The former Broncos coach feels the star could be on his way out of the club.
Former Broncos coach Kevin Walters has claimed the club appears to be pushing Selwyn Cobbo out the door with the winger linked to a number of new teams. Cobbo has fallen out of favour with coach Michael Maguire in 2025 having been relegated to the reserves after a mixed start to the season.
Cobbo won’t feature against the Sharks this weekend and he was delivered a hammer blow after reports the Broncos moved to extend the contracts of a number of players. Cobbo is on around $650,000 this season but a salary cap crunch at the club has left his future in doubt and the Broncos are yet to table the off-contract star a fresh deal after prioritising other players.
According to The Courier Mail, Brisbane have finalised extensions for captain Adam Reynolds, gun centre Kotoni Staggs and promising young hooker, Blake Mozer. The $3.5 million retention blitz has left Cobbo’s future at the club in doubt and on Friday night Penrith legend Greg Alexander felt it was clear Maguire wasn’t sure on Cobbo being in his plans unless he takes a huge pay cut.
“They don’t want him, do they. They’ve shown they’re not that keen on keeping him,” Alexander said. And former coach Walters agreed the Broncos appeared to be pushing Cobbo out of the club with a message he wasn’t part of the string of current extensions.
That’s fine (re-signing other players) but they’re virtually squeezing him out of the club, that’s their message. You can’t expect someone to stay and play on half price, can you.
“There was some talk of a million dollars at the start of the year. I think Selwyn is a wonderful footballer. His value at any club is he can play centre, he can play wing, he can play fullback.
“You can’t just upgrade and extending everyone and expect to keep them as well. Someone gets squeezed out and it looks like Selwyn will be that person. He’ll be a great pick-up for any club.”
Michael Maguire address Selwyn Cobbo drama
While it appears from the outside the Broncos are making it hard on Cobbo, coach Maguire claimed on Saturday he wants the winger to prove himself at the club. And if he does so, this would go along way in sorting out his future contract. “Selwyn is aware what he needs to do at this present moment and that is the most important thing for him. Contract talks always sort themselves out by what you can do on the field, so he’s focused on that,” Maguire said.
With the salary cap and trying to fit things in, I have inherited where things are at at the moment. So you’ve got to work your way through it and I know the organisation is doing that.”
Selwyn Cobbo linked to North Queensland
And there appears no shortage of clubs keen on signing Cobbo. The Daily Telegraph reported Cobbo’s management has met with the Dragons in Sydney, while the North Queensland Cowboys have entered the race. Cobbo’s next destination could come down to his asking price and where the club would be keen to play the versatile back. Despite the interest the publication claimed Cobbo’s preference is to remain in Brisbane.
