VOTE Kev’s end of season mark

[theshed]

It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times.

Now it’s all over, how do you rate Kev’s season?

6 wins 17 losses - 1 game to go.

 

[Kimlo]

I'm going with a 7.
The team is actually competitive again and that's all I wanted Kev to do with our current squad. Next season I expect nothing less than top 8. You don't even need to be good to be top 8, Sharks are in the 8 with a 10-13 W-L ratio.

 

[Organix]

I gave an 8. I think Kev has overcome a lot this season. He had to mop up the scraps left by Seibs, turn the psyche of the players around, cut the dead wood, tap players on the shoulder, risk selection shakeups, convince players to keep trying against a mountain of dodgy decisions, all while juggling multiple jobs, waiting for Ikin to come during a time where the club had serious management issues. Shit, he even got some good signings.

It may not have been done consummately, but he handled it. The team looks miles better than before he arrived. We are losing games on the back of shitty decisions and silly minor errors at crucial times, but this would have meant 50+ scores on us in the past.

We aren't there yet, but we're on the way back. I wonder if Brisbane 2.0 is coming or not....

(I gave kev a 6 at half year)

 

[Mustafur]

I gave him a 6, I gave him a 2 I think in the midway point as at the time it looked like we had started to regress to our 2020 form.

Had to make some tough decisions and remove players like Lodge and TPJ, and Milford for next year, but the way we have been playing in the last 2 months or so shows he is on the right track, we have had some tough losses but we are in every game we still need some new players which we will get next year as this team quality wise isn't the best.

Not sure if he is the long term option yet but definitely deserves another season or two because the squad still needs work that wont be solved straight away, he was handed probably the toughest job in the game this year and passed so he can't be that bad of a coach.

 

[Alec]

Better than mid season, but no way I'm going above a 5 until this team can string 2 freaking wins together.

 

[Tim K]

I really wanted to give Kev something around a 7. But sitting second last on the ladder is not a pass for me so I went with a 4. Like most I acknowledge the progress with the squad for next year and the change in effort and commitment shown on the field. But if at the start of the season I had to give a mark out of 10 for a second last finish, I probably would have gone with a 1. It also has to be acknowledged that the competition this year had a lot of poor performers. So the fact we are still sitting second last is a bit gross.

This year is no doubt a massive grace period for Kev. Next year I think a pass is scraping into the eight.

 

[Broncapz]

I gave him a 6. He absolutely had given the fans HOPE, despite being the most handicapped by cap team in the league. The team seems to be playing for each other, and he didn't stick with people for the sake of it (Milford, Isaako). We also still kept doing dumb plays on the field (kicking out on the full etc). A few more wins would have been a 7.

I have him just short of 8, because despite the team playing better and for each other we haven't seen the most important KPI. Wins. Get the Wins Kevie.

2022 for me will determine the long term fate of Kevin Walters for me. My hope is that he is the head of our new dynasty, cause he's an actual legend of a guy.

 

[theshed]

Mid year I gave him a 3, now Ive given him a 5 for the season. He seemed to improve fairly significantly once DD and Ikin arrived and the end of the year was pretty decent. The first half of the year it felt like we were unlikely to beat anyone and the losses were one-sided. By the end of the season I think most of us thought we’re at least a chance against most opponents.

I wanted to give him a 6 because he was dealt the shittest possible hand and I like the guy but ultimately we still came second last and considering how bad the bulldogs are that’s not really any sort of achievement.

I think the team will do better next year and he’s earned the right to go into next season as a clean slate and see what he can do. I think anything below 10th next season is a failure.

He showed signs of good tactical thinking at times throughout the season. to highlight a few:
- TPJ on Walker
- Endless kicks to To’o to limit his impact
- Milford bombing to Walsh with Coates sneaking into the middle of the field to contest for the bomb
- Coates bat backs instead of out leaping everyone only to drop it

I think he handled the team lists very poorly at the start of the season and his bench usage was abysmal at times, though that has far improved recently.

I think I’ve settled on 5/10 for the season. A terrible start under rough circumstances but he came out the other end with the team looking far improved (though the draw possibly helped it look more improved than it actually was - thank god we didn’t have to play Melbourne or the Rabbits again at the end of the season). But ultimately we were still second last. You need to get wins in this business.

 

[lynx000]

I have gone up from a 2 to a 4.

 

[broncsgoat]

From a 3 to a 5. He inherited an absolute shit show and has wielded the axe (rip mudfrog) and the teams at least worth turning on to watch again.

Looking for a 10 win season next year before pushing into the 8 for 23

 

[Mum-the-meatloaf]

I give him a 6. The team is going in the right direction.
What I do wonder though is the gap between him and coaches like bellyache/robbo. It was clear as day he didn't handle the media/bug picture stuff well.

Now that the administrators are and he is just coaching the results are changing.

