THE EX Kevin Walters

[Mr Fourex]

I actually think he is over-rated especially as a hooker.

handy player? ... sure, but not 800k a year handy

I think he could be...once he settles into a starting lineup, as "the" no.9

Being how fucked we've been for dummy halves since......forever
it is
a) incompetent
b) blind
c) ?

.....that we didn't at least make real enquiries when he was on the market.....

 

[Foordy]

.....that we didn't at least make real enquiries when he was on the market.....

how do you know we didn't.

I do recall reading somewhere that we had some interest, but then found out his asking price

 

[BroncsFan]

Or when he won hooker of the year in 2016 IIRC.

I think he won hooker of the year last year as well didn't he??

BSmith is Robson on steriods... he's absolutely devastating close to the line... in 2021 when he was actually playing hooker you could basically chalk up a try once storm got a ptb inside the 5-10m

 

[Wolfie]

I think he won hooker of the year last year as well didn't he??

BSmith is Robson on steriods... he's absolutely devastating close to the line... in 2021 when he was actually playing hooker you could basically chalk up a try once storm got a ptb inside the 5-10m

I think his game as a hooker has slipped a little, but I think thats mainly because he isnt really playing regular footy as a hooker

 

[BroncsFan]

I think his game as a hooker has slipped a little, but I think thats mainly because he isnt really playing regular footy as a hooker

I think it slipped a little this year, because Bellamy flipped the script and he wasn't really meant to be playing much hooker.

In 2021 BSmith started the game at hooker, played 30mins or so and then Harry would play out the game... BSmith would then come back on later as a bustling lock looking for quick ptb's. It ended up being that Bellamy would rest Harry if he got a sniffle so BSmith played a ton of hooker and was the most dangerous player coming out of dummy half under the 6 again rules.

In this year's first pre-season game it looked like BSmith was going to be a ballplaying lock and Harry would be playing big minutes at hooker with Wishart or whoever being utility and hooker support off the bench, but not getting many minutes. Based on that BSmith was bulked up expecting he would primarily be a middle forward.

BSmith then broke his hand 5mins into round 1 and continued to pick up injuries moving forward... King started to solidify himself as a reliable third prop style lock and Bellamy completely changed the plan to BSmith playing 35-40mins off the bench and not really doing anything.

I think Bellamy was too slow to figure out how he wanted to use BSmith, and I'm not sure why he just completely threw out the plan of BSmith playing a link man 13... or had just cracked the shits because he was moving to rorters and decided he'd try and come up with a plan for the future.

 

[Mr Fourex]

how do you know we didn't.

I do recall reading somewhere that we had some interest, but then found out his asking price

Well....thats not really considered a serious enquiry then.

Again......our long, long winters spent...... without a quality dummy half.
The hunt should have been on.
Its piss poor.....

 

[Johnny92]

I think his game as a hooker has slipped a little, but I think thats mainly because he isnt really playing regular footy as a hooker

Yeah I do agree but the game he's playing is what suits Melbournes style. He doesn't need to be thinking/playmaking at 9 because they have other quality spine players doing that he just needs to run to create momentum to play that aggressive touch footy style of attack they play.

 

[I bleed Maroon]

Well....thats not really considered a serious enquiry then.

Again......our long, long winters spent...... without a quality dummy half.
The hunt should have been on.
Its piss poor.....

Yep. How long has it been since we've had a hooker you could legitimately call elite? Ennis? Berrigan? Those guys have both been retired for years, and haven't played for us even longer.

We stuck it out with McC for about 6 years too long, and even now post him we still can't dig out a quality dummy half to save our lives, and it is EASILY the biggest weakness in our side.

 

[HarryAllan7]

Slater failing to pick Corey Oates in Game 2 and then again in Game 3 until injury forced his hand is evidence to me that Slater has a long way to go to prove he is any more fit to coach than Kevvie.

He may get there, but he currently has almost zero experience in the job. A good player does not automatically make a good coach. Slater shouldn't be in this conversation, it would be a sideways move.

