Three years after telling John Te Reo he was sacked, Andrew Gee has kept his word by offering him another shot at playing in the NRL with the Brisbane Broncos.

The 24-year-old former Junior Kiwi still needs to ride his luck a bit further to secure another NRL contract, with stiff competition.

But he's been given a second chance by the club that sacked him and fellow utility/hooker Ian Lacey in October, 2007, tearing up their contracts after they were charged with an assault on a man following the club's end-of-season ball.

Te Reo has found his way into Brisbane's pre-season training squad through its Queensland Cup affiliate club Wynnum Manly and he's now looking to follow in the footsteps of former Parramatta bad boy Tim Smith resurrected his NRL career (with Cronulla) last season after a pre-season with the Broncos.

Smith, Todd Carney and Brett Seymour have all found their way back into the NRL after troubled times and Te Reo is hoping he can do the same.

As the man who delivered the sacking news to Te Reo in 2007, Broncos football operations manager Gee said he felt good about being able to offer him a second chance.

"When John left I told him if he did the right thing in the next few years then he would be welcome back," Gee told AAP after Te Reo's first run with the Broncos on Monday.

"He has been working at the Jubilee Hotel in Brisbane for a few years with Tony Burnett and has served his time.

"Tony says he's been doing a great job and we're happy to have him back and give him a chance to redeem himself."

Even with experienced hooker PJ Marsh retiring last season, Brisbane are well stocked in the No.9.

They've uncovered a future representative hooker in Andrew McCullough who at just 20 has already notched close to 50 NRL games.

Backing him up in 2011 will be young guns Ben Hunt (20) and Alex Glenn (22) who can play hooker and in the halves.

Te Reo, who played the second half of 2010 for Wynnum Manly in the Queensland Cup, has always been regarded as a talented player.

"He's training with us through our relationship with Wynnum and if he goes well, we'll give him a trial and see where we go from there," said Gee.

"I think we all realise he's a pretty talented player.

"If he gets back to where he was before you just never know."

Brisbane will play two trials before the 2011 season against the North Queensland Cowboys and Melbourne Storm.

Coach Ivan Henjak said this week a few places remained up for grabs and pre-season training and trials would count in selection.

"Some guys performed really well last year and cemented their place in the team but there's still a few positions up for grabs," said Henjak who has just returned from the US where he picked up some training ideas from the Denver Broncos.

"You've got to do well in the pre-season and in the trials and the players going the best will get first crack at it."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP