NEWS Walters concedes failures in 2024 as Broncos acknowledge slim finals hopes

Brisbane Broncos head coach Kevin Walters has admitted that he’s been left disappointed at the criticism directed towards him and the club during the 2024 season but accepts the results have been far from ideal.

The Broncos entered the 2024 season with plenty of optimism following their Grand Final appearance the previous season but a combination of injuries, representative footy and poor form has resulted in Brisbane sitting outside the top eight with three matches remaining.

The Broncos remain a slim mathematical possibility but Walters conceded that the performance of the club doesn’t warrant a finals berth.

“I’m a realist and I understand the situation with Broncos fans and the media when we aren’t sitting in the eight,” Walters told SENQ.

“Are we happy with where we are sitting? No. We are trying our best to rectify the situation and get back on target.

‘We are in great hands with a good roster and good people who want success.

“We lost our best players over a six to seven week block midway through the season and that’s where we found it difficult this year.

“We didn’t have our captain in Adam Reynolds and we had a couple of other good players who weren’t available during injury which makes the well dry.

“It’s a critical part of the year in which you need to win games during that period to set up your end of the year.

“That’s an area where we failed because we didn’t get the wins on the board as opposed to last year.

“There must be a better solution there with the State of Origin.

"They’re not excuses but they are reasons as to why things haven’t gone exactly to plan.”

Whilst the Broncos remain without stars Ezra Mam, Payne Haas and Reece Walsh, the Broncos are buoyed by the return of winger Selwyn Cobbo for the must-win game against the Eels.

Walters said he’s excited to welcome Cobbo back after the 22-year-old revealed he was experiencing personal struggles off the field.

“He’s come back in great shape and he’s been going well at training,” Walters added.

“Cobbo has been through a bit in the last month but he seems to be on top of that at the moment.

“We haven’t seen him in a Broncos jumper for some weeks now so it will be good to see him back in a Broncos jumper.”

The Broncos host the Eels on Friday night at Suncorp Stadium.

SEN

 

[Mr Fourex]

Who played SOO this year.......?

Haas
Walsh
Patty
Cobbo (1 game)

I struggle to use that as an excuse anymore....at least when comparing our player losses to years gone by.

 

[Santa]

Who played SOO this year.......?

Haas
Walsh
Patty
Cobbo (1 game)

I struggle to use that as an excuse anymore....at least when comparing our player losses to years gone by.

Yea but then Reynolds and half the team were injured at the same time, and some of the replacements e.g. Sailor didn't help either.

Even this week: Mam, Walsh and Hass all out: that's a lot of salary cap sitting on the sidelines.

 

[Mr Fourex]

Yea but then Reynolds and half the team were injured at the same time, and some of the replacements e.g. Sailor didn't help either.

Even this week: Mam, Walsh and Hass all out: that's a lot of salary cap sitting on the sidelines.

Sure......injuries aside, but SOO in itself doesn't cause us as much grief as it once did IMO.

 

[Manofoneway]

Who played SOO this year.......?

Haas
Walsh
Patty
Cobbo (1 game)

I struggle to use that as an excuse anymore....at least when comparing our player losses to years gone by.

We had 13 players unavailable during origin 2 - We had additional players in camp that did not train during the week.

 

[Trill Harrigan]

i dont think he should even mention SOO in his little capitulation speech, it's embarrassing

 

[Mustafur]

Sure......injuries aside, but SOO in itself doesn't cause us as much grief as it once did IMO.

Walsh getting knocked out a few mins in and missing for over a month says what?

 

[Manofoneway]

Walsh getting knocked out a few mins in and missing for over a month says what?

Obviously Kevy's fault. should have taught walsh how to not get hit in the head.

 

[nopatience101]

They are not excuses, they just sound, smell and look like excuses…

We were pretty much full strength when we got dusted by both the titans and bulldogs at home with our season on the line, what was the excuse then?

 

[Mustafur]

I would say the biggest thing we learned this year is we can lose Walsh or Reyno but not both at the same time, the team is very dependent on them two to function.

