{"id":58399,"date":"2021-04-15T06:44:05","date_gmt":"2021-04-15T06:44:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=58399"},"modified":"2021-04-15T07:58:26","modified_gmt":"2021-04-15T07:58:26","slug":"broncos-splash-1-2-million-on-teenage-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=58399","title":{"rendered":"Broncos splash $1.2 million on teenage star"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Broncos<\/a> have splashed $1.2 million over three years to keep boom back-rower Brendan Piakura as rival clubs prepared to swoop on the 18-year-old.<\/p>\n

Piakura, who turns 19 next month, is a former Australian Schoolboys and Queensland Under 18s star and is seen as a big part of Brisbane's future forward pack.<\/p>\n

The Broncos announced the three-year-deal this afternoon, with Piakura's signature following on the heels of a deal to upgrade fellow back-rower Jordan Riki, who was also in danger of being lost to the struggling powerhouse.<\/p>\n

Broncos coach Kevin Walters trumpeted the signing just hours before his 1-4 side hosts the Panthers to kick off Round 6<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Brendan<\/p>\n

"He's a very good young player who has been in our pathways system for many years," Walters said.<\/p>\n

"It's great to see him sign a three-year contract to stay at the club, and coming off the back of Jordan Riki's contract news a few weeks back, it shows that the Broncos are heading in the right direction."<\/p>\n

The re-commitment of Piakura and Riki puts them among a talented young group of Broncos forwards who have been secured on multi-year deals.<\/p>\n

The list of young tyros also includes Payne Haas, Pat Carrigan, Tom Flegler and Ethan Bullemor, giving the Broncos the makings of a dominant pack for years to come.<\/p>\n

\"Jordan<\/p>\n

Piakura's signing is a particular coup given Bulldogs coach Trent Barrett made a huge effort to poach him<\/a>, with the Broncos responding with a significant counter-offer in the nick of time.<\/p>\n

Piakura toured Canterbury's facilities twice and was offered a juicy two-year deal that he was on the verge of signing before Walters and Broncos director Darren Lockyer intervened.<\/p>\n

Had he decided to leave it would have been the second significant blow to the club's development stocks, with the Warriors securing the services of promising young fullback Reece Walsh<\/a> from under the Broncos' nose last month.<\/p>\n

Piakura is yet to make his NRL debut but is expected to get his first taste of the top grade this season.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Broncos have splashed $1.2 million over three years to keep boom back-rower Brendan Piakura as rival clubs prepared to swoop on the 18-year-old. Piakura, […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58399"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=58399"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58401,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58399\/revisions\/58401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=58399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=58399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=58399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}