Former Brisbane Broncos star forward Corey Parker has demanded more from Kotoni Staggs after Sunday's horrid loss to the North Queensland Cowboys.
The Broncos fell 36 points to 12 on Sunday afternoon at home to the Cowboys in the Queensland derby in a performance which was in complete parallel to the club's opening to the season, where they had caused a shock upset win over the South Sydney Rabbitohs in Round 1, before getting past the Canterbury Bulldogs away from home in Round 2.
Of more worry for the Broncos was the way in which Kotoni Staggs was outplayed by his opposite number, Valentine Holmes.
Heading into the season, plenty of questions had been asked around Holmes and his role in the team, given he was going to fill a role he had never played before.
But Holmes was well and truly up to the task on Sunday, running for 173 metres from 19 runs, while Staggs made three errors in five runs and seemed, at times, disinterested in rolling up his sleeves and looking for work.
Speaking on The Fox League Podcast, Parker said Staggs must look for the ball more, as many of the best centres in the game do.
“Kotoni Staggs is their X-factor, there is no two ways about it, I mean yes he’s coming back from a knee reconstruction which will take time, but it doesn’t alleviate the fact he can get his hands on the ball,” Parker said.
“His very first touch of the game, which took a while to get, he threw Valentine Holmes off like he was a rag doll so that would suggest to me - hey give him more ball.
“But if you’re not getting the ball where you want it, you actually have to physically go look for it.
“The best centres in our game (always) find themselves with ball in hand, it might be coming out of their own end doing it tough in their own half.
“You think of some of Brisbane’s best in Justin Hodges and Brent Tate and these sort of guys, they get into dummyhalf and give their forwards.
“Five runs for the game on such a dynamic player like (Staggs)... Every time he gets the ball, you sort of shift in your chair a little bit and think what’s going to happen here, particularly when he gets early ball, but you’re not always going to get early ball, you’re not always going to get what you like but you just have to find a way.”
Staggs only managed a handful of games in 2021, however, coach Kevin Walters said at the end of the season Staggs being fit for a longer period could have been the difference between a finals appearance and bottom-four finish for the Broncos, with the club winding up at the bottom of the table.
The signings of Adam Reynolds and Kurt Capewell were supposed to alleviate the pressure on Staggs this season, however, the Broncos desperately need him to stand up.
His performance in the first two rounds saw him with similar low running metres total, and while he didn't come under the microscope, Staggs is incredibly important to the Broncos.
“Kotoni has to get into dummyhalf, because there’s going to be enough times you can do that, and help his forwards, help his team,” Parker added.
“Because on the flip side Valentine Holmes touches the ball 19 times. How does that happen? Well if you look at a lot of those runs, they’re coming out of his own end one off the ruck or out of dummy half asking some questions and running nice and hard."