 

[GCBRONCO]

I originally gave him a 4, I think he has earnt himself a 6 personally at this stage and could have easily reached 7 with a few tweaks here and there. The potential(and delivering are two different things) for further improvement is definitely there next season. I don't know if I would start screaming his our longterm answer because the results/performance for next season expected will be higher but I think considering the basket case he was walking into he handled himself well for the most part.

On another note boy am I glad we didn't go with Paul Green....

 

[I bleed Maroon]

I went with a 5.

We're definitely playing better footy, both mentally and physically which is just about all you can expect following a spoon season and the walking disaster that was Seibold. Our discipline still isn't where I would like it to be; No team can sustain having a player sin binned virtually every week. I also feel like it took us way too long to get here, and the addition of both Donuts and Ikin being required before any meaningful change could be achieved doesn't say much for Kev's assertiveness, and even less about Morris investment in the clubs on field performances. Unless he is a moron, Kev would have known the likes of Pangai, Lodge and Nolan were the clubs key problems a month into the season, yet we were languishing in familiar waters for the majority of the year before the tide began to turn.

Looking at our squad and how they're playing now, there really isn't any reason why we couldn't be one of the many teams jostling for 8th place, or at the very least not in the bottom 4 (Staggs injury obviously played its own role). We obviously wouldn't provide much of a challenge in the finals, but it's still better than finishing 14th/15th. Our recruitment has been far better. Reynolds and Capewell are going to bring an immense amount to this side, and our depth is looking more versatile as well.

Sadly for Kev, he has expended a lot of his credit in that aforementioned slow as **** turnaround, and I get the feeling that anything less than competing for a finals spot next season will mean he misses out on an extension.

 

[Allo]

I went with a 5.

We're definitely playing better footy, both mentally and physically which is just about all you can expect following a spoon season and the walking disaster that was Seibold. Our discipline still isn't where I would like it to be; No team can sustain having a player sin binned virtually every week. I also feel like it took us way too long to get here, and the addition of both Donuts and Ikin being required before any meaningful change could be achieved doesn't say much for Kev's assertiveness, and even less about Morris investment in the clubs on field performances. Unless he is a moron, Kev would have known the likes of Pangai, Lodge and Nolan were the clubs key problems a month into the season, yet we were languishing in familiar waters for the majority of the year before the tide began to turn.

Looking at our squad and how they're playing now, there really isn't any reason why we couldn't be one of the many teams jostling for 8th place, or at the very least not in the bottom 4 (Staggs injury obviously played its own role). We obviously wouldn't provide much of a challenge in the finals, but it's still better than finishing 14th/15th. Our recruitment has been far better. Reynolds and Capewell are going to bring an immense amount to this side, and our depth is looking more versatile as well.

Sadly for Kev, he has expended a lot of his credit in that aforementioned slow as **** turnaround, and I get the feeling that anything less than competing for a finals spot next season will mean he misses out on an extension.

Kev could only do so much along with trying to coach a fragile team that had no confidence or respect from the rest of the comp.

He doesn’t have to power like a Bellamy or Bennett to come in and just punt people with the full backing of the board, let alone one as impotent and oblivious as ours, nor the experience to handle doing that as well as coaching in his first year of NRL

Morris doesn’t give a shit about us, he’s a finance guy and Murdoch stooge. All he cares is whether we can help him afford another 20 million dollar house, not whether we’re successful on the field

I feel had Melbourne not been ***** (shock!) and we had DD (and thus Ikin) earlier, we could be in the finals now

Strong 5 to a light 6

 

[Emanon]

I originally said 4, but now I think it's a 5. But I said then that it was his second year at Catalans that he improved, so next year in a tougher competition will be make or break for him.

It won't be easier next year and they would be fools to believe it will be. But they should definately be fighting for top 8. Top 4 is a bit of a stretch at the moment for me.

 

[abashii]

On another note boy am I glad we didn't go with Paul Green....

Oh god, that would be a full-on nightmare. Not quite Pies-level bad but grim as all buggery nonetheless.

 

[mrslong]

From a 2 to a 5.
trending the right way.

I had hoped for more than 2nd last, the Tigers and Dragons games for me were the killers.

 

[BroncsFan]

I think some may need to temper their expectations for 2022.

We still have massive holes in our spine at 1 and 9, and possibly 6 if Gamble and Kelly fail to fire next to Reynolds.

The inclusion of Reynolds will solve one of our biggest headaches, being end of sets and getting some field position, and Capewell provides us an 80min set and forget player in a position of need who is infinitely more dangerous than Glenn.

But outside of that recruitment has been pretty lacklustre and we will still be using a shit ton of our cap space on players to play elsewhere (Lodge, TPJ, etc.).

We will still be largely dependent on the guys we had this year, and the return and health of Staggs and Carrigan.

If Cobbo and Paix somehow solve our problems in the spine then great, but I wouldnt be banking a top 8 spot on a pair of 20yr old rookies in two of the most important positions on the field.


I also expect we will get reamed by the draw next year, because it happens every year.