THE COACH Kevin Walters

[Foordy]

I've been staying out of this thread (even though I expected it to be resurrected)

But I have to say, who would want to be a Broncos coach? It takes SFA to get the fans to turn on you, even club legends aren't immune.

Let's take a look at our current coach. This is a guy who's inherited a wooden spoon team (one of the worst performing in NRL history).

And within 3 years, while improving each season he has the team back to playing in GFs. No only that but matching it with the greatest team of this generation.

Then in his 4th year his team loses 3 in a row while missing their leader / on field general to as well as their number one strike weapon. (Throw in a heap of other injuries preventing him being able to run out a consistent team every week)

... And out come the knives that had barely even been concealed

 

[Bucking Beads]

I've been staying out of this thread (even though I expected it to be resurrected)

But I have to say, who would want to be a Broncos coach? It takes SFA to get the fans to turn on you, even club legends aren't immune.

Let's take a look at our current coach. This is a guy who's inherited a wooden spoon team (one of the worst performing in NRL history).

And within 3 years, while improving each season he has the team back to playing in GFs. No only that but matching it with the greatest team of this generation.

Then in his 4th year his team loses 3 in a row while missing their leader / on field general to as well as their number one strike weapon. (Throw in a heap of other injuries preventing him being able to run out a consistent team every week)

... And out come the knives that had barely even been concealed

It is how we're playing not the results that are getting the knives out. All the excuses are real but they don't seem to matter for other teams who keep winning without their stars or halfbacks

 

[Big Pete]

I wouldn't say it's just three losses, the entire season has been a disappointment. The majority of wins have come against injury riddled teams and they weren't high quality wins. The best win of the season was against the Cowboys and they're not exactly a quality team.

He's got some challenges ahead of him Kevie. 4 years is a pretty decent stint for a coach, does he have more up his sleeve or has he played all his cards?

 

[Jedhead]

I've been staying out of this thread (even though I expected it to be resurrected)

But I have to say, who would want to be a Broncos coach? It takes SFA to get the fans to turn on you, even club legends aren't immune.

Let's take a look at our current coach. This is a guy who's inherited a wooden spoon team (one of the worst performing in NRL history).

And within 3 years, while improving each season he has the team back to playing in GFs. No only that but matching it with the greatest team of this generation.

Then in his 4th year his team loses 3 in a row while missing their leader / on field general to as well as their number one strike weapon. (Throw in a heap of other injuries preventing him being able to run out a consistent team every week)

... And out come the knives that had barely even been concealed

I know right. Some of the worry worts and negative Nellies on here are beyond pathetic. But hey not everyone is expected to understand the intricacies of coaching a high profile NRL team. I think even if Kevvie had managed to win that GF there would still be people calling for his head now.

 

[BroncosFever]

I wouldn't say it's just three losses, the entire season has been a disappointment. The majority of wins have come against injury riddled teams and they weren't high quality wins. The best win of the season was against the Cowboys and they're not exactly a quality team.

He's got some challenges ahead of him Kevie. 4 years is a pretty decent stint for a coach, does he have more up his sleeve or has he played all his cards?

They'll probably comfortably make the 8, you know.

Haven't had a bye yet and then they've got a good stretch of home games.

 

[Wolfie]

It's very easy to throw out statements like "we have recruited poorly" and "our cap is out if balance". Why don't you substantiate it by saying who we should have signed that was off contract and who we should have let go.

I keep telling you, we dont have to simply sign off contract players. Its not rocket science, deals can be done all the time.

Not really much point in me telling you what i would have done, because i would have done things way differently well before this situation developed in the first place. You cant fix up an issue like we have now by simply looking at off contract players that we could have signed for 2024. You have to have a bit of foresight.

Besides that, i've said many times players i'd have let go and players i would have looked at on here. Its not hard to find if you are that bothered about it.

 

[Wolfie]

I wouldn't say it's just three losses, the entire season has been a disappointment. The majority of wins have come against injury riddled teams and they weren't high quality wins. The best win of the season was against the Cowboys and they're not exactly a quality team.

He's got some challenges ahead of him Kevie. 4 years is a pretty decent stint for a coach, does he have more up his sleeve or has he played all his cards?

I think we have looked a bit stale at times tbh. The injuries havent helped, but we do look off it for some reason. Agree with you about Kevvie though, he does have challenges now. I feel our game has gone backwards this year.

 

[Bish]

I feel our game has gone backwards this year.

The way our season has gone, that’d be called a knock on…….

 

[Sproj]

I mean he got us to a GF we all but won half a season ago, not bad in his first three seasons and having to turn the club from being an absolute basket case.

This year he has been dealing with all sorts of injuries, disruptions and other issues, so he has earned a bit more patience from us as fans. Give him a chance to turn this around before turning on him, he's shown he is capable of doing so.

