Brisbane’s stunning call to erase the name of club legend Gorden Tallis on a conference room at Broncos HQ has been labelled “thin-skinned” and “petty” with Tallis stating he’d like to “move on” from the controversy.
The Broncos’ decision to rename the room to be in honour of NRLW legend Ali Brigginshaw comes after an outspoken Tallis was critical of halfback Adam Reynolds last week.
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Tallis addressed the Broncos snub for the first time on Sunday on Triple M but again commented on the matter on Monday night’s episode of NRL360.
“You feel sorry for the people involved. Adam Reynolds, Ali Brigginshaw and the like but it’s footy and we move on,” Tallis said.
“It was a normal week when I get back home, I’m Dad and (son) Billy pulls me into line.
“That didn’t worry me one bit. I said it on Triple M, they’ll never take away the memories and the comradirie I’ve got with the guys I played there with.
“The greatest accolade that our family ever got was the street name named after our father in North Queensland and the Hall of Fame so that’s the highest honour. As long as they don’t take that away, we’re ok.”
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Journalists and NRL360 panellists Brent Read and Dean Ritchie were both critical of the Broncos’ decision.
“It’s pretty petty. All Gorden has done is express his viewpoint … I think it’s pretty narrow-minded view they’ve taken and it’s quite sad actually,” Read said.
“Where does it end? What if the next former player criticises the club. Are they going to take their murals off the walls at the leagues club? It’s silly.”
Ritchie added: “It’s pretty thin-skinned. It just shows how fragile that club is that they would put justified criticism in many areas ahead of a great like Gordie.”
Tallis was critical of Reynolds for deciding to jump on a plane to appear on Fox League’s NRL coverage the day after suffering a rib cartilage injury against the Eels.
Amid the firestorm, Reynolds sent a message into Triple M on Sunday, part of which read: “People need to get over it, it’s an opinion … people are making a fuss over nothing”.
Tallis expressed some regret in how his Reynolds comments came across, stressing it wasn’t personal.
“Adam was the bigger man. I wanted to tell Adam it wasn’t personal,” he said.
“He might have known he wasn’t going to play and I didn’t know that.”
Attention then shifted to who at the Broncos would have greenlit the removal of Tallis’ name.
“I don’t think it would’ve been a board decision. It would have come from the upper echelons of the club … we’re talking (chairman) Karl Morris and (CEO) Dave Donaghy,” Read said.
“I have a great respect with both Karl and Dave and I think in time, they’ll live to regret it.
“They’ve missed the mark.”
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