McHunt
International Rep
Contributor
- Aug 25, 2018
- 17,594
- 30,526
Your obsession with me?
Nashy
Immortal
Senior Staff
- Mar 5, 2008
- 53,544
- 33,580
What was this?
Sproj
Immortal
Senior Staff
- Sep 6, 2013
- 54,130
- 65,824
Something akin to a Kevvie post-game interview earlier in the year I think.
Nashy
Immortal
Senior Staff
- Mar 5, 2008
- 53,544
- 33,580
****, the guy is actually a potato.
Gaz
NRL Captain
Contributor
- Oct 7, 2017
- 3,469
- 4,432
Mate 2023 was an anomaly that Kevin couldn’t reproduce. He didn’t really know why they won at times or why they lost and a big part of why he is no longer here. He was given 2024 to to do it again and instead did 2022. Time to take his picture off the wall.
Good luck.
LGH
NYC Player
Contributor
- May 6, 2018
- 205
- 316
For those who can’t get behind the paywall
This masthead can reveal the explosive behind-the-scenes showdown between Walters and Brisbane employees following a savage club review that ultimately triggered his demise.
In mid-September last year, Walters’ Broncos flogged the Warriors to qualify for the 2023 grand final.
Precisely 12 months on, Walters was incredibly under siege, summoned to Broncos headquarters in the wake of a club-wide review that dissected Brisbane’s slide from grand finalists to 12th-placed also-rans this season.
Walters arrived and was joined in a room by his football staff, high-performance unit and other Broncos employees, including the club’s welfare officer.
The group were greeted by Broncos chief executive Dave Donaghy and Michael Collins, the former New Zealand rugby executive and now Bond University sports chief, who presided over the review as an independent party.
The contents of the review was described by one well-placed source as “horrendous”.
Collins began outlining some of the feedback to Walters and his team. Anonymous assessments, including opinions from Brisbane players, were relayed to the Broncos coach.
The critiques were withering. The feedback covered a range of topics.
Question marks were raised over the declining standards and leadership of Brisbane’s football department. Walters was attacked for his communication style, inconsistency of message and lack of organisation.
One staff member would spend hours cutting up vision each week with a view to it being used at the upcoming meeting of Broncos players to analyse the good and bad things they did in the previous game.
When the footage ended up on the cutting-room floor, not being reviewed each week, the staffer felt it was a futile exercise. Weekly preparation began to suffer.
Upon handing over the findings to Walters, Collins and Donaghy left the room.
Rattled by a damning review, Walters went apoplectic.
Perhaps feeling a sense of betrayal, he delivered a savage spray to members of his department, questioning if they were truly behind him in his quest to break Brisbane’s 19-year premiership drought.
Staff were reeling in a state of shock. They had rarely, if ever, seen Walters, usually amiable and a happy-go-lucky soul, in such a distressed state, exploding with rage.
Several members in the room, including a female, believed Walters’ conduct was unprofessional and they left the meeting fretful, with the coach’s shock outburst reaching the ears of Broncos management.
In that moment, Walters’ grasp on his dream job – coaching his beloved Broncos – was slipping toward an untenable finale.
Meetings with Brisbane’s top brass followed.
Walters, contracted to the end of 2026, firmly believed he could turn the club around and argued for a chance to right the wrongs of a horror 2024 campaign.
It was suggested to Walters that perhaps the pressure was consuming him; that one of the toughest jobs in Australian sport was becoming too much for him to handle.
Proud to the end, Walters was determined to soldier on.
He could fix the mess, put the premiership jigsaw together.
The club legend, who once famously declared he wanted to be “carried out of the Broncos in a box”, had high hopes for next season and did not see the bullet coming, not even as recently as 48 hours ago.
By complete chance, this reporter walked into a Chinese restaurant for a meal with friends in the Brisbane suburb of Milton on Wednesday night.
Sitting two tables away was Walters with his new assistants, Ben Te’o and Trent Barrett.
The trio spent the evening laughing and were at times engaged in animated conversation that suggested Walters was passionately building a rapport with his right-hand men ahead of Brisbane’s 2025 revenge mission.
Upon leaving the restaurant, Walters was far from a broken man.
He approached our table warmly and shook hands with the group. He joked if I had my tape recorder hiding and began a mock search under the desk, triggering a chorus of laughter.
This was not the behaviour of a man who had any fears about losing his job.
