THE COACH Poll: Should Kevin Walters be sacked?

[Volvo Driver]

Kevvie has now missed the finals in 3 out of his 4 seasons as coach.

2 of those seasons saw absolute capitulation into the end of the year and some results and performances which are totally unacceptable.

The 1 season we did make the finals, our play was still riddled with an abundance of errors and attack that was centred around individual brilliance, rather than any sort of offensive system.

Kevvie is probably a passable coach for a lot of teams, and he’s probably a very good assistant coach, but if we want to return to consistently challenging for the top 4 and premierships, we need someone better.

Seen quite a few posters (not just here) passing off last year as some fluke, or that we only got to the GF on individual brilliance.

Our style of play meant our errors were always higher but the trade off was great attack but the difference was we could defend our errors. So who cares if we forced a pass.

I don't recall a run of games that we solely relied on just one player to get us the win. One week or was Walsh, then Arey, the Mam, Herbie, our FRF's.

We were a good bloody team last year. Let's not forget that.

 

[Lockysillegitimatechild]

I do apologise if I've upset you. Was a bit bored today with not much else scheduled. A self funded retiree has lots of free time on their hands. Enjoy your day at work

You are sadder than I thought.. I'm not gonna lie, if my dad told me he was doing what you're doing my respect for him would take a huge hit and I'd be doing everything I could to increase his social life and well being. Luckily my dad has friends and family and is a well educated man.

Reach out to someone mate, I'm not even joking. I've had mates head down the spiral you're showing all the signs for and it's not that hard to get started. Footy is footy, if you're an older fellow like you and it is still taking up so much headspace it's really concerning.

Keep your head up and there's always someone who will listen.

 

[BruiserMk1]

I don't think our results change until we work out what is going wrong across the board at the club. The playing group are an issue, the recruitment and retention is an issue, the coaching is an issue and the Standards at the club is an issue.

This

 

[McHunt]

Denan Kemp is giving Kevvie until Round 10, which is the gentleman's (coward's) code for now.

Meanwhile he lavished praise on Bennett for joining the conga line of coaches who've unpicked Kevvie's basic bitch structures. He said the blame must go 100% on Kevvie, as it's clear he's got the roster he wanted, and complete control, ousting everyone who stood in his path.

He made it clear it pained him to say it, that Kevvie is a good bloke (but not a coach), a club legend and there's nothing more he'd love than to see him succeed.

 

[McHunt]

Footy is footy, if you're an older fellow like you and it is still taking up so much headspace it's really concerning.

Fake news.

 

[Galah]

Denan Kemp is giving Kevvie until Round 10, which is the gentleman's (coward's) code for now.

Meanwhile he lavished praise on Bennett for joining the conga line of coaches who've unpicked Kevvie's basic bitch structures. He said the blame must go 100% on Kevvie, as it's clear he's got the roster he wanted, and complete control, ousting everyone who stood in his path.

He made it clear it pained him to say it, that Kevvie is a good bloke (but not a coach), a club legend and there's nothing more he'd love than to see him succeed.

This is why the injury excuse just doesn’t sit well, the defence structure and his inability to change it the entire season, when it was clear as day it was getting picked apart. Even when Wayne swapped players around in his team just to implement an attack that was going to target it, He still did nothing about it.

 

[McHunt]

This is why the injury excuse just doesn’t sit well, the defence structure and his inability to change it the entire season, when it was clear as day it was getting picked apart. Even when Wayne swapped players around in his team just to implement an attack that was going to target it, He still did nothing about it.

Kemp pointed out that Bennnett moved Hammer to take out Staggs (this is our home, etc), who had emerged as our only attack weapon, and put Herbie on Karapani, the newbie with suss defence. He talked up Plath's versatility (if only we'd noticed that in his T&T) and the gall of dropping Katoa to the bench, and obviously the Trai Fuller revelation. But most of all he kept using the term "masterclass," to refer to Kevvie's mentor showing him how actual coaches actually coach.

 

[Bucking Beads]

I feel like defence has more to do with effort than structure. Doesn't matter how good the structure is if the guys are putting in no effort.

 

[BroncsFan]

I feel like defence has more to do with effort than structure. Doesn't matter how good the structure is if the guys are putting in no effort.

And also fitness... you make worse decisions under fatigue, you have quicker linespeed if you're fresher, etc.

Seasons are built during the preseason and from the outside in it looked like Patty and Haas were basically the only ones that came back fit and they had the biggest postseason workload out of all of them.

