockyer says Brodie Croft didn't enactment retired astatine the nine due to the fact that excessively overmuch unit fell connected his shoulders.

Croft arrived astatine Red Hill connected a large woody amid precocious expectations, with past manager Anthony Seibold giving him the keys to the ferrari with the anticipation that helium and Anthony Milford would harvester to instrumentality the Broncos to their adjacent premiership.

Less than 2 seasons aboriginal and he's been banished to the comparative obscurity of the UK Super League aft signing with Salford earlier this week connected a two-year deal starting adjacent season.

At the property of conscionable 24, it marks an unthinkable autumn from grace for a subordinate who was considered a 'Cooper Cronk clone' erstwhile helium archetypal got a sensation of archetypal people arsenic a teen successful 2016.

Croft was overtaken successful the pecking bid to win Cronk successful Melbourne by manufactured halfback Jahrome Hughes successful 2019, yet the alarm bells astir his improvement that were ringing for Craig Bellamy didn't question arsenic acold northbound arsenic Brisbane, wherever Seibold picked him up connected a large wealth three-year deal.

There his shortcomings were brutally exposed by the unit of being arguably the astir important cog successful the team, with Lockyer telling Wide World of Sports' QLDER the measurement up from relation subordinate successful Melbourne to crippled managing wide successful Brisbane had proven excessively much.

Lockyer was asked by QLDER big Adam Jackson: "Do you deliberation 1 of the factors was that he's travel from the Storm - wholly antithetic set-up, wholly antithetic relation to what helium had to bash astatine the Broncos? Like you had each that acquisition astatine the Storm, Cameron Smith and the similar starring the team, helium was fundamentally conscionable a relation subordinate there. You travel to beryllium halfback astatine the Broncos, you're an inexperienced team, you had to beryllium a leader?"

"Yeah, look that's a bully assessment," Lockyer replied.

"Because astatine the extremity of the time the spine astir him astatine the Broncos were precise inexperienced, truthful a batch much unit goes onto him and that's not casual to woody with."

Lockyer added that Croft's exit was hastened by the urgency with which the nine needs to find betterment connected the field, with Broncos manager Kevin Walters identifying the request for an experienced halfback to "teach the remainder of the squad however to triumph footy games".

That unit volition autumn squarely connected the shoulders of Adam Reynolds adjacent season; a subordinate acold amended equipped to woody with it aft much than a decennary of playmaking acquisition astatine NRL level, including a premiership triumph successful 2014.

"At the extremity of the time I deliberation it conscionable came down to that Kevvie identified that helium needs an experienced halfback that has truly bully crippled management, tin footwear good successful wide play, and evidently Adam Reynolds can," Lockyer said.

"So astatine the extremity of the time it conscionable came down to Kevvie wasn't consenting to hold to make the halves who are there, helium wanted to get idiosyncratic similar a Reynolds successful to thatch the remainder of the squad however to triumph footy games."

Lockyer said that Croft would bask his stint astatine Salford "from the position of little anticipation and pressure", portion Sam Thaiday added that helium expects to spot the halfback instrumentality to the NRL a amended subordinate aft processing himself successful the UK.

"We convey Brodie Croft for what he's done for the Brisbane Broncos and he's got a agelong aboriginal up of him successful rugby league," Thaiday said.

"He'll proceed to enactment and I'm definite we'll spot him backmost successful the NRL astatine immoderate constituent successful time."

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