By 12pm on Thursday, I called Walters to organise an interview to discuss Brisbane’s 2024 campaign and his plans to turn the club around.
Walters happily obliged and suggested a coffee catch-up next week.
Again, no sign Walters was a dead-man walking … until six hours later, when he was summoned to a 6pm meeting to be advised he had coached his last game for the Broncos.
It is hard to believe that just 12 months ago, Walters was three minutes away from winning a Broncos premiership.
The 56-year-old was agonisingly close to being the Kingmaker who brought the NRL trophy back to Brisbane – just as he did as the Broncos’ star five-eighth alongside Allan Langer for the first time in 1992.
As he farewelled Te’o and Barrett on Wednesday night, Walters could not have envisaged their Chinese meal to plot a premiership fightback would represent his Last Supper at the Broncos.
‘Savage’: Kevin Walters’ face-off with Brisbane staff after club review ultimately led to his demise as coach
It was the powder keg moment that effectively ended Kevin Walters’ coaching career at the Broncos.This masthead can reveal the explosive behind-the-scenes showdown between Walters and Brisbane employees following a savage club review that ultimately triggered his demise.
In mid-September last year, Walters’ Broncos flogged the Warriors to qualify for the 2023 grand final.
Precisely 12 months on, Walters was incredibly under siege, summoned to Broncos headquarters in the wake of a club-wide review that dissected Brisbane’s slide from grand finalists to 12th-placed also-rans this season.
Walters arrived and was joined in a room by his football staff, high-performance unit and other Broncos employees, including the club’s welfare officer.
The group were greeted by Broncos chief executive Dave Donaghy and Michael Collins, the former New Zealand rugby executive and now Bond University sports chief, who presided over the review as an independent party.
The contents of the review was described by one well-placed source as “horrendous”.
Collins began outlining some of the feedback to Walters and his team. Anonymous assessments, including opinions from Brisbane players, were relayed to the Broncos coach.
The critiques were withering. The feedback covered a range of topics.
Question marks were raised over the declining standards and leadership of Brisbane’s football department. Walters was attacked for his communication style, inconsistency of message and lack of organisation.
One staff member would spend hours cutting up vision each week with a view to it being used at the upcoming meeting of Broncos players to analyse the good and bad things they did in the previous game.
When the footage ended up on the cutting-room floor, not being reviewed each week, the staffer felt it was a futile exercise. Weekly preparation began to suffer.
Upon handing over the findings to Walters, Collins and Donaghy left the room.
Rattled by a damning review, Walters went apoplectic.
Perhaps feeling a sense of betrayal, he delivered a savage spray to members of his department, questioning if they were truly behind him in his quest to break Brisbane’s 19-year premiership drought.
Staff were reeling in a state of shock. They had rarely, if ever, seen Walters, usually amiable and a happy-go-lucky soul, in such a distressed state, exploding with rage.
Several members in the room, including a female, believed Walters’ conduct was unprofessional and they left the meeting fretful, with the coach’s shock outburst reaching the ears of Broncos management.
In that moment, Walters’ grasp on his dream job – coaching his beloved Broncos – was slipping toward an untenable finale.
Meetings with Brisbane’s top brass followed.
Walters, contracted to the end of 2026, firmly believed he could turn the club around and argued for a chance to right the wrongs of a horror 2024 campaign.
It was suggested to Walters that perhaps the pressure was consuming him; that one of the toughest jobs in Australian sport was becoming too much for him to handle.
Proud to the end, Walters was determined to soldier on.
He could fix the mess, put the premiership jigsaw together.
The club legend, who once famously declared he wanted to be “carried out of the Broncos in a box”, had high hopes for next season and did not see the bullet coming, not even as recently as 48 hours ago.
By complete chance, this reporter walked into a Chinese restaurant for a meal with friends in the Brisbane suburb of Milton on Wednesday night.
Sitting two tables away was Walters with his new assistants, Ben Te’o and Trent Barrett.
The trio spent the evening laughing and were at times engaged in animated conversation that suggested Walters was passionately building a rapport with his right-hand men ahead of Brisbane’s 2025 revenge mission.
Upon leaving the restaurant, Walters was far from a broken man.
He approached our table warmly and shook hands with the group. He joked if I had my tape recorder hiding and began a mock search under the desk, triggering a chorus of laughter.
This was not the behaviour of a man who had any fears about losing his job.
By 12pm on Thursday, I called Walters to organise an interview to discuss Brisbane’s 2024 campaign and his plans to turn the club around.
