THE COACH Poll: Should Kevin Walters be sacked?

[Broncones]

Funny watching all the old Kev supporters suddenly step out of denial and accept the fact that he is a useless coach. You can tell by his press conferences over the years that not much is going on tactically up there. I mean he literally finished his last press conference saying that they still might make the finals after being demolished 40 points to phins at suncorp LOL. Delusional and has no answers for anything.

 

[Big Del]

we need a hard-headed coach like Madge to get these kids in line and harden them up and stop being show ponies.

All this bring in an arse kicker talk ...
Being hard on people doesn`t automatically = improvement .
It`s pretty basic psychology people respond best when they are engaged and happy .
Two ways of getting results - reward or punishment . Too much of one or the other you lose the dressing room .

 

[Big Del]

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

Doesn`t want to be an NRL coach he says .

 

[Bronco bob]

All this bring in an arse kicker talk ...
Being hard on people doesn`t automatically = improvement .
It`s pretty basic psychology people respond best when they are engaged and happy .
Two ways of getting results - reward or punishment . Too much of one or the other you lose the dressing room .

@Big Del Bellamy has made a pretty good career out of being an arse kicker, maybe it can work? You just need to watch a couple of interviews with current or past players to know how he is.

 

[Sproj]

Funny watching all the old Kev supporters suddenly step out of denial and accept the fact that he is a useless coach. You can tell by his press conferences over the years that not much is going on tactically up there. I mean he literally finished his last press conference saying that they still might make the finals after being demolished 40 points to phins at suncorp LOL. Delusional and has no answers for anything.

He isn't a useless coach. No matter how much some of you want to re-write history, you don't 'fluke' making a grand final, especially playing as well as we were. Something is majorly off this year, unlike some of you, us 'old Kev supporters' are open to the fact it might not be only him and are not wanting to throw out the baby with the bath water, we want to get decisions right, especially big ones like potentially changing your coach.

Even now, people are saying Ciraldo would get more out of our side than Kevvie and maybe he would but the facts are, Ciraldo finished low on the table last year and didn't make finals. People were questioning his coaching even a month into this season. Ciraldo is Kevvie last year.

The fact also remains that our team was on an upward trajectory until this year. People also say Kevvie has only made finals once in four years and yes, this is true but its a bit unfair to hold his first season against him, he was coming from a wooden spoon and inherited a massively out of whack roster. 2022 we were flying until we weren't and while Kevvie didn't manage to turn it around in season, he managed to arrest if in the offseason and we got 2023. Why can't he do it again?

Kevvie may be the problem, us 'old Kev supporters' Just want to be sure. And if Kevvie is punted, that the replacement we get is actually better and not just a case of anyone but Kev.

People were talking up Slater deluxe last year because he won origin. This year he got smashed, so no one is talking about him. Maguire won origin with a really strong NSW team and Qld having so many star players out and suddenly he's flavour of the month despite having a proven record of trending his teams down and reportedly losing the playing group at both clubs - this is the guy we are calling for to replace a coach who...has reportedly lost the playing group after trending his team down.

Not a great plan.

 

[Big Del]

@Big Del Bellamy has made a pretty good career out of being an arse kicker, maybe it can work? You just need to watch a couple of interviews with current or past players to know how he is.

Has a tough love style .
You have to give positive feed back as well as kick arses if standards are not met .
But just kicking arse all the time leads to people not listening and rebellions .

 

[Dexter]

Doesn`t want to be an NRL coach he says .

Yes, if he was motivated by money we might sway him but he seems very happy doing his SoO, horses and media.
Also his wife has a career breeding thoroubreds and painting them too, throw in a young family and I'd say Slater is lightyears away from taking on an NRL job unless it's Melb where they live.

 

[Sproj]

Yes, if he was motivated by money we might sway him but he seems very happy doing his SoO, horses and media.
Also his wife has a career breeding thoroubreds and painting them too, throw in a young family and I'd say Slater is lightyears away from taking on an NRL job unless it's Melb where they live.

Why would anyone live in Melbourne...wait a minute.

 

[Culhwch]

People were talking up Slater deluxe last year because he won origin. This year he got smashed, so no one is talking about him. Maguire won origin with a really strong NSW team and Qld having so many star players out and suddenly he's flavour of the month despite having a proven record of trending his teams down and reportedly losing the playing group at both clubs - this is the guy we are calling for to replace a coach who...has reportedly lost the playing group after trending his team down.

