On Ben Ikin's first official day as the Broncos' new head of football, Kevin Walters made a sudden u-turn on two disgruntled stars and brought a club favourite in from the cold.
Last week Walters was on the back foot after a damning report in the Courier-Mail suggested he'd lost control of the dressing room.
Walters returned serve in an interview with Triple M, saying he didn't believe he had a revolt on his hands, but he acknowledged there were unhappy players in the squad, pointing to Matt Lodge and Tevita Pangai Junior, who had been tapped on the shoulder and told they could look elsewhere.
"We may have some players here that are a little bit unhappy with the situation they find themselves in. Matt Lodge and Tevita Pangai are both unfortunately because of our salary cap and where our roster is at, we've said they can both look at options at other clubs," Walters said.
Lodge put his name to some of the comments claiming Walters was a confusing communicator in the damning Courier-Mail report. Walters hinted that Pangai was likely to be behind some of the other claims that came from an anonymous source, although he added that he wasn't accusing anyone in particular of being behind the leaks out of the dressing room.
Still, he was steadfast in his view that Pangai Jnr and Lodge were free to go as soon as they could find a new home, convinced that the first problem that needed to be solved was the club's bent-out-of-shape salary cap.
So it came as some surprise when Walters told the media today that those players would no longer be leaving the club this season, in a move to stop the "uncertainty" affecting the players.
"No one is going anywhere," Walters said.
That strong statement was given following a training session that brought ex-Origin star Corey Oates in from the cold after it appeared he'd been exiled for good by the Broncos.
Oates trained on the wing and looks certain to be recalled when the team to face the Sharks is named later today.
MORE TO COME
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.