THE EX Kevin Walters
- Thread starter theshed
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- Aug 25, 2018
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So casting your mind back to Kevvie's peanuts contract saddled with performance bonuses, well guess what? He's met and exceeded all those performance markers and has now gone from one of the lowest to highest paid ($1 million or so).
Karl Morris:
Manager Chris Orr:
Barry Maranta:
Karl Morris:
“I couldn’t be any happier for Kevin. He’s really grown into the role and has got very good people around him. At the time we extended him the board backed him and thought he was the best candidate and he’s proven that. We couldn’t be any more delighted with how confident he’s become in the role.”
Manager Chris Orr:
“’Kevvie’ needed more time to put his stamp on the roster and the club and Dave Donaghy deserves a lot of credit. Dave was instrumental in backing Kevvie to extend his contract. Getting an extension for Kevvie was significant because it provided stability, and most of the successful clubs in the industry have certainty and continuity around the head coach. By extending Kevvie every player on that roster knew who their coach was for the next few years, which made implementing his style of coaching easier. I feel any coach who wins an NRL premiership is certainly at the top of their profession and therefore worth every penny of $1 million."
“Winning a premiership is huge for a club. It means increased gates, increased membership and increased following, plus it assists with recruitment and retaining players. The Broncos job is probably the most prestigious and toughest in the NRL. There is a huge expectation that some people don’t understand, but Kevvie understands it because he has lived it as a premiership-winning player for the Broncos. I would love to see Kevvie and his team win the premiership, he and they in my opinion deserve it for all the hard work that has been done.”
Barry Maranta:
“I just hope the people in charge at the Broncos review his contract because he certainly deserves an upgrade for what he has achieved. In my time, the Broncos board was never afraid to back Wayne and give him an extended deal and I’m sure the current board will reward Kevvie appropriately. It’s been great to see what Kevvie has done. He has proven all his critics wrong and hopefully Sunday culminates in Kevvie bringing back the NRL trophy."
Anybody care to google " Broncos' baffling Kevvie extension under fire'. Written by the great Buzz Rothfield. It's a Foxsports & news.com.au story from Feb 13 this year. I'm not computer savvy to post the link. Betcha the old soak won't be saying " I told you so".
- Aug 25, 2018
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Rothfield:
“Let us start of by saying Kevvie Walters is deadset one of the nicest blokes in rugby league, an absolute champion fellow. But I cannot understand for the life of me why the Broncos at this stage of the season, after one trial match, have decided to extend him for another two years. I look at it this way, you do these contract extensions possibly if there’s a danger of losing your coach to another club and you lock him in long term."
“That’s why you do it, now Kevvie improved the Broncos last year but they bombed out pretty miserably in the back-end of the season. We saw yesterday they had a 24-all draw with the Titans, but I think it is an exciting roster he has got."
“Adam Reynolds will again be the key and hopefully his fitness holds up, but I just don’t think there is any need, they could have waited until Round 10 to make a decision. The NRL have handed the club five million dollars a year above the salary cap and you want NRL clubs to spend that money responsibly. You don’t want to see them facing mass payouts for coaches, which a lot of clubs have wasted money on for far too long."
- Jun 12, 2013
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Ahhhh, bless him. You've gotta love Buzz, silly old fart.
- Aug 25, 2018
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Billy:
Kevvie:
“Having a son now, it makes you realise how good a job dad did. He held it together for a lot of those years. I couldn’t imagine losing my partner, let alone going out and playing the footy he was at that point. He had three little rascals running around and I’d be lost with only one kid if I lost my partner. It’s a massive credit to him to be able to hold it together. It shows how mentally strong he is. I know my mum will be there on Sunday looking over me, as will dad’s parents and my mum’s parents as well. It’d be pretty cool to go out and get a win. It’d be really special.”
“I owe it to my step mum Narelle as well. She came in pretty early during that period, was young and had to take on three young boys. She probably cops the brunt of it at home. He is calm and collected at training but has to let it out somewhere and probably gets a lot more emotional at home. She’s been great for him and our family so hopefully she gets to reap the rewards of that on Sunday.”
“I’ve got a son that will be there on Sunday so hopefully I can celebrate a win with him. We’ve spoken about emulating that photo with grandad (Kevin) and having the three generations there. It would be pretty special. Playing for the Broncos is something you look forward to as a kid and being lucky enough to play in a grand final one day. We’ve got that opportunity this weekend. I’ll have my son there, my brothers and our whole family. I really hope we can win it and celebrate in style.”
Kevvie:
“I couldn’t have done this without my family. The whole family has been on a great journey. It’s not just me there on Sunday. It’s my wife, Narelle, and all the kids have been there supporting me the whole time. We are a very close knit group. Rugby league has been a big part of our lives and whether I was in Ipswich or Melbourne, we were always going to stay close. They came all the way over to France, down to Melbourne, off to Ipswich, we’ve been to all parts and Narelle and the kids have been behind me the whole way. It will be special for me to have Narelle and the kids there on Sunday to enjoy the grand final experience.”
“We’ve gone through some tough times on and off the field but I am really pleased that she gets some reward and joy, but the big reward is on Sunday night. We need to play well and if we win, we will be really happy.”
“Winning a premiership together is definitely something you dream of, not many have done it. I am so pleased for Billy. I am proud of all my kids but if you said three years ago Billy and I would be heading to an NRL grand final, people would have laughed in our faces and rightly so. But we have both worked so hard to get to this position and Billy has been outstanding for us at hooker. I always knew he had the ability, he just needed the confidence and self-belief and the results are coming.”
- Sep 6, 2013
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Yeah man, that’s an emotional read. You can see why the players all love the guy.
Xzei
State of Origin Rep
- Mar 13, 2017
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- Aug 25, 2018
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I never think about you.