 

[Swordfish]

Slater failing to pick Corey Oates in Game 2 and then again in Game 3 until injury forced his hand is evidence to me that Slater has a long way to go to prove he is any more fit to coach than Kevvie.

He may get there, but he currently has almost zero experience in the job. A good player does not automatically make a good coach. Slater shouldn't be in this conversation, it would be a sideways move.

Agree, Slater to me seems like a guy who hates Broncos. Thankfully, I don’t watch Ch-9 at all so, don’t have to hear his biased commentary when he’s part of broadcast.
If it comes to pursuit to new coach, I would be more inclined to go all in @Smith. Being a Logan boy & having now settled in SE Qld, he would be gettable. Also, during some podcasts/radio talk shows/ media— he keeps saying that he didn’t have any animosity to our club but rather want to win for Storm while playing.
Something tells me that Smithy have better brains than Slater so, if he has any coaching intentions, I would throw all at him. DD, get into Smithy’s ears mate.

 

[1910]

Agree, Slater to me seems like a guy who hates Broncos. Thankfully, I don’t watch Ch-9 at all so, don’t have to hear his biased commentary when he’s part of broadcast.
If it comes to pursuit to new coach, I would be more inclined to go all in @Smith. Being a Logan boy & having now settled in SE Qld, he would be gettable. Also, during some podcasts/radio talk shows/ media— he keeps saying that he didn’t have any animosity to our club but rather want to win for Storm while playing.
Something tells me that Smithy have better brains than Slater so, if he has any coaching intentions, I would throw all at him. DD, get into Smithy’s ears mate.

12 months ago Donaghy said at a lunch that Slater was going to be the best coach out of the three Storm if they went that way. I was surprised but now having been around Slater I can see it.

 

[Swordfish]

12 months ago Donaghy said at a lunch that Slater was going to be the best coach out of the three Storm if they went that way. I was surprised but now having been around Slater I can see it.

Oh DD said that? I might’ve missed it totally. If that’s the case, then I reckon we’ve zero chance of getting him if we ever went down that path. I’m solely basing on my observation of how Slater goes on about Broncos in general in media. I could be totally wrong here. Strange things happen in our game & if we ever get Slater at some stage, I totally trust DD.

 

[1910]

Oh DD said that? I might’ve missed it totally. If that’s the case, then I reckon we’ve zero chance of getting him if we ever went down that path. I’m solely basing on my observation of how Slater goes on about Broncos in general in media. I could be totally wrong here. Strange things happen in our game & if we ever get Slater at some stage, I totally trust DD.

Talking about coaching last year at a QRL thing.

 

[Wolfie]

12 months ago Donaghy said at a lunch that Slater was going to be the best coach out of the three Storm if they went that way. I was surprised but now having been around Slater I can see it.

I've mentioned it on here but i've spoken to some guys who played with him and Smith for QLD and they said Slater has the better football IQ ( if thats even the right way to put it ). They were hugely impressed with Billy.

 

[ChewThePhatt]

I've mentioned it on here but i've spoken to some guys who played with him and Smith for QLD and they said Slater has the better football IQ ( if thats even the right way to put it ). They were hugely impressed with Billy.

Love this sort of info.
Thanks Bro

 

[Harry Sack]

I just can't see him leaving Melbourne tbh. Pretty sure he has a horse farm down there doesn't he? The only way I see it happening is if Bellamy retires and he's overlooked.

 

[Super Freak]

I just can't see him leaving Melbourne tbh. Pretty sure he has a horse farm down there doesn't he? The only way I see it happening is if Bellamy retires and he's overlooked.

At the moment he is happy with his QLD coaching role, his consultancy role at Melbourne and his commentary role. Whether he even becomes an NRL head coach remains to be seen.

 

[theshed]

At the moment he is happy with his QLD coaching role, his consultancy role at Melbourne and his commentary role. Whether he even becomes an NRL head coach remains to be seen.

A lot of people reading Slater’s mind in this thread