It was only three years ago that Brisbane centre Kotoni Staggs made his debut for the men from Red Hill, however the 23-year-old has progressed immensely and has pushed himself into the Broncos leadership circle.
While Staggs is still in the early stage of his career, the Wellington (New South Wales) native will serve as a leader and mentor for the younger players at the club, telling Broncos.com.au of his new role within the playing group.
“The young fellas coming through too, I’ve been here for about four years now and there’s new players coming in. Sometimes you can be uncomfortable in positions so it’s just (about) getting to trust somebody," Staggs said.
“I’m there (for them) and I’ve let them know not to hesitate to come and ask for help or if you need to talk to somebody, come talk to me. I’m pretty easy going, that’s how I get around the boys, I love joking.
“That’s a thing at the club that I wanted to do, being a leader.”
With Brisbane welcoming an array of talent and experience into the club for the 2022 season, star recruits such as Kurt Capewell and Adam Reynolds will be more than able to assist Staggs with helping youngsters at the club.
“(Those) two blokes were just in the grand final... just bringing the experience to the team, it’s something we’re looking for,” Staggs added.
“We’re a young group so to bring older and experienced players into the group, it will help.”
The past two seasons have been extremely testing and character building for the Tongan international. Staggs attained a torn ACL during the 2020 season and then copped another MCL injury on the same knee during the 2021 season. Moreover Staggs has since fully recovered from his MCL injury and is roaring to get stuck into preseason training.
“The injury has been going well. I’ve still been coming in during the off-season just trying to get my knee right for Round 1, but I’m on track to be injury-free for pre-season so everything’s going good,” he said.
