2025 Pre-season discussion. Longer, harder: 6-12, 18 weeks. Reconnecting.

[Harry Sack]

I strongly agree with it. I was deeply unimpressed at the time - and haven't been impressed since - by Kevvie's grooming of halves. We looked a rabble until Reyno arrived, already the finished product. And Mam has looked natural talent since his first trial, and doesn't seem to have progressed into anything more than impulsive.

Seibold chucked Dearden to the wolves young, but he was up to it for the most part. Kevvie broke him somehow. I don't know how. It took him quite a while at the Cowboys to regain his confidence.

You might remember Macca and his wife billetted best mates Dearden and Coates, treated them like family. Macca got shipped out, Dearden was pissed around, not extended, and ended up siging with the Cowboys. Coates got the shits, did a massive flip after declaring he wanted to be a "Bronco for life" and left to the Storm.

Oh, I definitely think he was mishandled and if that's what they're referring to by it being "butchered" then I agree. However if they're simply talking about letting him sign with the Cows, I'm not too sure. Regardless of how we were going at the time, I don't know that we could have hung on to him when the Cows came knocking.

 

[Sproj]

I strongly agree with it. I was deeply unimpressed at the time - and haven't been impressed since - by Kevvie's grooming of halves. We looked a rabble until Reyno arrived, already the finished product. And Mam has looked natural talent since his first trial, and doesn't seem to have progressed into anything more than impulsive.

Seibold chucked Dearden to the wolves young, but he was up to it for the most part. Kevvie broke him somehow. I don't know how. It took him quite a while at the Cowboys to regain his confidence.

You might remember Macca and his wife billetted best mates Dearden and Coates, treated them like family. Macca got shipped out, Dearden was pissed around, not extended, and ended up signing with the Cowboys. Coates got the shits, did a massive flip after declaring he wanted to be a "Bronco for life" and left to the Storm.

All of the points in the 'report' are obvious and not arguable, except the Dearden one. I think the club should be commended for letting Dearden go. It was obvious to all and sundry that he had amazing talent, however he needed direction and a mature side to bring the best out of him. He was also a Cows fan growing up, the move worked out well for him but not in the short term. He must have gone about 30 games there or something ridiculous before his first or second win.

Mam is extremely talented but this year was playing busted and broken from very early season. He hurt his knee and was never the same from there. He is still very young and a couple of years behind Dearden in development. At the same age, many had the same questions about Dearden - young halves take time to develop. If we had kept Dearden, we would not have been able to give Mam the opportunity so there is no way anyone can slice this as a travesty unless they want to.

In terms of Coates, nope I don't buy that we stuffed that up. We made him a more than fair offer and he decided to go to the Storm despite telling everyone he was staying. There is no way anyone can excuse that behaviour unless again, they are wanting to have yet another go at the club / Kevvie.

It is the same when people blame Kevvie for 'letting go' Flegs and Herbie. As if Kevvie wanted to let them go, they both got offered more money and left for more money - plain and simple. This is not a stuff up on the part of the club. Unfortunately, we gave big money to Cobbo instead and until midway through this season, this was actually looking like a smart decision. No one could have foreseen Cobbo completing nose diving in the back end when he was swatting players away for fun left, right and centre. Flegler also should not get a free pass. We massively overpaid him when he was younger and then when the time came to stay for reportedly the same figure he was on, he went for more money - not our fault he decided to show no loyalty.

The point is, the club HAS made a bunch of mistakes, we don't need to make up ones as well. There are more than enough legit ones to go round.

 

[mrtij]

Considerably saltier opinion piece bylined Badel & Meyn in today's CM than Badel's interview on SEN. Assume this is Meyn not Badel, after Kevvie snapped at him in the last press conference:

* Walsh a "magnificent talent ... could become one of Brisbane’s greatest ever players, but needs strong leadership." Described by "insiders" as “moody” and “highly strung”. Aadored by fans, but staff "terrified of offending him." Only did one in-season presser despite massive marketability. Regularly palms the obligation to the likes of Corey Jensen and Kobe Hetherington. Bagged for warming up shirtless.​

​

* Club "gone to sleep" on recruitment. Fortunate to be gifted Walsh back. Butchering Tom Dearden indictment on club. Failed to replace last years defectors. Yet to recruit anyone new for 2025. Not a bad young roster, but don't seem to be searching for new talent to evolve the squad. Unlike Panthers, Storm etc.​

​

*Kev & Donuts spend past 3 days interviewing squad. Composition problematic - four hookers, no enforcer, no Reyno successor, pay distribution unbalanced. Spending 2.2m on spine, compare to Melbourne's 3.77m. Need to throw the bank at Sam Walker. Could release Staggs or Cobbo. No club has two centre/wingers on big money.​

​

*Donuts should headhunt Cam Smith as head of football. Pushes his case. Would command respect from players. Club misses Ikin's skill set. Walters must focus purely on coaching. Walters hire Joe McDermott "lacks the pedigree and gravitas to make a mark."​

​

* Board needs overhaul. Names Glenn Lazarus or Michael De Vere as potential seats.​

​

* Walters missed finals three of four years. Now make or break. Did great job in 2021 rebuilding. Friction in coaching ranks this year. Chance to "shake things up" with fresh assistants Trent Barrett, who has a terrible head coaching record, and emerging Ben Te’o. Walters will live or die by these appointments. Had few answers to form slump this year, consistently claiming all they needed to do was get the basics and fundamentals right. Which they didn't. NRL more complex than running and tackling hard. Needs to get more technical and trust the likes of Barrett, Te’o, Matt Ballin, Allan Langer and Darius Boyd to help him.​

- don’t have any problems with Kobe and Jensen doing majority of the presser interviews… the only people that benefit from Walsh doing the interviews are the journos that want to make a headline. For our best interests better to keep him out the spotlight as much as we can.

