Cobbo: “I think he’s a nice guy but not a good coach”

[theshed]

I don’t want to see him sacked. I want to see him replaced. Happy for him to stay on as assistant.

That I don’t agree with.

 

[Gaz]

That I don’t agree with.

Why - pray tell.

 

[theshed]

Why - pray tell.

I think if you fire a head coach they need to move on completely. I have no issues with assistance sticking around but the head coach needs to go so e new coach can start fresh. No issues of the comes back as an assistant in a few years time once the new coach has had a chance to establish his own system.

 

[BroncsFan]

Well if that happens and we are 1-4 or something like that you guys will likely get your wish and Kevvie will be told his time is almost up.

It's not my wish to see Kevvie sacked... I've always backed Kevvie as he was needed to rebuild the culture... but I've only ever seen his appointment as an interim measure and the club need to handle his transition correctly to ensure the Seibold situation doesn't occur again.

I'm less than impressed on the club overall at the moment and it's due to longstanding issues still being prevalent:
- We've failed to adapt to the modern game for at least a decade now i.e. wrestling, modern defence, etc. It's like our players don't even know the basics at times... that's an issue with first grade coaching, but also junior development and lower grade coaching.

- Our junior development in the key spine position has been poor... we've not identified a hooker or game managing 7 in decades (Bhunt was a running halfback with no kicking game, but we let him go anyway), and realistically we didn't find our Khunt replacement until Walsh appeared on the scene and then we released him to the warriors anyway. We recruited Milford from outside the juniors and brought Boyd back after he developed into a fullback.

- Retention and recruitment appears to be an ongoing concern... this appeared to be rectified last year with the recruitment that took place; however we have very quickly reverted to reliance on youth again. Whether that pans out will be seen this year; however I think an established structure around the team and consistency in performance on the field is required before you can rely on juniors to jump into the top grade and slot in. A strong leadership group is required to reinforce the identity and we only started pulling one together last year, by recruiting from the outside.

We as a football team don't have an identity outside of "look at what we did in the 90's". We aren't a fast aggressive team or a structured defensive team or an exciting attacking team. Our wins last year were on the back of a career year from Reynolds rather than structured football that can be repeated week on week.

These aren't things that Kevvie has brought about, they've been around for years now and are basically inherent aspects of the club at this stage. Overhaul is needed to resolve some of these issues, so I don't think sacking Kevvie and bringing in a shiny new rookie coach will do too much at all... unless we're getting Robinson or Bellamy.

 

[pagey]

I think if you fire a head coach they need to move on completely. I have no issues with assistance sticking around but the head coach needs to go so e new coach can start fresh. No issues of the comes back as an assistant in a few years time once the new coach has had a chance to establish his own system.

this is why we should be bringing someone in as an assistant to take over , that way it's a settled transition like Bennett wanted with demetriou.
we've started fresh to many times and we need stability within the roster, instead of bringing a new coach in and starting all over again.
i really think we missed the boat on rohan Smith, he should've been added after his premiership with norths but I'd doubt he would be willing to come back for an assistant job.

 

[Maranta]

Depends on how we perform. The doom and gloom just may get worse.
Especially if we perform consistent with previous run ins with our first few opponents .

Round 1 Penrith:
12 - 40
12 -18
12 -20

Round 2 Cowboys:
26 - 40
12 - 38
37 -18

Round 3 Dragons
12 - 22
32 - 18
24 - 52

Round 4 Dolphins
?

Round 5 Tigers
18 -32
24 - 42
0 - 48

Excluding the Dolphins we have only won 2 of our last 12 games against the first 4 teams we face this season.
For and Against:
222 - 388

I’m actually horrified our last win over the Tigers was a measly 2 point victory 5 years ago... ouch

 

[Sproj]

I’m actually horrified our last win over the Tigers was a measly 2 point victory 5 years ago... ouch

And looking at their recruits, they've gotten significantly better this season too.

 

[McHunt]

I’m actually horrified our last win over the Tigers was a measly 2 point victory 5 years ago... ouch

This is the team we fielded last time. We lost 32 to 18. How many changes are you making? In brackets, the most likely changes.

1 Niu (Walsh)
2 Oates
3 Staggs
4 Mariner (Farnworth)
5 Hoeter (Cobbo)
6 Mam
7 Reynolds
8 Flegler
9 Walters
10 Haas
11 Capewell
12 Riki
13 Carrigan
14 Paix
15 Hetherington
16 Jensen
17 Palasia

 

[BroncosFever]

I'll wait until we play a few games before I start calling for his head, he improved us a lot last season. Whether it was Reynolds or not, it's irrelevant as he was the coach who sought out to bring Reynolds to the club so in turn, that's Kevvie.