Walters happily obliged and suggested a coffee catch-up next week.
Again, no sign Walters was a dead-man walking … until six hours later, when he was summoned to a 6pm meeting to be advised he had coached his last game for the Broncos.
It is hard to believe that just 12 months ago, Walters was three minutes away from winning a Broncos premiership.
The 56-year-old was agonisingly close to being the Kingmaker who brought the NRL trophy back to Brisbane – just as he did as the Broncos’ star five-eighth alongside Allan Langer for the first time in 1992.
As he farewelled Te’o and Barrett on Wednesday night, Walters could not have envisaged their Chinese meal to plot a premiership fightback would represent his Last Supper at the Broncos.
Manofoneway
NRL Player
- May 22, 2022
- 2,077
- 5,024
I don't think the Broncos care that broncos goat is critical of the Broncos.
I enjoy watching football and I like the broncos. That's about the extent of it, I'll support the team always because they are the team I follow. Pretty simple.
Gaz
NRL Captain
Contributor
- Oct 7, 2017
- 3,469
- 4,432
Really haven’t been off it since Wayne left the first time. If only that was handled better we would have been looking for a new coach to replace Craig instead of Kevin.
McHunt
International Rep
Contributor
- Aug 25, 2018
- 17,594
- 30,526
Sounds like his twin brother's campaigning for the Senate.
BroncsFan
International Captain
Contributor
- Jul 28, 2016
- 22,507
- 33,147
Lol so the staff are throwing pelters out to protect their own asses now... maybe Kev was onto something when talking about loyalty.
Place is just run like a business now... Is there any football knowledge in the joint anymore...
Place is just run like a business now... Is there any football knowledge in the joint anymore...
McHunt
International Rep
Contributor
- Aug 25, 2018
- 17,594
- 30,526
Not reviewing the tapes is pretty fucking amateur hour. Explains why we looked so clueless.
I don't think having the press cosy up to him - as comforting as it was - ultimately helped our cause. This was the turning point:
Insider goes public with damning new details amid dramas at Brisbane Broncos
A grim truth for the Broncos in 2024 has been laid bare at training. Details here.
au.sports.yahoo.com
And then when he snapped at Travis Meyn in that press conference, it was all over.
D
DrGee
U18 Player
- May 1, 2021
- 19
- 58
Kevins ultimate failure which lead to his sacking was not dropping his son. Also inside word about the review was senior players told their opinion about Billy as a starting hooked and kev "decided" to step down because he didn't want to create any issues within his family house hold. That's why in his interview he only thanked his family and supporting staff.
Big Del
State of Origin Rep
- Apr 22, 2017
- 5,082
- 5,919
Hughes , Cleary , Moses and Trindall are all in front of him without thinking too hard .
And Walsh best full back ?? Wha ?????
You do spray around a lot of unwarranted compliments .
Dexter
State of Origin Rep
Contributor
- Mar 26, 2008
- 7,646
- 6,294
The evidence is mounting as parts of the review are leaked. His position was untenable despite 2023.
A few posters it seems have summised correctly at the faults within the club.
The Kev defenders at some point will have to accept they got it wrong and there were wider issues which were being reflected in the playing performance.
Defend him by all means but you're starting to resemble Andy Dufresne trying to fend off the sisters, fighting the good fight but with an inevitable conclusion.
A few posters it seems have summised correctly at the faults within the club.
The Kev defenders at some point will have to accept they got it wrong and there were wider issues which were being reflected in the playing performance.
Defend him by all means but you're starting to resemble Andy Dufresne trying to fend off the sisters, fighting the good fight but with an inevitable conclusion.
Cult
International Rep
Contributor
- Oct 17, 2013
- 12,771
- 14,618
At the moment, the only football knowledge we have at the club comes from Adam Reynolds. When Te’o and Barrett arrive it will be slightly more, but not much more.
Bucking Beads
International Captain
- Mar 5, 2008
- 23,871
- 6,989
A blow up like what is being reported seems out of character for Kev. It seems the pressure of this year got to him and did the damage. A sad ending to what was so close to being something special.
Wolfie
International Captain
- Jan 14, 2015
- 23,362
- 38,320
I personally dont think Kevvie can handle the pressure when things arent going well. Thats probably a big reason we disposed of him. And as i keep saying, i dont think it was ever that we lost games that eventually got him the boot, it was how we lost games that got him the boot.
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