The club needs to identify what the issues are that has caused this season... but who is going to be the person to review the season... do we have anyone in the joint with footy smarts that can identify the problems?

 

[McHunt]

I feel like defence has more to do with effort than structure. Doesn't matter how good the structure is if the guys are putting in no effort.

And also fitness... you make worse decisions under fatigue, you have quicker linespeed if you're fresher, etc.

Seasons are built during the preseason and from the outside in it looked like Patty and Haas were basically the only ones that came back fit and they had the biggest postseason workload out of all of them.

The club needs to identify what the issues are that has caused this season... but who is going to be the person to review the season... do we have anyone in the joint with footy smarts that can identify the problems?

I'm going to be the asshole and just say it.

We've known Kevvie a long time. He wasn't a plotter. He was eyes up. In the beginning, he was straight man to Alfie. They came as a pair, with Kevvie the shadow. He got little credit. He was just there.

Towards the end of his career he became the butt of (affectionate) jokes on the Footy Show. For being dumb. This was our Kevvie:



By the time he retired he managed to stealth his way to a bunch of premiership rings. Of his limited prospects, a career in football beckoned leading him into assistant coaching and best forgotten stint as a head coach in France. He was sacked by Bennett under circumstances unclear from Wayne's word soup on the issue.

We sometimes saw him as talking head on NRL chat shows. An awkward and inarticulate commentator who rarely offered much insight but we liked him regardless.

When Wayne got on the nose at the Broncos in his second term, Kevvie swooped in to replace him but was deemed too dumb, compared to a smoother talking Seibold. Kevvie's wife complained Pies stole his slogans, for whatever they were worth. Not much in the end.

When Seibold was appointed, the Old Boys circled the wagons around Kevvie in protest, and as their dominoes fell, they opened the path for Kevvie to take the reins.

His first two seasons were barely an improvement on Seibold, as he floundered with his inherited roster. For a former half, reunited with his former halves partner Alfie, he flailed trying to coach a semblance of structure into his spine, trying a different combo every other week. It wasn't until he imported another club's ready made half in Reynolds and a makeshift fullback in Te Maire Martin that anything started to click.

The saga of perma installing his son into an unfamiliar position, and the loss of Dearden and Walsh is by now legion. Throw Isaako in there as another failure.

Whatever happened last season that almost got us a premiership seems a world away, with the most recent season falling back into more familiar territory. We have seen multiple instances of experienced coaches of far inferior rosters taking Kevvie's team apart and throwing their carcasses to the wolves. There were excuses every time, but in the bigger picture it was superior coaching, not firepower.

All the while Kevvie faced the press with his by now familiar bumbling word salad of positive vibes and denial. None of it rang true.

We can point to different parts of the same elephant and pretend it's a trunk, a tail or a leg, but panning back, it's what we've always seen in the room. The coach is a good bloke. But he's dumb. Too dumb to outsmart his peers.

 

[BroncsFan]

I'm going to be the asshole and just say it.

We've known Kevvie a long time. He wasn't a plotter. He was eyes up. In the beginning, he was straight man to Alfie. They came as a pair, with Kevvie the shadow. He got little credit. He was just there.

Towards the end of his career he became the butt of (affectionate) jokes on the Footy Show. For being dumb. This was our Kevvie:



By the time he retired he managed to stealth his way to a bunch of premiership rings. Of his limited prospects, a career in football beckoned leading him into assistant coaching and best forgotten stint as a head coach in France. He was sacked by Bennett under circumstances unclear from Wayne's word soup on the issue.

We sometimes saw him as talking head on NRL chat shows. An awkward and inarticulate commentator who rarely offered much insight but we liked him regardless.

When Wayne got on the nose at the Broncos in his second term, Kevvie swooped into replace him but was deemed too dumb, compared to a smoother talking Seibold. Kevvie's wife complained Pies stole his slogans, for whatever they were worth. Not much in the end.

When Seibold was appointed, the Old Boys circled the wagons around Kevvie in protest, and as their dominoes fell, they opened the path for Kevvie to take the reins.

His first two seasons were barely an improvement on Seibold, as he floundered with his inherited roster. For a former half, reunited with his former halves partner Alfie, he flailed trying to coach a semblance of structure into his spine, trying a different combo every other week. It wasn't until he imported another club's ready made half in Reynolds and a makeshift fullback in Te Maire Martin that anything started to click.