It's his 3rd year in, his first year in he had a team that I don't think any coach on the planet would've been coaching to anything close to a finals spot and not just the team but the issues behind the team. Second year in we won more than we lost, that's usually a top 8 spot, usually. It was widely agreed upon that a top 8 spot would be a pass. I have to say that's a pass, no we didn't actually make the 8 but it's a pretty common opinion that if you win more than you lose you'll make the 8. So when people said a pass is if we make the 8, they may as well have been saying a pass is if we win more than we lose. Which we did.

If nothing else, he's earned the right to have a go with a team he has built, even last year there was a bit of turnover with the players he moved on. Let's just wait until they start playing a bit of footy before we talk about sacking him, he hasn't really done that bad of a job. I think a bit of perspective is needed, I know we want the early 90's all over again but sadly that's not reality anymore.

 

[Super Freak]

it's irrelevant as he was the coach who sought out to bring Reynolds to the club so in turn, that's Kevvie.

To be fair, he wasn't even looking at Reynolds until Alfie talked him into it.

 

[BroncosFever]

To be fair, he wasn't even looking at Reynolds until Alfie talked him into it.

I am sure lots of people get in his ear but at the end of the day, he made the decision to go to Sydney and make it happen.

 

[holdzy]

I'll wait until we play a few games before I start calling for his head, he improved us a lot last season. Whether it was Reynolds or not, it's irrelevant as he was the coach who sought out to bring Reynolds to the club so in turn, that's Kevvie.

It's his 3rd year in, his first year in he had a team that I don't think any coach on the planet would've been coaching to anything close to a finals spot and not just the team but the issues behind the team. Second year in we won more than we lost, that's usually a top 8 spot, usually. It was widely agreed upon that a top 8 spot would be a pass. I have to say that's a pass, no we didn't actually make the 8 but it's a pretty common opinion that if you win more than you lose you'll make the 8. So when people said a pass is if we make the 8, they may as well have been saying a pass is if we win more than we lose. Which we did.

If nothing else, he's earned the right to have a go with a team he has built, even last year there was a bit of turnover with the players he moved on. Let's just wait until they start playing a bit of footy before we talk about sacking him, he hasn't really done that bad of a job. I think a bit of perspective is needed, I know we want the early 90's all over again but sadly that's not reality anymore.

Im sorry but the end of your second paragraph is bullshit. The goal was to make the finals, whether winning more than we lose usually gets us there or not.
The goal was to stop the 50+ thrashings.

it’s a really weird contradiction that Kev improved on his first year with an epic fail free fall out of the top four.

 

[Sproj]

I'll wait until we play a few games before I start calling for his head, he improved us a lot last season. Whether it was Reynolds or not, it's irrelevant as he was the coach who sought out to bring Reynolds to the club so in turn, that's Kevvie.

It's his 3rd year in, his first year in he had a team that I don't think any coach on the planet would've been coaching to anything close to a finals spot and not just the team but the issues behind the team. Second year in we won more than we lost, that's usually a top 8 spot, usually. It was widely agreed upon that a top 8 spot would be a pass. I have to say that's a pass, no we didn't actually make the 8 but it's a pretty common opinion that if you win more than you lose you'll make the 8. So when people said a pass is if we make the 8, they may as well have been saying a pass is if we win more than we lose. Which we did.

If nothing else, he's earned the right to have a go with a team he has built, even last year there was a bit of turnover with the players he moved on. Let's just wait until they start playing a bit of footy before we talk about sacking him, he hasn't really done that bad of a job. I think a bit of perspective is needed, I know we want the early 90's all over again but sadly that's not reality anymore.

I was totally on board with this opinion, I thought every single player except Turpin had improved and then the truly epically bad end of season fade out happened and now I'm just not sure.

The issue also is that he hasn't gone and actively sought out high calibre new assistants as he was basically told to do by management. Who knows much about Briars? I watch a lot of Super League and I know very little about him other than the team he was at is pretty consistently good but how much of that is down to him?

On top of that, the decent depth we had last year is gone this year and we are back to relying on kids again. On top of that, one his super promising kids has actively outed him as a bad coach and no one really has come out and vehemently defended him. Don't get me wrong, there have certainly been some messages of support but no one that I am aware of has come out and basically said Cobbo was wrong and Kevvie is a great coach, all they seem to have done is said he is ok and is learning like they are.

I want Kevvie to succeed and I am certainly not one of the posters who have been calling for his head since the moment he signed his son but I am also not blind, the question marks there day 1 of his arrival are all seemingly still there now three years later. That is concerning.

 

[BroncosFever]

Im sorry but the end of your second paragraph is bullshit. The goal was to make the finals, whether winning more than we lose usually gets us there or not.
The goal was to stop the 50+ thrashings.

it’s a really weird contradiction that Kev improved on his first year with an epic fail free fall out of the top four.

If you ask yourself what does it take to make the finals, usually the response would be to win more than you lose.

 

[holdzy]

If you ask yourself what does it take to make the finals, usually the response would be to win more than you lose.

I understand, but that’s not what it took this time. Like I said, it was an improvement and simultaneously an epic fail.