The cattle is there but right now, they are dealing with mad cow disease, get behind Kevvie to fix it.

 

[LittleDavey]

I mean he got us to a GF we all but won half a season ago, not bad in his first three seasons and having to turn the club from being an absolute basket case.

This year he has been dealing with all sorts of injuries, disruptions and other issues, so he has earned a bit more patience from us as fans. Give him a chance to turn this around before turning on him, he's shown he is capable of doing so.

The cattle is there but right now, they are dealing with mad cow disease, get behind Kevvie to fix it.

I think the problem is, we're not seeing any signs at all that it's turning around. Let's even just look at the past few weeks . We expected a bounceback after the Tits rolled us FFS and we had a week to dwell on it with the bye. But we rocked up and put in that poor effort against the Sharks.

So then we expected the lads to bounce back properly against a very poor Souths team and they dished up one of the worst performances in Kev's tenure.

Things aren't changing, though, that's the problem. There are no signs in the squad that things are going to turn around anytime soon. There are disturbing similarities between the body language this year, and some recent years gone by that we'd rather forget. I know Kev is still learning but it's the lack of signs that things will turn around that have some of us (well, me at least) concerned.

 

[KateBroncos1812]

Honestly Kev is doing a better job then Benji Marshall. I mean where would you like to be 9th or 17th

 

[Sproj]

I think the problem is, we're not seeing any signs at all that it's turning around. Let's even just look at the past few weeks . We expected a bounceback after the Tits rolled us FFS and we had a week to dwell on it with the bye. But we rocked up and put in that poor effort against the Sharks.

So then we expected the lads to bounce back properly against a very poor Souths team and they dished up one of the worst performances in Kev's tenure.

Things aren't changing, though, that's the problem. There are no signs in the squad that things are going to turn around anytime soon. There are disturbing similarities between the body language this year, and some recent years gone by that we'd rather forget. I know Kev is still learning but it's the lack of signs that things will turn around that have some of us (well, me at least) concerned.

I am also concerned with what I'm seeing, I am just willing to give the guy time to turn it around. No other team has had the short preseason we had on top of long term injuries to key players, played a heart breaking GF only to have an already shortened preseason shortened even further by the stupid US trip and then being disrupted by origin on top of it all AND with such a ridiculously hard draw. On top of that, we lost two key players from last season's team in Flegler and especially Farnworth.

Look at the Dogs and Dolphins to see just how much a soft draw can benefit a team by giving them confidence. This season might be a write off but I am certainly not thinking so yet, we just need to time our run at the right time and this team is definitely capable of it.

If we still look this bad in a month, my concerns will be much stronger but right now, I am understanding of why the team is going so poorly but I also think it is interesting that it seems we are changing both assistants, maybe Kevvie has picked up on it too.

 

[Galah]

I think the problem is, we're not seeing any signs at all that it's turning around. Let's even just look at the past few weeks . We expected a bounceback after the Tits rolled us FFS and we had a week to dwell on it with the bye. But we rocked up and put in that poor effort against the Sharks.

So then we expected the lads to bounce back properly against a very poor Souths team and they dished up one of the worst performances in Kev's tenure.

Things aren't changing, though, that's the problem. There are no signs in the squad that things are going to turn around anytime soon. There are disturbing similarities between the body language this year, and some recent years gone by that we'd rather forget. I know Kev is still learning but it's the lack of signs that things will turn around that have some of us (well, me at least) concerned.

This is my entire issue with the current situation, the parallels are frightening.

 

[Manofoneway]

I've been staying out of this thread (even though I expected it to be resurrected)

But I have to say, who would want to be a Broncos coach? It takes SFA to get the fans to turn on you, even club legends aren't immune.

Let's take a look at our current coach. This is a guy who's inherited a wooden spoon team (one of the worst performing in NRL history).

And within 3 years, while improving each season he has the team back to playing in GFs. No only that but matching it with the greatest team of this generation.

Then in his 4th year his team loses 3 in a row while missing their leader / on field general to as well as their number one strike weapon. (Throw in a heap of other injuries preventing him being able to run out a consistent team every week)

... And out come the knives that had barely even been concealed

People just think that Kevy is not smart because he doesn't have the gift of the gab. They have amnesia from Seibold, who said all the right things but led us to the gutter. Frankly, Kevy is a great coach, has some of the games biggest stars all signing long term deals with him at the helm. He went out and got Adam Reynolds who was probably the best buy from any NRL club in the last decade and it can't be argued that our team is a million times better with him at the helm.

Best of all he's actually a likable guy and a club legend. He will turn it around, he's done it before and will do it again!

