THE EX Kevin Walters

[Sproj]

It is actually interesting to look at the results. The Warriors actually haven't beaten anyone of note, they have had quite an easy draw too.

They have not beaten Penrith, us or the Storm, nor the Cowboys when they were playing well or the Rabbits when they were playing well.

They have played all of these teams twice: Bulldogs, Cowboys early season when they were woeful, Dolphins twice late season and of course the origin leg ups.

This is not to downplay how well they have done at all, it is to show that really, Kevvie is certainly not out of place winning it.

The Broncos have beaten Penrith, the Warriors themselves with our B team and every other team in the comp except Melbourne who we have one more chance against AND while losing a lot of players to origin.

We are also currently on track to win the minor premiership.

Kevvie should win it when you actually look at the data.

Of course I have just done 15 minutes more research than the actual award givers will do.

 

[BroncosFever]

As bad as the Warriors were, I don't know that they had to completely rejig their squad and back office (they could have, I really wasn't paying enough attention to them to know). I know for us though, we had to wipe everything clean from top to bottom.

Kev endured all sorts of criticism in that time but on the surface he never stopped believing he could get the club going the right way. I remember a journo asking him a pretty difficult question and his response was something along the lines of "come and ask me that in 6 months", something like that, not a direct quote, he never stopped believing. Not just the pressure from the media, but also this very fanbase. We don't as a collective understand what it means to suck and because of that, new coaches who weren't delivering weren't given a whole lot of time.

I also believe Kev was our "Plan B", so for him to accept that and essentially prove everyone wrong. He absolutely deserves every bit of credit that comes his way.

 

[Harry Sack]

Kev by a whisker with Webster just behind. So they'll give it to O'Brien. The jizz fest over Pongas form and O'Brien admitting he got playing him at 6 wrong is pretty spew.

 

[mrslong]

Those who've watched the Broncos from inception, when did you start to "rate" Kevvie as anything more than Alfie's straight man? If you're an old timer, you would've seen him replace Wally, which were shoes way too big for anyone to fill. And then he played in the Alfie's shadow, like a plus one who always turned up on Langers' arm.

For me, he was always a player I took for granted. I never considered replacing him with anyone else, but he wasn't the star attraction, and I didn't feel like he was being overlooked at a rep level. He was always plenty good enough, but more like someone you never had to worry about.

I didn't really see him as anything more than handy until after Alfie left, and maybe not even right away then either. I'm pretty sure I became a fan around the time he became captain, but I can't quite recall.

Anyway, I guess what I'm asking is along the lines of I think the legend of Kevvie grew after his retirement when people twigged to how many premierships he'd won. During his playing years, I think others - especially Bennett - got more of the credit. He was the ultimate quiet achiever.

Or did I miss something?

I still rage that we was robbed the Clive Churchill medal in 1993. But it was 1998 that I just fell in love with Kevvie.

 

[Mr Fourex]

From wooden spooners to minor premiers in a couple short years.

There's your fairytale.

 

[ZTop]

From wooden spooners to minor premiers in a couple short years.

There's your fairytale.

Gives hope to the rest of the comp, a real feel good story

 

[Manofoneway]

It is actually interesting to look at the results. The Warriors actually haven't beaten anyone of note, they have had quite an easy draw too.

They have not beaten Penrith, us or the Storm, nor the Cowboys when they were playing well or the Rabbits when they were playing well.

They have played all of these teams twice: Bulldogs, Cowboys early season when they were woeful, Dolphins twice late season and of course the origin leg ups.

This is not to downplay how well they have done at all, it is to show that really, Kevvie is certainly not out of place winning it.

The Broncos have beaten Penrith, the Warriors themselves with our B team and every other team in the comp except Melbourne who we have one more chance against AND while losing a lot of players to origin.

We are also currently on track to win the minor premiership.

Kevvie should win it when you actually look at the data.

Of course I have just done 15 minutes more research than the actual award givers will do.

Exactly this. The Warriors are artificially top 4. They have had a very favourable draw

 

[LittleDavey]

Exactly this. The Warriors are artificially top 4. They have had a very favourable draw

While I do agree with the sentiment about the Warriors, Sharks and to a lesser degree Raiders (given their differential)... I know it's a cliche but you can only play what's in front of you. Which other teams deserve to be there ahead of them? There's a logjam for the bottom of the 8 but for large parts of the season all of those teams have been utter garbage.

Penrith, Broncos and Warriors are the only consistent teams this year - well, consistent at a high enough level to make the 8, anyway. I'd argue soft draw aside, the Warriors do deserve to be there because they have won consistently all season - which is something most teams in the comp haven't done.

Sharks a bit the same, but their poor record against other top teams is something to behold.

 

[Santa]

Given the awards are done the week of the grand final, do they take into account matches played in first 3 weeks of the finals? If they do, Kevvie should win it once we are locked if for the grand final and the Warriors are knocked out after week 2.

