{"id":886284,"date":"2026-09-10T00:30:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T00:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/886284\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T00:30:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T00:30:15","slug":"nrl-news-2026-roster-issues-facing-brisbane-broncos-payne-haas-leaving-adam-reynolds-retiring-new-recruits-mitch-barnett-jonah-pezet-shawn-blore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/886284\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL news 2026: Roster issues facing Brisbane Broncos; Payne Haas leaving, Adam Reynolds retiring; new recruits Mitch Barnett, Jonah Pezet, Shawn Blore"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Broncos<\/a> are facing a long, gruelling summer of introspection after going from pomp premiers to bottom-four battlers in the space of 12 months \u2013 and roster surgery is calling.<\/p>\n

Brisbane certainly doesn\u2019t have a bad roster heading into 2027 \u2013 the likes of Reece Walsh<\/a>, Kotoni Staggs<\/a>, Ezra Mam<\/a>, Patrick Carrigan<\/a> and Mitch Barnett are on the glamour club\u2019s books \u2013 but there are warts that cannot be ignored.<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/p>\n

Broncos coach Michael Maguire.\u00a0NRL Imagery<\/p>\n

Nine.com.au has tackled five roster issues facing Michael Maguire<\/a>\u2019s team, who managed only eight wins in 2026 and finished in 14th on the ladder.<\/p>\n

Keep in mind the Broncos currently have 27 of a possible 30 roster spots filled next year. They have got until June 30 to add another three charges, or reconstruct the shape of their roster with a swap deal.<\/p>\n

The loss of Haas, and shallow front-row stocks<\/p>\n

Payne Haas\u2019 departure to South Sydney<\/a> has stripped Brisbane\u2019s engine room of the best front-rower in the world.<\/p>\n

The Broncos did well to snare Barnett<\/a> as his replacement \u2013 another NSW State of Origin prop \u2013 but the mammoth run metres, tireless tackling and enormous inspiration Haas brings will be sorely missed.<\/p>\n

Even with Haas in Broncos colours, Brisbane\u2019s front-row stocks were let down by a lack of depth.<\/p>\n

And bear in mind the Broncos have also lost premiership prop Corey Jensen, who was forced to medically retire in July<\/a>, as well as 205cm, 140kg unit Ben Te Kura, who\u2019s fled to America to chase his NFL dream<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A lot of expectation will fall on the shoulders of Barnett and 205cm, 123kg young gun Xavier Willison in 2027, and of course gun lock forward and potential captain-in-waiting Patrick Carrigan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome more depth in the middle part of the field would be ideal, I think,\u201d Broncos great Darius Boyd<\/a> said on a recent episode of Wide World of Sports\u2019 QLDER.<\/p>\n

Back-row punch<\/p>\n

The Broncos have bolstered their second-row stocks with the recruitment of Shawn Blore from Melbourne, and Jordan Riki is a star, but some extra punch is needed.<\/p>\n

The Broncos also have an excellent back-rower in Brendan Piakura \u2013 but a series of concussions have clouded his future.<\/p>\n

Aublix Tawha is promising, as is 18-year-old phenom Tupou Francis, who may well make his NRL<\/a> debut in 2027, although it\u2019s unlikely they will be ready to stamp their presence in the top flight next year.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Brisbane has recruited back-rower Shawn Blore from Melbourne.\u00a0Cameron Spencer\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Roster-clogging rakes<\/p>\n

This is where the Broncos\u2019 roster begins to look out of whack.<\/p>\n

They have a huge number of hookers on their books, but the quality of those rakes leaves a lot to be desired.<\/p>\n

Provided he\u2019s fit, Billy Walters will be the starting hooker in round one. And Kevvie Walters<\/a>\u2032 son is a terrific player.<\/p>\n

But Cory Paix and Blake Mozer offer very little, and although the Broncos have a high opinion of 21-year-old Cameron Bukowski, he is not yet ready to shine on the big stage.<\/p>\n

The Broncos have a fifth hooker if Ben Hunt<\/a> is being counted, but he doesn\u2019t want to play at No.9. The Queensland Origin champion wants to wear the No.7. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are too many hookers in their squad, and that has been the case for several years,\u201d 9News Queensland sports reporter Adam Jackson said on QLDER recently.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey need to reshuffle, recalibrate, whatever they want to do, and move one of those hookers on and replace them with a middle forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is where they have struggled this year, their middle forward depth, especially when Carrigan and Haas aren\u2019t there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Cory Paix.\u00a0NRL Imagery<\/p>\n

The ageing Hunt and Gagai<\/p>\n

The Broncos raised eyebrows when they locked up long-in-the-tooth champions Hunt and Dane Gagai<\/a> in a matter of days in June.<\/p>\n

Hunt turns 37 in the first month of next season; Gagai turns 36 in January.<\/p>\n

They have carved out remarkable careers at the highest levels of rugby league, and they are sure to bring crucial leadership to the Red Hill redemption mission, but the jury is out on how influential they can be on the field well into their 30s.<\/p>\n

At sixes and sevens<\/p>\n

Ezra Mam is one of the NRL\u2019s great game-breakers \u2013 think grand final day, 2023 \u2013 but the big-money Bronco is a liability in defence.<\/p>\n

Mam chalked up 102 missed tackles this season \u2013 the most of all players in the league.<\/p>\n

And although Jonah Pezet has big raps on him, Broncos bosses would be wishing his one season as an Eel went better than it did.<\/p>\n

In a season hampered by injuries, the highly touted playmaker found himself stuck in NSW Cup.<\/p>\n

With question marks hanging over Mam and Pezet, and Hunt hellbent on claiming the No.7 jersey, the Broncos could be in for some chopping and changing in the halves.<\/p>\n

\"Jonah<\/p>\n

Jonah Pezet is joining the Broncos.\u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Broncos have been slammed for letting young halfback Coby Black leave to join the Raiders<\/a> after the 20-year-old brained his NRL debut last week.<\/p>\n

Retired captain Adam Reynolds<\/a> is expected to remain at Red Hill in a halves coaching role.<\/p>\n

Broncos\u2019 2027 gains: Jonah Pezet (Eels), Mitch Barnett (Warriors), Dane Gagai (Knights), Shawn Blore (Storm)<\/p>\n

Broncos\u2019 2027 losses: Adam Reynolds (retirement), Payne Haas (Rabbitohs), Grant Anderson (Warriors), Jesse Arthars (Catalans), Gehamat Shibasaki (Bears)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Broncos are facing a long, gruelling summer of introspection after going from pomp premiers to bottom-four battlers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":886285,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-886284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=886284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/886285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=886284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=886284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=886284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}