“Moody” “highly strung” blah blah. All hear say to me. I remember Badel unfairly criticising Walsh for the judiciary hearing last year for “looking like Justin Bieber” when he was just wearing a suit ahah. I think Badel has a hard on for Walsh.

- I was on board with recruitment until this year with baker etc. (seems to coincide with Ikin leaving)

- “no reyno successor” seems to be apparent now in hindsight, but before this year I was fine with Maddens progress and the plan they had put in place… throwing money at Sam Walker just to get “more money in the spine” is a weird take and is not a guaranteed solution. We are already too frantic, Sam Walker doesn’t seem like a great fit.

Would be good to throw money in the spine if we had Grant, Munster, Papi and Hughes. But the only players worth big money in our spine is Walsh, (and Mam I guess). Last year we were getting praise for how little we spent on our spine, just not a great point, looking at it too black and white.

I agree/Happy with one of Staggs or Cobbo to get released.

- Cam Smith as head of football is just unrealistic. He turned down an assistant coach role with QLD to coach his 14 year old son.

I agree the club misses Ikin and it appears Walters has trouble with anyone that disagrees with him.

- I agree, board (CHAIRMAN) needs overhaul.

- agree this is Walters last chance and if he wants to be a successful NRL coach he needs to learn to hear differing opinions from people smarter than him.

 

[tommy]

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't sir Billy Walters in the halves when dearden left? He never really had a chance.

 

[Big Pete]

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't sir Billy Walters in the halves when dearden left? He never really had a chance.

Was he even on the field? He was at the Tigers coming off a knee reco.

 

[tommy]

Was he even on the field? He was at the Tigers coming off a knee reco.

Oh yeah but there was a plan to bring him here to play halves. Dearden was in the way of that.

 

[Big Pete]

Oh yeah but there was a plan to bring him here to play halves. Dearden was in the way of that.

Utility, Billy wasn't the first choice five-eighth and it was Kev that pushed for him to play dummy half.

 

[McHunt]

All of the points in the 'report' are obvious and not arguable, except the Dearden one. I think the club should be commended for letting Dearden go. It was obvious to all and sundry that he had amazing talent, however he needed direction and a mature side to bring the best out of him.

He needed coaching.

 

[McHunt]

Utility, Billy wasn't the first choice five-eighth and it was Kev that pushed for him to play dummy half.

Billy himself said he had his eye on 6. Many times. He wasn't too bad at 6 in the trial, but like Rogers and Madden, he was exposed pretty quickly as only adequate. Kev put him at 9 to learn hooking on the job, picked him first every week, and the rest is history.

 

[McHunt]

- don’t have any problems with Kobe and Jensen doing majority of the presser interviews… the only people that benefit from Walsh doing the interviews are the journos that want to make a headline. For our best interests better to keep him out the spotlight as much as we can.

Not at all. Walsh is the most marketable face in the NRL. He brings bums to seats. His value to the club at the business level extends beyond the field. Journalists are merely conduits between the club and the fans. All parties use each other for their own benefit. But obviously, journalists can become vindictive pricks so trying to point-score or embarrass them is a loser's hand.

 

[Big Pete]

Billy himself said he had his eye on 6. Many times. He wasn't too bad at 6 in the trial, but like Rogers and Madden, he was exposed pretty quickly as only adequate. Kev put him at 9 to learn hooking on the job, picked him first every week, and the rest is history.

Good for Billy.

That doesn't change the fact that Kev moved him to the bench as early as his second game and had him play the relief hooker role. If he truly saw him as the long term five-eighth, he wouldn't have made that decision and considering how quickly Billy transitioned to dummy half it suggests the opposite.

 

[BroncosFever]

Oh yeah but there was a plan to bring him here to play halves. Dearden was in the way of that.

Nice little backtrack that.

 

[tommy]

Nice little backtrack that.

Ummm, it's pretty much the same thing.

 

[Sproj]

Ummm, it's pretty much the same thing.

Yes = you are completely wrong and making stuff up to suit your agenda.

 

[tommy]

Yes = you are completely wrong and making stuff up to suit your agenda.

"Correct me if I'm wrong" for a start.

And no I am not making it up, it happened.

Either way Dearden had to move on as he was taking up valuable Walters real estate

 

[Sproj]

"Correct me if I'm wrong" for a start.

And no I am not making it up, it happened.

Either way Dearden had to move on as he was taking up valuable Walters real estate

Yep, I guess we are just pretending Gamble and Mam are figments of our imagination?

 

[Sproj]

Oh and let's not forget the illustrious number 9 Billy pushed out, what an absolute disgrace that was.

I'll give you a hint, he has the initials...JT.

 

[tommy]

Yep, I guess we are just pretending Gamble and Mam are figments of our imagination?

Who got given first shot in the halves?

Oh and let's not forget the illustrious number 9 Billy pushed out, what an absolute disgrace that was.

I'll give you a hint, he has the initials...JT.

Different subject matter altogether. He was given a shot at dummy half when he was a complete spud in the halves.