Why the Broncos must do everything in their power to keep Tom Dearden at Red Hill

The shot-to-bits Broncos are facing a tug-of-war over boom halfback Tom Dearden heading into the new NRL season; here’s why the Brisbane club must do everything in their power to keep the 19-year-old startlet.

Things have been grim rugby league-wise for the Brisbane faithful in recent times. Cricket scores reign — and not for the right team — at Suncorp Stadium. Star players are dashing for the door to avoid being caught on the sinking ship. The Broncos are in trouble.

There’s been bright spots, sure, like David Fifita (bound for the Gold Coast) and Kotoni Staggs, but overall it’s been tough running for the maroon and white-stripped northern team.

In the middle of that chaos, however, has entered Tom Dearden.

The young Toowoomba star has been a breath of fresh air in a Broncos outfit bereft of magic.

Dearden got out on the park 12 times across 2020 — twelve losses, unfortunately, and a ten-game run to end the season — and showed a sparkle of hope for a team bound for their worst-ever NRL season.

He’s been dubbed “the future” for the Broncos, and rightly so.

Only, there’s a bit of a snag: the Brisbane teenager is off-contract to begin 2021.

Behind the scenes, he’s tossing up his future at Red Hill, and has yet to take a serious sniff at the offer tabled by the Broncos. It’s a huge concern for the once-great NRL heavyweights.

Publicly, the Broncos have refused to throw around the “R” word — rebuild — in their plans. Quietly, however, everyone has come to terms with the fact Brisbane is in dire straights. The wayward club needs a playing-roster overhaul, mostly.

That ‘refresh’ starts with the Broncos’ exciting young starlets.

So, that means Staggs, Xavier Coates, Tevita Pangai Jnr, Jake Turpin. Jamayne Isaako and Patrick Carrigan very well could be thrown into the mix too, to inject their top-flight experience.

And most importantly, it means keeping Dearden at the heart of the team.

This kid from Toowoomba is no flash in the pan. When he has his hands on the footy, he puts all eyes on him; the opposition, his teammates, and every fan in the stands. I mean, really, there’s a reason clubs are licking their lips at his free-agency. Tom Dearden can be “the future” at any NRL team.

“He is an exceptional young talent,” Wally Lewis even told the Sunday Mail.

“He has got the sort of backbone that you can model an entire club around. It would be a couple of years in the making, but he is a wonderful young talent.

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“I don’t know what they’ve [the Broncos] got in mind with their long-term plans, but I’d be stunned if Tom Dearden’s name wasn’t well and truly up the list as one of the players they want.

“He is a player I would have loved to have had in my side. He certainly has got some guts.”

That leaves the Broncos in one place — quite similar to the Dragons and their Cameron McInnes conundrum, actually. Each club is struggling for results on the park, but has brilliant individual players. Build around them, and let them pay you back in spades.

And, Brisbane has a leg up on the messy situation at Kogarah too; Dearden is a spry 19 years old, and has plenty of time to grow into a decade-long role at whatever club he lands at.

If the Broncos let Dearden slip out the door, it’s a signal of intent to the rest of their young stars. You can bet Coates, Turpin, and Pangai Jnr are watching Tom’s story unfold very closely. Brisbane already let David Fifita go to the Gold Coast for big money — can’t do much when the Titans cough up $3.5 million for the switch — but it’s put them in a precarious position.

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Let one more exciting youngster, a starlet you could build around, walk out the door, and there’s sure to be a very real, very big “rebuild” just around the corner; losing the heart of ‘generation next’ tells players everything they need to know.

And besides, Dearden is bringing excitement to Suncorp like no other right now.

After the year the Broncos faithful suffered, letting them watch the Toowoomba playmaker unleashed would help that sting just a little less. Not a lot, but just a bit, The Sporting Base is sure.

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