Our backup players have not done a job at all this season either compared to last season, and a few recruitment blunders.

We need a better bench backrow option and probably a good outside back to put pressure on our existing team because I feel there needs to be more pressure on players to be dropped but the quality of player we have to replace them isn't good.

 

[Mr Fourex]

We had 13 players unavailable during origin 2 - We had additional players in camp that did not train during the week.

Game 2 we had Walsh, Haas and Patty.....playing SOO.

?

 

[Mr Fourex]

Walsh getting knocked out a few mins in and missing for over a month says what?

He broke his hand last week and will likely be out for the rest of the season...... what does that say?

Injuries happen....?

 

[Mustafur]

He broke his hand last week and will likely be out for the rest of the season...... what does that say?

Injuries happen....?

One happened not playing for us, the other he did and he helped us win too.

They said he should be back before the last round which would be less time than the head knock aswell.

 

[Volvo Driver]

That first loss to the Titans was basically the death knell for the season. Our attitude/play that game was one of the worst I've seen.

We were without Reynolds but otherwise had a strong team, playing a Titans team with bloody Chris Randall and Tom Weaver in the halves. On top of that the Titans had injuries during the game and we conceded 36points to that reserve grade strength team.

Can't blame Origin for that shit.

 

[Culhwch]

That first loss to the Titans was basically the death knell for the season. Our attitude/play that game was one of the worst I've seen.

We were without Reynolds but otherwise had a strong team, playing a Titans team with bloody Chris Randall and Tom Weaver in the halves. On top of that the Titans had injuries during the game and we conceded 36points to that reserve grade strength team.

Can't blame Origin for that shit.

Nah, that one was because it was a day game.

 

[YeahNahMate]

It’s not just injuries & SOO, it’s a combination of a bunch of possible things

- 2 assistants being away for origin camp/having one foot out the door looking to next year?
- Combined with loss of Herbie, Flegler, capewell, palasia
- injuries
- Shortened pre-season
- Vegas
- Weight of expectation
- I know nothing about this bloke but maybe him leaving had some impact (I believe he was replaced with Josh McGuire but I could be wrong)

Broncos Update: O’Farrell Moves On

Broncos Tackle & Defence Coach Brett O’Farrell has stepped away from his role at the club.

www.broncos.com.au

I guess it all adds up. I’m optimistic about next year though. 2024 was a good learning year for guys like Willison, Mariner, Mozer

Te Kura, Karapani more established first graders, Possibly Reynos last year. I can see us being a bit more settled going into next year

 

[BroncsFan]

Who played SOO this year.......?

Haas
Walsh
Patty
Cobbo (1 game)

I struggle to use that as an excuse anymore....at least when comparing our player losses to years gone by.

I think that comment is probably mostly targeted at losing Walsh.

Kevvie was critical of the game when Walsh was torpedoed in the face and following that we only had him play for Rd 18 vs penrith across the entire origin period.... 1 game out 5. He played more origin games than NRL games across the period.

He's probably also flagging the game against NZ in NZ after origin 2 where our players were never going to be able to back up.

I think his point is that the origin period is an important point of the year and we lost every game throughout it... and losing is not helped when you dont have your best players available to turn it around.

Last year we won every game through origin which set us up for the run home.

Origin period this year was basically the death of the season... went into it 7-5 came out of it 7-10... but the week it finished was Rd 20 when we smashed knights.

Outside of origin we've gone 9-7 for the year... so would still have a positive win record if it didnt get played at the same time as the comp.... despite having a million injuries across the squad

 

[Fernando]

They are not excuses, they just sound, smell and look like excuses…

We were pretty much full strength when we got dusted by both the titans and bulldogs at home with our season on the line, what was the excuse then?

Yeah it doesn't seem to matter who we have on the field, every week they get smashed by the opposition in the key stats. Some weeks they are good enough to win despite that through some individual brlilliance, but most weeks they aren't.