The saga of perma installing his son into an unfamiliar position, and the loss of Dearden and Walsh is by now legion.

Whatever happened last season that almost got us a premiership seems a world away, with the most recent season falling back into more familiar territory. We have seen multiple instances of experienced coaches of far inferior rosters taking Kevvie's team apart and throwing their carcasses to the wolves. There were excuses every time, but in the bigger picture it was superior coaching, not firepower.

All the while Kevvie faced the press with his by now familiar bumbling word salad of positive vibes and denial. None of it rang true.

We can point to different parts of the same elephant and pretend it's a trunk, a tail or a leg, but panning back, it's what we've always seen in the room. The coach is a good bloke. But he's dumb. Too dumb to outsmart his peers.

I'm not saying coaching isnt an issue I'm saying there's more than one issue at the club.... but who at the club isnt "dumb" to be able to identify it and resolve it??

We havent been able to resolve shit since mid-00's and that was off the back of Bennett and Lockyer.... outside of last year we've not been in the conversation when the team doesnt have one or the other involved.

If Kevvie goes it will be the same blokes that appointed him selecting a new coach... the same blokes that have setup the entire football side of the club that has done nothing for near on 20yrs

 

[Sproj]

I'm not saying coaching isnt an issue I'm saying there's more than one issue at the club.... but who at the club isnt "dumb" to be able to identify it and resolve it??

We havent been able to resolve shit since mid-00's and that was off the back of Bennett and Lockyer.... outside of last year we've not been in the conversation when the team doesnt have one or the other involved.

If Kevvie goes it will be the same blokes that appointed him selecting a new coach... the same blokes that have setup the entire football side of the club that has done nothing for near on 20yrs

And unfortunately, off the field, Lockyer has proven to be a major dud.

 

[McHunt]

I'm not saying coaching isnt an issue I'm saying there's more than one issue at the club.... but who at the club isnt "dumb" to be able to identify it and resolve it??

We havent been able to resolve shit since mid-00's and that was off the back of Bennett and Lockyer.... outside of last year we've not been in the conversation when the team doesnt have one or the other involved.

If Kevvie goes it will be the same blokes that appointed him selecting a new coach... the same blokes that have setup the entire football side of the club that has done nothing for near on 20yrs

Well don't look at me for an answer. I was all for bringing Kevvie in for a trial, but my reckoning he failed that trial when we fell apart at the end of 2022, and then look what happened last year.

In terms of admin, off the field, as far as I'm aware business is booming. I don't see their jobs at risk.

But on the field, we're a mess. And in my limited thinking the bucks stops at the head coach in that department. And that includes scouting and recruitment. He doesn't escape the bullet just because that might be in someone else's job description.

 

[nopatience101]

He’s had 4 years & made the finals once, I don't care that it was the GF, it’s inexcusable at the Broncos and the old boys would be saying the same thing if it weren’t Kevvie coaching. This season they’ve gone backwards. He has to go, it’s that simple, and if we had someone actually leading the club he would be.

 

[Bronco bob]

I agree he should go and I believe it should be now, he has had 4 years. If Bellamy, Bennett, Robinson, or even Ciraldo had our roster we consistently make the 4. The question is who do we go to? I think we need a hard-headed coach like Madge to get these kids in line and harden them up and stop being show ponies. However, I also see the argument that the Broncos should be coached by a Queenslander. All I care about is winning so if a NSWelsman can do that well so be it.

 

[Totally Unr3al]

He’s had 4 years & made the finals once, I don't care that it was the GF, it’s inexcusable at the Broncos and the old boys would be saying the same thing if it weren’t Kevvie coaching. This season they’ve gone backwards. He has to go, it’s that simple, and if we had someone actually leading the club he would be.

2022 was a disaster just like this year.
Regardless of whether he stays on next year the club needs to start planning for the future.
How is it that such a successful club can’t possibly find a good coach who isn’t Wayne Bennett in basically the last 16 years?

 

[nopatience101]

2022 was a disaster just like this year.
Regardless of whether he stays on next year the club needs to start planning for the future.
How is it that such a successful club can’t possibly find a good coach who isn’t Wayne Bennett in basically the last 16 years?

Because the ownership of the club doesn’t lend itself to being proactive.

 

[Wild Horse]

What are peoples opinions on Billy Slayter being head coach of the Broncos? I never hear his name getting thrown around.