Brisbane playmaker Tom Dearden has turned to one of the AFL’s longest kicks in Daniel Rich in an effort to turbo-charge his own boot next NRL season.
Veteran Lions defender Rich was at Broncos training on Tuesday, working with the outside backs on their catching technique while also casting his eye over the club’s kickers.
And he’s taken Dearden on as a special project, Rich admitting that he’s already seeing sharp improvement in the 19-year-old halfback’s long-distance kicking after a series of one-on-one sessions with the teenager.
Rich has made a habit of sneaking forward to kick goals from beyond 50m for the Lions and says the skills are transferable between the codes.
“I’ve done a few sessions with Tommy one-on-one and it’s been good fun,” Rich said of the initiative that was instigated by both clubs’ development coaches.
“He’s a great young man, good fella, willing to learn and take a few things on.
“I don’t want to pump myself up too much but I have (noticed improvement); he wanted to work on those longer ones and a few little tweaks make a big difference.”
The Lions have finished the regular season in second place the past two years while the Broncos notched their first wooden spoon in a horror 2020 campaign that led to Kevin Walters replacing Anthony Seibold as coach.
But Rich, a Perth native who has taken a keen interest in the rival game during 12 seasons in Brisbane, isn’t sticking the boot in.
“It’s nice to come down and spend some time with guys from different codes … I’d like to come back again,” he said.
Returning centre Dale Copley was another fresh face at Broncos training on Tuesday, back after five years away during stints at the Sydney Roosters and Gold Coast.
Copley, 29, has signed a one-year deal and said he had no intention of retiring despite a series of injuries hampering his time at the Titans.
He said the youth of the squad was the lingering first impression and that his experience should prove handy, although the up-for-grabs captaincy was a bridge too far.
“Just give me the three or four jersey and I’ll start with that,” he said.
“It (retirement) could’ve been forced on me; I didn’t have a heap of options but I was eager to play (because there’s been a) fair bit of frustration that’s gone with those injuries.
“I’ll be pointing out what I see; I’ve played a fair bit of footy, been around a few coaches ad heard different ways of explaining things, which is something they (the young players) haven’t had here.”