Broncos confirm departures, six players’ futures remain undecided

The Broncos have six players yet to determine their futures.

The Brisbane Broncos have left the futures of six players up in the air, confirming their only end of season departures at this stage are Herbie Farnworth, Thomas Flegler and Keenan Palasia.

Broncos confirm departures, six players' futures remain undecided - NRL News - Zero Tackle

The trio join Ethan Quai-Ward, who departed to the Canterbury Bulldogs in the middle of the season as Brisbane’s losses at the end of 2023.

At this stage, the club have only signed Fletcher Baker and will have roster spots up for grabs heading into 2024, with six players coming off-contract and yet to decide their futures one way or another.

Corey Oates is the most notable of those. While he had a player option for 2024, he rejected that and has been in negotiations with the club ever since.

He has expressed his desire to remain at Red Hill on more than one occasion, publicly stating it’s where he wants to play his rugby league, even though a deal hasn’t been confirmed at this point.

Josh Rogers, who was on a development deal in 2023 and made his NRL debut in Round 27 at five-eighth as Kevin Walters rested most of Brisbane’s best 17, has also reportedly been upgraded to a Top 30 deal, although that report was made in early September with no confirmation as yet by the club.

It has been reported too that Logan Bayloiss-Brow and Brendan Frei have been released by the Broncos, but the duo were missing in Brisbane’s departures announcement on Thursday morning.

The other players on the list are Jordan Pereira and Tyson Smoothy.

Pereira made just a single appearance in 2023 and is yet to have any speculation over his future. All told, he has scored 14 tries across 45 NRL games during his time for the Broncos (since the start of 2022) and St George Illawarra Dragons (2018 through 2021).

Smoothy, on the other hand, may well have his contract renewed, although squad balance is a talking point at Red Hill.

Brisbane already have Billy Walters, Cory Paix and Blake Mozer on their roster. Mozer is rated as a future star dummy half, while Walters has done a solid job for Brisbane in recent times.

It has been reported in recent days however that Paix, who was overtaken for a bench spot during the second half of 2023, may leave the club for 2024, leaving the Broncos able to justify re-signing Smoothy.

Broncos Update: Pacific Championships

In Week 2 of the Pacific Championships, the NRLW Broncos’ Mele Hufanga and Jasmine Fogavini secured a pivotal victory for the Kiwi Ferns against Mate Ma’a Tonga.

Notably, Mele Hufanga exhibited her prowess by sealing the game with a final try in the 58th minute, in response to Tonga’s score just three minutes earlier.

This victory propelled the Kiwi Ferns to the top of the Pacific Cup standings, edging out the Jillaroos by a 6-point difference in the overall points tally. The two teams are set to square off once more this Saturday at Aami Park in Melbourne, where Broncos teammates Ali Brigginshaw and Julia Robinson will go head-to-head against the Kiwi duo in a battle for the top spot in the Pacific Cup.

Following the women’s game at 5 pm, the Australian and New Zealand men’s teams will clash at 7:10 pm.

Patty Carrigan takes on New Zealand at 7:10pm in Melbourne.

Notably, Thomas Flegler will make his national team debut as the starting prop, joined by fellow Broncos Patty Carrigan and Kotoni Staggs in the starting 17 and Selwyn Cobbo and Payne Haas, who has been named as reserves. This high-stakes match, just like the women’s, represents a top-of-the-table showdown between New Zealand and Australia and is a must-see for all rugby league fans.