He was the next big thing. The man that made Craig Bellamy comfortable with releasing Cooper Cronk.

Yet for someone as highly touted as him, he has played a lot of reserve grade in the last two years. So what was wrong with Brodie Croft?

Absolutely nothing.

Croft was released from the Storm over the off-season with fullback-come-halfback Jahrome Hughes the preferred seven, leaving Brodie on the outer and on the first plane to Brisbane.

And he’s already had an immediate impact in Anthony Seibold’s team.

Brisbane haven’t been the same team since Ben Hunt departed at the end of 2017, unsurprisingly Anthony Milford hasn’t been the same since. Milford, and the team itself, has been crying out for organisation for years now. Milford is a spectacular player, but he has never been the controller, never the organiser, he plays what he sees and provides that spark.

That was the problem with Kodi Nikorima. He’s an undoubted talent however his playing style resembled Milford’s too much, the run first, kick second mentality, you can’t have two halves like that.

Canterbury did so with Josh Reynolds and Moses Mbye after Trent Hodkinson departed for Newcastle. And they never looked like challenging since.

Now, Milford finally has the control in the side again that allows him to play his best. Croft strolled from the Storm into the Brisbane leadership group, co-captaining the side with Pat Carrigan in the opening round, a dominant win over ‘little brother’ North Queensland.

The young half picked up two Dally M points in the win, and now has the task of outplaying the little general with the best kicking game in the competition, Adam Reynolds.

But why did Croft never work at Melbourne, but he has and will at Brisbane? It’s simple.

Cameron Smith.

The Storm are one of the few sides that can buck the rule of needing one off-the-cuff half, and a controller. Munster and Hughes are both running focused halves, and while both have organisational talent, neither are out and out organisers.

Munster has certainly improved in that aspect of the game, but he’s never been one to control a game of footy from the kick off until the siren. He comes up with the big plays, the big moments, but he doesn’t have that strangle on the game. That’s where Cameron Smith excels.

Not many hookers can be a side’s main organiser out of dummy-half, and even fewer can control the way Smith does.

Canberra are probably the only other team in the competition that really does it well, with Jack Wighton and George Williams both runners, Hodgson has a lot of control on the side.

But Smith and Croft was one combination Craig Bellamy never seemed to succeed over a long period of time with. Croft has a very similar game to Cronk, but the difference is Cam and Cooper grew up together, into the North Devils and then into the Storm system, they knew each other’s game inside and out.

Croft wanted to be that vocal organiser, a leader, but he could never overrule a call from Cameron Smith. He was second fiddle.

Jake Turpin is an excellent player but he’s not Cameron Smith, and won’t impede on Croft’s style the way Cam could. David Fifita summed it up well, when asked what Croft changed about a side that lost its previous game, a finals game, 58-0.

“The talk. Everything is so much clearer”.

That’s the key. Craig Bellamy has utilised it for years. Simplicity wins you football games.

The things that you practice at training, that’s what gets you into a position to win a game. And instinct is what gets you over that line.

Croft isn’t just there to control the Brisbane outfit, but to simplify it. He tells people where they need to stand, where they run. And when players are in that simplistic mindset and rolling through their sets, that’s when the likes of Milford really comes into play.

And that’s why Croft’s biggest Melbourne downfall will be Brisbane’s greatest asset.

He just looks ready.