 

[Nashy]

People just think that Kevy is not smart because he doesn't have the gift of the gab. They have amnesia from Seibold, who said all the right things but led us to the gutter. Frankly, Kevy is a great coach, has some of the games biggest stars all signing long term deals with him at the helm. He went out and got Adam Reynolds who was probably the best buy from any NRL club in the last decade and it can't be argued that our team is a million times better with him at the helm.

Best of all he's actually a likable guy and a club legend. He will turn it around, he's done it before and will do it again!

Maybe we need an asshole to start unleashing on players that keep making potato brain decisions. Such an asshole that you never, ever want to make the same, or another mistake again.

 

[McHunt]

People just think that Kevy is not smart because he doesn't have the gift of the gab. They have amnesia from Seibold, who said all the right things but led us to the gutter. Frankly, Kevy is a great coach, has some of the games biggest stars all signing long term deals with him at the helm. He went out and got Adam Reynolds who was probably the best buy from any NRL club in the last decade and it can't be argued that our team is a million times better with him at the helm.

Best of all he's actually a likable guy and a club legend. He will turn it around, he's done it before and will do it again!

Kevvie might one day be regarded as a "great coach' - I hope so - but he has a long way to go before deserving that accolade. He's probably done a few things right, and he might be responsible for getting us to a Grand Final (as distinct from getting the credit.)

Last year's success sandpapers over the cracks of earlier failings. You have to overlook the musical chairs period of inability to gel a halves pairing, the failure to coach and retain Tom Dearden, and letting Reece Walsh go. There remains a questionmark over his son that has yet to be a distinct conflict of interest. Unless you try and pick at the Cory Paix mystery. I could go on, but last season effectively excuses those. Until it happens again...

Other than Adam Reynolds, his imports haven't been great. Most have been duds. Reece is far and away our most valuable player, and Kevvie really can't take any credit for him returning on a paltry salary. He was a star in his first trial. He should never have been released. We were lucky to get him back.

Have players bloomed under his coaching? I wouldn't like to say either way, but not emphatically. Ezra is now starting to cop shit for not having blossomed into more than he was last year. Jock Madden isn't working. Our hooker rotation is questionable. We are bare in the second row, and desperately need what Kurt Capewell was. Payne Haas is keeping on, keeping on, but he could be so much more. And, of course, our wonderfully unpredictable high risk attack is now looking more like high error than high payoff.

At this stage, we can only be certain Kevvie's a "great bloke."

 

[McHunt]

I am also concerned with what I'm seeing, I am just willing to give the guy time to turn it around. No other team has had the short preseason we had on top of long term injuries to key players, played a heart breaking GF only to have an already shortened preseason shortened even further by the stupid US trip and then being disrupted by origin on top of it all AND with such a ridiculously hard draw. On top of that, we lost two key players from last season's team in Flegler and especially Farnworth.

Look at the Dogs and Dolphins to see just how much a soft draw can benefit a team by giving them confidence. This season might be a write off but I am certainly not thinking so yet, we just need to time our run at the right time and this team is definitely capable of it.

If we still look this bad in a month, my concerns will be much stronger but right now, I am understanding of why the team is going so poorly but I also think it is interesting that it seems we are changing both assistants, maybe Kevvie has picked up on it too.

Do you really think we've had an unfair draw? Not sure I can use that as an excuse.

Two of our draws coincide with Origins. That's handy.

We play several games (even Magic Round) at home, as an away.

And as for us playing the harder teams more times than some other teams. Who is harder is completely subjective. We just lost to the two bottom placed teams in the Titans and Souths, and played the Sharks minus their best player. We might feel fucked over at times in the season, but I bet every team does.

It's not hard to find other teams' fans whinging about us:

Questions about Magic Round!

I find this whole magic round is bullshit. Why? Because every damn year (that I can recall anyway) Brisbane Broncos are listed as an 'away' team when the damn round is held in their venue early year. In addition, this year, co-tenants of Suncorp, the Dolphins, are also listed as an away team...

www.thekennel.net.au

 

[Redfern_1980]

Not that any of you care what a Bunnies fan thinks lol, but from an outsiders point of view, it is hard to believe the slide you blokes have had from last year when you looked like world beaters. (And yes I know I can't talk as my team has been utter shite for a couple of years now and counting).

But wasn't there some blow up pre-season between Reyno, Carrigan and Oates after your fan day or some function where they were wrestling and fooling around? Yes, not the crime of the century, but to me an indication that maybe the players' heads were/are somewhere else this season and they lost their focus.

It's probably not the kind of behavior you would wish to see as a fan a few weeks out from kick-off. It is also something you probably wouldn't see happening at Penrith or Melbourne where that type of behaviour would be less likely to be tolerated. I think they have last that hard edge and their focus from last year. It doesn't take much at all and you are suddenly back with the pack instead of at that elite level required to challenge for a premiership.