 

[Kimlo]

Given the awards are done the week of the grand final, do they take into account matches played in first 3 weeks of the finals? If they do, Kevvie should win it once we are locked if for the grand final and the Warriors are knocked out after week 2.

Regular season only

 

[BroncosFever]

I reckon Kev's comments about us being the best team this season and therefore deserving to be the minor premiers would have rattled a few Penrith' fans. Their thing is that they'll beat you up in the middle and then Nathan Cleary with his ridiculously accurate short kicking game will have you defend set after set until you finally crack. We can beat them in the middle and Reynolds is just as good, he also has a few more strings to his bow. The way he straightens the attack, I don't know that Cleary has developed that yet.

They're not the best team anymore, we've got them covered with Walsh in the side. You can't coach what he can do and you almost can't coach against it either, you try rush in and he rainbows one out to the winger, you hold your width on the winger and he burns you with pace. I got no doubt teams will be having discussions about him but he's not our only threat, we've got multiple players who can break a game open with a bit of brilliance. I don't see that in Penrith, not anymore.

 

[Sproj]

I reckon Kev's comments about us being the best team this season and therefore deserving to be the minor premiers would have rattled a few Penrith' fans. Their thing is that they'll beat you up in the middle and then Nathan Cleary with his ridiculously accurate short kicking game will have you defend set after set until you finally crack. We can beat them in the middle and Reynolds is just as good, he also has a few more strings to his bow. The way he straightens the attack, I don't know that Cleary has developed that yet.

They're not the best team anymore, we've got them covered with Walsh in the side. You can't coach what he can do and you almost can't coach against it either, you try rush in and he rainbows one out to the winger, you hold your width on the winger and he burns you with pace. I got no doubt teams will be having discussions about him but he's not our only threat, we've got multiple players who can break a game open with a bit of brilliance. I don't see that in Penrith, not anymore.

Kevvie is confident as he should be. You look at a side by side comparison, our best is comparable with their best but our supporting cast is probably slightly ahead of theirs. There is a reason we are 1 and 2. Everyone wants a Penrith- Brisbane GF, if it happens, it could be an all-timer.

 

[McHunt]

I reckon Kev's comments about us being the best team this season and therefore deserving to be the minor premiers would have rattled a few Penrith' fans. Their thing is that they'll beat you up in the middle and then Nathan Cleary with his ridiculously accurate short kicking game will have you defend set after set until you finally crack. We can beat them in the middle and Reynolds is just as good, he also has a few more strings to his bow. The way he straightens the attack, I don't know that Cleary has developed that yet.

They're not the best team anymore, we've got them covered with Walsh in the side. You can't coach what he can do and you almost can't coach against it either, you try rush in and he rainbows one out to the winger, you hold your width on the winger and he burns you with pace. I got no doubt teams will be having discussions about him but he's not our only threat, we've got multiple players who can break a game open with a bit of brilliance. I don't see that in Penrith, not anymore.

It was a fair brag: we've won more games than any other team. But the differential tells another story. We're definitely at least the second best team. Our depth is better.

Losing Luai is a massive blow for them. In his absence, I think we're slam dunk favourites. Same with the Storm minus Hughes. In the same way, I think we need Mam more than most fans realize.

 

[Big Del]

I reckon Kev's comments about us being the best team this season and therefore deserving to be the minor premiers would have rattled a few Penrith' fans. Their thing is that they'll beat you up in the middle and then Nathan Cleary with his ridiculously accurate short kicking game will have you defend set after set until you finally crack. We can beat them in the middle and Reynolds is just as good, he also has a few more strings to his bow. The way he straightens the attack, I don't know that Cleary has developed that yet.

They're not the best team anymore, we've got them covered with Walsh in the side. You can't coach what he can do and you almost can't coach against it either, you try rush in and he rainbows one out to the winger, you hold your width on the winger and he burns you with pace. I got no doubt teams will be having discussions about him but he's not our only threat, we've got multiple players who can break a game open with a bit of brilliance. I don't see that in Penrith, not anymore.

A little different these days with short drop outs .
Pretty good chance of getting the ball back . Then the full back is in the line once 10 metres out to make it harder to get through .
Part of the reason the Broncos love to attack from further out . Only 12 in the line or 10 on tackle 4 when the wingers drop back a little .

 

[BroncosFever]

A little different these days with short drop outs .
Pretty good chance of getting the ball back . Then the full back is in the line once 10 metres out to make it harder to get through .
Part of the reason the Broncos love to attack from further out . Only 12 in the line or 10 on tackle 4 when the wingers drop back a little .

The reason teams like give short dropouts, they either get the ball back or the opposition is attacking you with a set defensive formation, hard to get any real momentum through the ruck when they defending team only has to retreat 7-8 metres to be back onside.