Not a great plan.

Other popular plans - poach Andrew Webster from the Warriors, despite the fact that they had their own slide from penthouse to basement this year, or sack all the superstars and build a team of toilers like Redcliffe, who might sneak into the finals to make up numbers.

 

[Professor47]

He isn't a useless coach. No matter how much some of you want to re-write history, you don't 'fluke' making a grand final, especially playing as well as we were. Something is majorly off this year, unlike some of you, us 'old Kev supporters' are open to the fact it might not be only him and are not wanting to throw out the baby with the bath water, we want to get decisions right, especially big ones like potentially changing your coach.

Even now, people are saying Ciraldo would get more out of our side than Kevvie and maybe he would but the facts are, Ciraldo finished low on the table last year and didn't make finals. People were questioning his coaching even a month into this season. Ciraldo is Kevvie last year.

The fact also remains that our team was on an upward trajectory until this year. People also say Kevvie has only made finals once in four years and yes, this is true but its a bit unfair to hold his first season against him, he was coming from a wooden spoon and inherited a massively out of whack roster. 2022 we were flying until we weren't and while Kevvie didn't manage to turn it around in season, he managed to arrest if in the offseason and we got 2023. Why can't he do it again?

Kevvie may be the problem, us 'old Kev supporters' Just want to be sure. And if Kevvie is punted, that the replacement we get is actually better and not just a case of anyone but Kev.

People were talking up Slater deluxe last year because he won origin. This year he got smashed, so no one is talking about him. Maguire won origin with a really strong NSW team and Qld having so many star players out and suddenly he's flavour of the month despite having a proven record of trending his teams down and reportedly losing the playing group at both clubs - this is the guy we are calling for to replace a coach who...has reportedly lost the playing group after trending his team down.

Not a great plan.

Agree about Madge... 100% not the best plan.

In terms of Kevvie... 2022, I still think a top coach would have got us to 6th-8th considering the context of that season.
And this is the Broncos... what was once absolute powerhouse of a rugby league club. We want the best of the best... players/coaches/staff/etc.
I believe we should have a coach who 'can' lift a team to come home strong in those circumstances (2022)

2023 = excellent

2024 = terrible

So if we give the first season a write off (fair enough) ... then its 2/3 seasons he hasn't reached a pass mark.

Absolutely there should be pressure on 2025. Like with anyone with any job. If you have performed at a 33% (1/3 successful years) success rate, there needs to be a closer look.

 

[Bronco bob]

Has a tough love style .
You have to give positive feed back as well as kick arses if standards are not met .
But just kicking arse all the time leads to people not listening and rebellions .

@Big Del I agree with you that you need both and I wasn't suggesting that you only take the kick-arses approach. However, from what I have seen and heard from people closer than me is that Kevie is too nice, too friendly, and jokes around too much. Additionally, because he follows the extreme positivity/law of attraction philosophy, that also negates his ability to be tough on the players so I was just suggesting that they could do well from a harder stance than what Kevie is currently providing, because it hasn't worked apart from last year and with our roster, we should be a top 4 team every one of the years he has coached so clearly it is a coaching issue.

 

[Broncones]

He isn't a useless coach. No matter how much some of you want to re-write history, you don't 'fluke' making a grand final, especially playing as well as we were. Something is majorly off this year, unlike some of you, us 'old Kev supporters' are open to the fact it might not be only him and are not wanting to throw out the baby with the bath water, we want to get decisions right, especially big ones like potentially changing your coach.

Even now, people are saying Ciraldo would get more out of our side than Kevvie and maybe he would but the facts are, Ciraldo finished low on the table last year and didn't make finals. People were questioning his coaching even a month into this season. Ciraldo is Kevvie last year.

The fact also remains that our team was on an upward trajectory until this year. People also say Kevvie has only made finals once in four years and yes, this is true but its a bit unfair to hold his first season against him, he was coming from a wooden spoon and inherited a massively out of whack roster. 2022 we were flying until we weren't and while Kevvie didn't manage to turn it around in season, he managed to arrest if in the offseason and we got 2023. Why can't he do it again?

