Brisbane Broncos 2017 Season in Review
Alex Glenn insists he has unfinished business at the Brisbane Broncos, and won't be satisfied with his career until he gets that business done.
The 29-year-old back-rower told NRL.com about a phone call from Wayne Bennett that changed his life, the rev-up from the coach that took him out of his comfort zone and what motivated him to sign a two-year extension with Brisbane until the end of 2019.
"There is a lot of unfinished business for me here," Glenn said.
"This is my 10th season at the Broncos and I don't have a premiership to show for it.
"I look at all the legends that have played for our club and some of them have four or five.
"I don't want to be one of those players who played over 200 games without winning a premiership. It is a big driver for me to win one before I retire."
Glenn's initial signing at the Broncos came via a referral to Bennett.
In 2007 Glenn was a skinny centre who had moved through the colts to play Queensland Cup with the Burleigh Bears, impressing a former Queensland hooker.
"John Dowling, who played with the Dragons and lives on the Gold Coast, rang me up and said 'this kid is a good player, can the Broncos get him' and I took his word on it," Bennett told NRL.com.
"John only rang me once about a player before, and he turned out to be a fair player, so I value his judgement."
Not long afterwards Glenn's phone rang and guess who was on the other end.
"It's a memory I'll never forget," Glenn grinned.
"I had just turned 19 and everything was going crazily fast for me. John came and spoke to me after a game and said 'I hope you don't mind but I rang Wayne Bennett and told him a bit about your football'.
"As a kid you hear Wayne Bennett's name thrown around and you get nervous, because of that respect factor.
"A couple of days later I was at work painting and an unknown number came up. I answered it and he said 'Alex, it is Wayne Bennett here'.
"Long story short, he said he wanted to come down and meet me and have a discussion."
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Bennett and Andrew Gee met in the office of Glenn's mother and he signed on as a member of the inaugural under-20s side and captained the Broncos to the grand final in 2008.
Fast-forward six years and Glenn was an established Bronco and comfortable, and Bennett let him know it.
"When Wayne came back [at the end of 2014] he gave me a kick up the rear that I needed," Glenn said.
"I was getting in that comfortable stage mentally. I had played six years in first grade and I was just expecting to play every year, and he told me.
"It was great to get feedback from someone who I highly respected and knows my game really well to push me to my limits.
"I am not going to let myself get comfortable again. I want to continue my form from the end of 2017 and take it into the pre-season and trials."
Bennett said Glenn was now back on the right track.
"When I came back to the Broncos he was a mature player but I didn't feel as though he had reached his potential," Bennett said.
"My first year back [in 2015] I thought he played really well and a lot better than he had. I didn't think he was so good in 2016 but he played some really good football from the middle of last season and was in a really good place.
"The areas of improvement are only small. It is how they approach every game and as they get more experience it is not such a big mind battle for them to do what they have to.
"Alex is a good trainer and if he prepares well the rest is pretty easy for him because he has done it over 200 times now."
Glenn and his partner have a boy and a girl both under the age of two and a family network on the Gold Coast where they live.
"There were a lot of rumours around about me going to the Warriors but none of that was true," he said.
"There were a few clubs in Sydney that were keen, but it was also really important for me and my family to stay at Brisbane."
He just has to look around him at training to still be inspired to play for the Broncos.
"It is exciting to be honest," he said.
"I am 29 and that may not seem old but a lot of our boys here are 18 or 19, and they are big boys.
"They don't have a recognisable name on TV, but they haven't succeeded or achieved their dream so they are pushing hard.
"I've got 10 years on them and it makes me work harder to prove age is only a number. I will always continue to compete.
"The job is not done. We fell a game short this year and I want to make sure we go that bit further next year."