Brendan Piakura consolidated thread

TalDog

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A teenager widely regarded as one of the most-prized signatures in the NRL will fly into Sydney this week, with the Bulldogs poised to roll out the red carpet.
Mass-interest from eight clubs — half of the NRL competition — were originally vying to sign Brisbane Broncos 18-year-old Brendan Piakura.
Big, raw and a left-edge backrower, Piakura is on-contract at the Broncos until the end of 2021, but under NRL rules, he is free to plan for his future with a rival club.
The interest in the Australian Schoolboys talent has been extraordinary.
The Roosters, Eels, Storm, Titans, Raiders, Knights, Bulldogs and Broncos all forwarded their interest in the teen, but one by one the dominoes have fallen.

Canterbury have their nose in front of Piakura‘s current club, the Broncos.
The Gold Coast Titans are a distant third option.
The Bulldogs are planning to provide Piakura with a tour of the Belmore facilities and a face-to-face meeting with coach Trent Barrett and his coaching staff on Wednesday.
Only last year, Barrett took time out from his family holiday on the NSW north coast to meet the teenager in person.
Zoom calls with Roosters coach Trent Robinson and a meeting with Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy followed - but it‘s the Dogs that are offering the huge talent a direct path to the NRL.
The Dogs are expected to table a two-year deal for the 18-year-old worth close to $600,000.
A Tweed Heads local junior, Piakura spent 2020 training inside the Broncos’ first-grade bubble after representing at Australian Schoolboys level.


He was also chosen in the 2019 Queensland under-18’s side alongside current NRL players Tesi Niu, Xavier Coates and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow.
Against the NSW under-18’s, Piakura ran for almost 100m in the back row and made 25 tackles in the 34-12 win.
Piakura is also close friends with Bulldogs 2020 clubman of the year and Australian Schoolboys teammate, Jackson Topine
Piakura was believed to be impressed with Barrett‘s clear intent to build a young and talented side for future success.
The Broncos also see Piakura as their future.

However, working against Brisbane is the long-list of quality backrowers and lock-forwards in front of Piakura, including Tevita Pangai, Jordan Riki, Patrick Carrigan, Alex Glenn, Ben Te’o, Corey Oates and Keenan Palasia.
In a Sunday Telegraph interview about Piakura last July, respected player agent Allan Gainey said Piakura’s future will be determined largely by where he will receive the greatest level of tutelage.
“There’s no denying Brendan could have a very successful career in front of him,’’ Gainey said.
“But what’s important is what he does with that talent and how we can help him receive the best opportunity to enhance his development under the right coaching.’’
 
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bradyk

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I think he's shown he's talented enough to be worth the 300k risk. I think it's a very similar signing to Burton just in a different position and he actually hasn't played NRL yet (it's also similar to Grant a year or two ago). The problem I have with it is where does this leave Topine (who I actually see more as a middle - lock) and Doorey. I do think RFM will move into the middle soon.
 

ChimpNugget

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Anyone ever seen the kid play? Only ever read these articles and what I’ve heard from a few other places. Got a comparison to someone he’s similar to in play style??
 

bradyk

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Anyone ever seen the kid play? Only ever read these articles and what I’ve heard from a few other places. Got a comparison to someone he’s similar to in play style??
Type Brendan Piakura into google and click the first facebook (goes for 10 minutes) link.
 

B-Train

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Having Baz to sell the vision of the club certainly helps attract talent.. As does our recruitment for this season and next. As the article says, he has a lot of established 2nd rowers ahead of him at Brisbane, so hopefully he signs with us.
 

boggie23

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When we have thrown millions of dollars at Foran, tolman, Jackson, Hopoate, Elliot etc the. 600k for this kid is a great deal.

Any more then say 300k I would be skeptical. But if the kid fires we have a bargain. If he doesn’t go as good as the buzz then 2 year 600k deal is something we can live with.

End of the day we had over 300k in dead money in the roster over the last 3 seasons. If that money could get us a kid with promise who could do anything then great move by the club, the board and the coach. Fingers crossed we can pull it off. And even if we can’t it’s nice to be chasing talent (Stephen Critchton, stains, leniu, now pikachu).

If Hasler was still around we’d have extended tolman on 1.9 million and signed up holland as a marquee player :p
 

Bulldogs09

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Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Gotta land the kid yet.

Him and Leinu would of been a drool.

I’ll settle on this kid and b Smith with staggs though lol.
 
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