 

[McHunt]

I was totally on board with this opinion, I thought every single player except Turpin had improved and then the truly epically bad end of season fade out happened and now I'm just not sure.

The issue also is that he hasn't gone and actively sought out high calibre new assistants as he was basically told to do by management. Who knows much about Briars? I watch a lot of Super League and I know very little about him other than the team he was at is pretty consistently good but how much of that is down to him?

Lee Briers is one of Kevvie's buddies from his Warrington days. That's not to judge whether he's the best man for the job, but again, it does look from the outside like mates hiring mates.

What's clear is we can't see a line of succession. We can't see a Bellamy or Demetriou lurking in the shadows. I have good feelings about Karmichael Hunt one day entering that conversation. Maybe if he does something special with the Magpies this season, he might find himself around the Broncos next year. But realistically, that's a long way off, if it ever happens.

I would be way more impressed if the club could land someone of Cameron Smith's stature as a junior assistant.

 

[BroncosFever]

I was totally on board with this opinion, I thought every single player except Turpin had improved and then the truly epically bad end of season fade out happened and now I'm just not sure.

The issue also is that he hasn't gone and actively sought out high calibre new assistants as he was basically told to do by management. Who knows much about Briars? I watch a lot of Super League and I know very little about him other than the team he was at is pretty consistently good but how much of that is down to him?

On top of that, the decent depth we had last year is gone this year and we are back to relying on kids again. On top of that, one his super promising kids has actively outed him as a bad coach and no one really has come out and vehemently defended him. Don't get me wrong, there have certainly been some messages of support but no one that I am aware of has come out and basically said Cobbo was wrong and Kevvie is a great coach, all they seem to have done is said he is ok and is learning like they are.

I want Kevvie to succeed and I am certainly not one of the posters who have been calling for his head since the moment he signed his son but I am also not blind, the question marks there day 1 of his arrival are all seemingly still there now three years later. That is concerning.

Who knows why the fade happened, could have been fatigue setting in for a younger roster, maybe we peaked when we beat Parramatta and couldn't go at that level anymore, who knows. It could have been something behind the scenes as well, nobody here will know the answer to that. I suspect Kev will though.

As for Cobbo, initially a few on here had their "I told you so" moment when Cobbo said that and then it was revealed he said a few other things, like when he ditched the team at half-time. I know even for those who are all on-board the sack the coach train, to hear Cobbo had left his mates at half-time was a bit of a dagger into the man's credibility.

Any mug down the pub could have told you Kevvie is still learning, you don't walk into your first big gig as a head coach in the NRL and not show areas when you can be better. That was sort of what we signed up for when we took Kevvie in as the coach, the trade off was we get a guy who knows the club but he doesn't necessarily know coaching. Perhaps with Seibold it was the other way around, he may have known coaching but he didn't particularly adapt well to the club. I have listened to Seibold talk about footy on that weekly show he had on NRL.com, he clearly knows footy, it wasn't a thing where he couldn't be a tactically great coach but he struggled with our club in a way that Kevvie hasn't struggled. I think we'll all have a keen eye on Manly this season.

 

[McHunt]

Who knows why the fade happened, could have been fatigue setting in for a younger roster, maybe we peaked when we beat Parramatta and couldn't go at that level anymore, who knows. It could have been something behind the scenes as well, nobody here will know the answer to that. I suspect Kev will though.

As for Cobbo, initially a few on here had their "I told you so" moment when Cobbo said that and then it was revealed he said a few other things, like when he ditched the team at half-time. I know even for those who are all on-board the sack the coach train, to hear Cobbo had left his mates at half-time was a bit of a dagger into the man's credibility.

Any mug down the pub could have told you Kevvie is still learning, you don't walk into your first big gig as a head coach in the NRL and not show areas when you can be better. That was sort of what we signed up for when we took Kevvie in as the coach, the trade off was we get a guy who knows the club but he doesn't necessarily know coaching. Perhaps with Seibold it was the other way around, he may have known coaching but he didn't particularly adapt well to the club. I have listened to Seibold talk about footy on that weekly show he had on NRL.com, he clearly knows footy, it wasn't a thing where he couldn't be a tactically great coach but he struggled with our club in a way that Kevvie hasn't struggled. I think we'll all have a keen eye on Manly this season.

I'm surprised anyone was prepared to pass judgement without listening to the whole podcast. Same with the Gamble one. That withstanding, his comments on Kevvie stood sufficiently alone. It wasn't a flippant remark followed by a laugh. He was deliberate, and unlike the rest of the conversation, he chose his words carefully.

As for his credibility, and whether he'd know what a good coach looks like. I don't think any of us are in the position to judge that because he didn't go into any detail and the idiot podcaster didn't ask him if that's how everyone else thinks. It was a terrible interview, all told. Selwyn came out of it worse off than Kevvie, but it wasn't without significant collateral damage.