Brisbane coach Kevin Walters wants club legend Steve Renouf to teach strike centre Kotoni Staggs the intricacies of how to run onto an "out-ball" and boost his try-scoring repertoire.
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Staggs, a centre like four-time premiership winner Renouf, is recovering from off-season shoulder surgery following a season where he played with his trademark physicality.
The 24-year-old Tongan international likes to run over defenders but both Renouf and Walters believe learning the subtle art of running onto the out-ball could boost his effectiveness and reduce the wear and tear on his body.
Renouf was a master at running into space off five-time Broncos title winner Walters' passes.
They referred to it as the out-ball, where Walters would pass into space and Renouf would use his swerve, speed and fend to steam onto the ball and break through the line.
Renouf scored a club-record 142 tries in 183 games and many of them were courtesy of Walters passes.
The most famous of the Walters' out-balls was thrown in the 1992 Rugby League World Cup final where Renouf scored late for Australia to win the game 10-6 against Great Britain at Wembley Stadium.
"I would love to work with Kotoni around his hole running and running into space and maybe he wouldn't get so busted," Renouf told AAP.
"Kotoni doesn't mind running over people and is wanting contact. He reminds me a bit of Justin Hodges back in the day.
"I pointed out to Hodgo' he would have had less injuries and been more effective if he ran holes.
"Kotoni loves the contact too, but run thirty centimetres either side of the defender and you give yourself more space and are pushing through the line.
"Kevin was the master at throwing the out-ball pass for me and I just ran onto it. (Broncos halfback) Adam Reynolds can do the same thing for Kotoni."
Walters said defensive structures were a little different now to his day but added that Staggs "has the skill to run the line the out-ball line".
"Pearl (Renouf) was one of the great exponents of the out-ball so he knows what he is talking about and he is most welcome to share his knowledge with Kotoni," Walters told AAP.
"It is part of Kotoni's artillery, but doing more of it will never go astray because Kotoni has good speed and a nice fend. They are the skills Steve had to make that play really special.
"We also have Adam Reynolds who has a nice pass. Those two have had 20-odd games together whereas me and Steve had upwards of 150 together, so I look forward to that relationship developing next year."
Renouf and Staggs already work together outside of football promoting healthy life decisions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with the Deadly Choices campaign.
Australian Associated Press