Kevvie may be the problem, us 'old Kev supporters' Just want to be sure. And if Kevvie is punted, that the replacement we get is actually better and not just a case of anyone but Kev.

People were talking up Slater deluxe last year because he won origin. This year he got smashed, so no one is talking about him. Maguire won origin with a really strong NSW team and Qld having so many star players out and suddenly he's flavour of the month despite having a proven record of trending his teams down and reportedly losing the playing group at both clubs - this is the guy we are calling for to replace a coach who...has reportedly lost the playing group after trending his team down.

Not a great plan.

You seem to thing it’s a big risk we are taking if we sack him. Oh no we appointed someone new and we finished 13th on the ladder instead of 12th (this is worst case scenario). Kev is not going to suddenly spike anything in the team now, however someone new has the potential to.

 

[Bronco bob]

One of my best mates is friends with Ryan James and when he left the club he relayed a very similar critique of Kevie as we heard from Cobbo on the podcast. He is a great bloke and jokes around but provides very little in the way of a game plan and actually coaching players to be better via improving their skills or tactics. He also said that he didn't have a very good Xs and Os brain.

 

[1910]

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.

Defence is about fitness first and then structure. Too many times the Broncos had three markers and guys on the ground that just weren't fit enough to get up. Mozer did it for the Herbie break and three Broncos were left with Bromich in the middle when Herbie scores on the right. Two markers inside 5m- why? One on the short- why? Three guys covering 5m and Dolphins score on the other edge.

That's why I think fitness will fix a lot of things.

Then structure comes into it, Penrith taper high herd you back into their hit zone in the middle. Storm work really hard from marker and edges move up to create a hit zone.

But someone has to work that out and teach it- that's why I think fit and defence all summer- I wouldn't even let this side touch a ball until February.

 

[Fernando]

But someone has to work that out and teach it

...

 

[trugo bronco]

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.

The Fluke was we got Reece Walsh back, only because the Warriors stipulated, they would release him from is contract to any Queensland team but the Dolphins. (remember Walters let him go in the first place)

Walsh’s inclusion gave every other good player we had more time and space on attack, as defences had to overcompensate to cover him.

Our only average cog in the machine was the number 9, with a better hooker our spine would have been untouchable and probably won the GF.

When you let three integral parts of a very good team go, without replacing like for like, in Farnworth, Flegler and Capewell it will have a massive effect on the team’s performance.

When your coach and club hierarchy do this without realising what the ramifications could be, you know they’re inept.

Therefore, one can only conclude last year was more of an aberration or fluke, than anything to do with good coaching or administration.

 

[Big Del]

Yes, if he was motivated by money we might sway him but he seems very happy doing his SoO, horses and media.
Also his wife has a career breeding thoroubreds and painting them too, throw in a young family and I'd say Slater is lightyears away from taking on an NRL job unless it's Melb where they live.

Ole Bill would not be media friendly if his team was not successful .
His we are still Queenslanders quote is up there with we will make the finals as far as new age Foo Foo goes .

 

[McHunt]

He isn't a useless coach. No matter how much some of you want to re-write history, you don't 'fluke' making a grand final, especially playing as well as we were. Something is majorly off this year, unlike some of you, us 'old Kev supporters' are open to the fact it might not be only him and are not wanting to throw out the baby with the bath water, we want to get decisions right, especially big ones like potentially changing your coach.

Kevvie may be the problem, us 'old Kev supporters' Just want to be sure.

Kevvie isn't necessarily "the (entire) problem" but I think it's clear now he's not the solution either.

Four years is a decent stint as head coach. It's as long as Wayne got in his second stint and he never missed a final. It's also longer than he had at St George, Newcastle, Souths and Redcliffe. It's as long as Hook got, and longer than Seibold and Henjak. It's more patience than the Catalans had.

It makes him the second longest serving coach of the Broncos. With the second lowest win %. Only Seibold was lower.

But never mind the stats. We got through last year on exceptional defence. Who has responsible for that? Was it Kevvie? Or was he more responsible for the Hail Mary style attack that we saw again this season? Because that defence was nowhere to be seen.

I think Kevvie's limitations as a coach have been exposed in the last few weeks. There are "good bloke" reasons to keep him on until he dies a horrible humiliating death, played out in the press, next season. But I think it will turn out to be cruel, rather than kind.