Boyd has his say on Broncos recruitment strategy

Darius Boyd has pinpointed the kind of players the Broncos should recruit in future to help the young rising stars at the club fulfil their potential and "do something special in the years to come".

Boyd, the most experienced player in the Broncos team, will retire in a month and said there was a bright future ahead for the team despite the poor season to date.

He added that it was vital to get the right kind of experience around what he called a "special group" which includes rising stars Tom Dearden, Kotoni Staggs, Xavier Coates, Herbie Farnworth and Pat Carrigan.

"It is about getting the right people and system around them and some more experienced guys around them to get them on the right track," Boyd said ahead of Friday night’s clash with the Roosters at the SCG.

"We need some more experience and age around the playing group. I am talking about guys that are 28 years of age that are not on a lot of money but who have been there and done that and played 100 to 150 first grade games or so … just guys that have done the job before plenty of times.

"They would be good in the locker room as well and that is something over the last couple of years we have lost. We’ve probably lost 10 guys in and out of that leadership group who know how a team is run, what to do in the locker rooms and how you prepare each and every week.

"We have had mass change in a short period of time. Matt Gillett and Sam Thaiday retired in back-to-back years. We lost Andrew McCullough and in the years before Benji Marshall, Ben Hunt and Josh McGuire. We went from having a heap [of seniors] to not having many at all."

The Broncos are in 15th position and on track for their worst season in 32 years but Boyd said the club would remain a drawcard for players from other clubs.

"Brisbane is a one-team town. It is a great city and the Broncos have a great record. Allan Langer and Darren Lockyer are still in and around the building so it is not hard to see or remember what this club means," he said.

"One year of performances that aren’t up to scratch and not what the Broncos are used to doesn’t detract from 30 years of excellence."

Boyd’s autobiography ‘Battling the Blues’ has just been released and he said it was "not just a rugby league book".

"It is on my journey and my story and a lot to do with mental health and some of the challenges I have faced. I am hoping it will be a tool going forward, not just for myself and the work I want to do after football, but for anyone going through a tough time in life," Boyd said.

"The mental health space is something I am passionate about and my wife is passionate about as well. I get a lot of joy trying to help people and it is therapy for myself as well."

Boyd is on track to go into ninth position on the all-time first-grade games list with 337 if he plays the last five rounds, and will go past Brad Fittler and John Sutton – tied on 336 games – in the process.

"I just want to have fun to be honest," Boyd said of his final games as a player.

"We can’t make the finals now and the last year or two I have tried to use my experience to help the younger boys to have long careers. I want to keep doing that, and from a personal point of view to have a smile on my face and win, lose or draw do my best each week.

"I am enjoying playing fullback again. It is my favourite position and what I am best at."

Boyd said he expected Sean O’Sullivan to fire at five-eighth against the Roosters in his first game in almost a year after working his way back from an ACL rupture.

"Sean has been great the last month-and-a-half and tearing us up at training. It is definitely good to see Sean in the team,” Boyd said.

“He trained really well today. He has got a great football brain, a left-foot kick and I am looking forward to playing with him."