Kahu has joined the Cowboys, which to me suggests two things:
1. Seibold won't have the same mortgage on the Brisbane players to retain his star studded roster as Bennett had (keep in mind Maguire too).
2. Cowboys are unlikely to chase French in the short-term. I think that is a positive. I would like to see French get another oppertunity to play fullback at the Eels and cement it as his to lose.
Replies
Johnny B Good, Interesting thoughts. Good blog.
It will be intriguing what Siebold does at the Broncos. I am liking what I see about Siebold so far. But I may be wrong. Are you hearing rumours there is some player unrest there?
It seems a logical move for Kahu - and mutually beneficial between all three parties.
Kahu will probably play first grade with Barba gone, but at the Broncos had he might have struggled to play constant first grade, barring injuries, in their stacked backline. Boyd, Oates, Roberts, Bird (that Siebold has a high hopes for), young gun and sharp shooter Iasaako, who you would keep over Kahu if you had to.
Also, lets hope French returns to the form we know he is capable of. And mentally and physically he has the desire, and the courage to get back up.
You make some good points about the Broncos first choice backline that I hadn't closely considered. However, I stand by the observation. To me, Kahu is a solid and versatile internatinal back (and kicker) who can cover a number of positions. I don't think he would have been missing from the team 17 on too many occasions in 2019. Under Bennett, players of his calibre didn't seem to get lured to other clubs unless Bennett wanted them gone. They all seemed to (from the outside looking in) stay for less at the Broncs. Now it seems they are willing to cash in, like Maguire has done also.
Thanks Johnny, You may be correct; perhaps Bennett has more pull (e.g. Boyd in the past followed him everywhere). It'll be interesting seeing if the Broncos attack improves under Siebold. Some of their gun juniors are a year older so it wouldn't surprise me.
Kahu wouldn't of made the centres. ThatsT the only reason he got moved on. Seibold will be fine up there.
I would have hoped that the eels at least made some inquiries regarding Kahu. We need a decent Centre and he's also a decent goal kicker - again something we need.
Jordan Kahu would have walked into our team.
Yeah seems like a ideal fit probably didn't come up in discussions as it always just seemed locked in he was going north
Aahhahaah. No thanks. No more Brisbane cast offs please. None have worked out so far. Walker, Webb, Norman, Hoffman. All world beaters apparently.
Here here.
It's more to do with the fact that the Broncos are in a massive salary cap crunch and have been for some time. They've been trying to offload Kahu for about 6 months.
Way to over think things JBG, Bronco's have massive pressure on their cap. Siebold will be a long term coach at the Bronco's they love him up there. He is a breath of fresh air through the organisation.