The Brisbane Broncos have officially responded to allegations made by young prospect Karl Oloapu via Wide World of Sports today, refuting suggestions they had lied to or willingly deceived the youngster - contrary to earlier reports.
It had been suggested the club had made promises to Oloapu - including being in the top 30, meeting Kevin Walters and getting to play five-eighth - that had not been delivered on, with the youngster also insinuating he was taken advantage of after not having management present during his contract talks.
The club has responded:
Prior to signing that contract, we worked from late November 2021 with Karl, his family and his then-manager to reach an agreement on a contract extension.
The facts are that Karl is a quality young man who has been in the Broncos Academy system since he was 13 years old and in January this year he willingly committed to a contract with our club for three years from 2023-25.
The day before the final contract was signed in late January this year, Karl and his family chose to part ways with that manager.
It was not until June this year – shortly after Karl and his family engaged a new player manager – that we received a request for a substantial upgrade to his three-year contract, which had not even begun.
We denied that request but committed to reviewing it during the 2024 season. Subsequently, a player release was requested.
Both the NRL & RLPA have reviewed the situation at the request of the player agent and no wrongdoing by the club was found.
In recent months we have done our utmost to work with his new agent to reach a way forward but multiple attempts to meet with Karl have been rejected.
It is disappointing to learn that Karl feels the way he does, but the door is most certainly open at the Broncos for him to re-join training with our NRL Squad.
Karl would be welcomed with open arms and would be fully supported by all our staff.