 

[McHunt]

Unpopular opinion alert.

I've been thinking about this, and I'm ruling Kevvie, Bellamy and Webster out of Coach of the Year based on them "resting" players for the final round. Regardless whether it was the right tactic in the pitch for the title (and I believe it was), it's shitty Rugby League, outside the spirit of the game, and an up-you to fans who paid to see the stars. This especially applies to Kevvie whose tactic openly devalued the JJ Giltanan Shield. If we fail to win the premiership, we could always have that gong. It's not nothing. But Kevvie's actions said it is.

Maybe if we'd won, we could give Kevvie a free pass, but tanking the minor premiership in the process is a fail. Plus we lost again to the Storm. Which felt like shit. While the NRL might not be able to do anything about this cynical tactic, it need not be rewarded with a coaching medal.

If we go on to lose against the Storm next round it's an even bigger fail for the club. I would say it wasn't worth it.

Instead, I'm giving it to Ivan Cleary, who opted not to "rest" players, including his son, and instead put his team in a position to retain the minor premiership in the event the Broncos lost to the Storm. It was a gamble that had no other pay-off other than a chance to win the minor premiership and for Panthers' fans to see a proper game. He did not need the extra two points. It was a gamble that paid off. Credit where it's due. This is the game we would prefer to play.

Sorry Kevvie, as much as you deserved to win COTY up until this game, you blew it. Let's just hope it pays off this weekend.

 

[LittleDavey]

Unpopular opinion alert.

I've been thinking about this, and I'm ruling Kevvie, Bellamy and Webster out of Coach of the Year based on them "resting" players for the final round. Regardless whether it was the right tactic in the pitch for the title (and I believe it was), it's shitty Rugby League, outside the spirit of the game, and an up-you to fans who paid to see the stars. This especially applies to Kevvie whose tactic openly devalued the JJ Giltanan Shield. If we fail to win the premiership, we could always have that gong. It's not nothing. But Kevvie's actions said it is.

Maybe if we'd won, we could give Kevvie a free pass, but tanking the minor premiership in the process is a fail. Plus we lost again to the Storm. Which felt like shit. While the NRL might not be able to do anything about this cynical tactic, it need not be rewarded with a coaching medal.

If we go on to lose against the Storm next round it's an even bigger fail for the club. I would say it wasn't worth it.

Instead, I'm giving it to Ivan Henjak, who opted not to "rest" players, including his son, and instead put his team in a position to retain the minor premiership in the event the Broncos lost to the Storm. It was a gamble that had no other pay-off other than a chance to win the minor premiership and for Panthers' fans to see a proper game. He did not need the extra two points. It was a gamble that paid off. Credit where it's due. This is the game we would prefer to play.

Sorry Kevvie, as much as you deserved to win COTY up until this game, you blew it. Let's just hope it pays off this weekend.

Yeah I can't get on board this train. What if it was Walsh or Reyno who went down instead of Willison?

The whole point of the season is the big trophy at the end. Win or lose on Thurs we were guaranteed top 2 and 2 home finals. We were playing the grubbiest **** team in the competition who are also in the hunt for a GF berth, and who I have zero doubt are not above taking out one of our key players illegally to improve their chances.

It wasn't shitty rugby league, I thought it was a highly entertaining game (apart from the result, **** you Storm). The minor prem is a nice to have, the goal is the big one. If winning that reduced our chances of getting to and/or winning the GF we here would all be rightly up in arms "**** Kev, he should have rested our guys, we knew this would happen!"

IMO he didn't tank the minor prem anyway, if anything the players did. They had the opportunity to win that game and essentially we were an intercept and a missed tackle away. They wanted it more, held the ball better, and iced their chances. We didn't.

**** Penrith. Ivan knew they had to win that to keep some momentum going, after the loss last week. That forced his hand. Although, I dare say if we play a full team and trounce Storm, we'd have seen less of his key players on the paddock against the Cows if that minor prem was out of reach. He has also rested players the past couple of weeks - including the loss last week - so he's still resting players, just in a different way.

 

[McHunt]

Yeah I can't get on board this train. What if it was Walsh or Reyno who went down instead of Willison?

The whole point of the season is the big trophy at the end. Win or lose on Thurs we were guaranteed top 2 and 2 home finals. We were playing the grubbiest **** team in the competition who are also in the hunt for a GF berth, and who I have zero doubt are not above taking out one of our key players illegally to improve their chances.

I'm not saying it was the wrong tactic, I'm saying deliberately devaluing the minor premiership - which comes with its own award - isn't in the spirit of the game. It's a very Bellamy like tactic. Is this who we are now?

The minor premiership comes with bragging rights. Next season we could have been referred to as the "minor premiers," even if we don't win the premiership. It's not nothing.