Once at sixes and sevens about his NRL future, Josh Hoffman said Brisbane’s Auckland Nines success was the catalyst to ending a three-month Broncos contract wrangle.
Hoffman had been linked to Canterbury after appearing to fall out with the Broncos following their recruitment of Dally M Medallist Ben Barba, a direct threat to his No.1 Brisbane jersey.
However, the Kiwi international has confirmed he will honour the final two years of his Broncos contract after helping inspire Brisbane’s surge to the Auckland Nines final.
Concerns over Barba’s foot injury, suffered at the Nines, have ensured Hoffman will get another crack at Broncos fullback in their final pre-season trial against the Warriors at Dunedin on Sunday.
But Hoffman said he didn’t mind where he played after he and manager Paul Hogan held 90-minute peace talks with Broncos boss Paul White and coach Anthony Griffin late on Thursday.
Hoffman said Brisbane’s Nines performance had him excited about the 2014 season.
“I am really looking forward to this year,” he told the Broncos website.
“On the weekend, you could see that we have a bit of spark and we showed in the Nines we could play really well.
“I’m excited about what we can do in the next few years.”
It was a remarkable about-face from the Hoffman camp after Hogan had revealed this week that his client had asked five times for an immediate release since learning of Barba’s recruitment, the latest on January 24.
Hogan said “everything was laid on the table” during talks with Brisbane on Thursday which mapped out a “clear path forward”.
“We have cleared the air and now look forward to Josh having a good season,” Hogan said.
“We have spoken things through and are determined to move on.”
Broncos centre Jack Reed said Hoffman had provided enough evidence that he was happy at Brisbane with his stirring Nines display.
“He seems to be loving it; you saw how he was playing his football,” he said of Hoffman’s impressive Nines campaign where he played on the wing.
“He was absolutely killing it over there.”
White believed the Hoffman saga was over.
“Josh is happy and now we can move on to the season,” he said.
“The player’s welfare and happiness is always the most important thing at any time.”
Brisbane play their NRL season opener against the Bulldogs away on March 7.