NEWS Walters' record compares with early Broncos: Maranta

Founding Brisbane Broncos chairman Barry Maranta has hit out at critics of coach Kevin Walters and says his first four seasons at the helm compare favourably with the initial four years of the club.

Walters has been savaged for missing finals for the third time in four seasons under his stewardship but founding coach Wayne Bennett had the same record from 1988-1991 before winning the first of his six titles.

"When we targeted Bennett we gave him five years to get us into a grand final. The team we delivered for him initially was a virtual State of Origin side," Maranta told AAP.

"We got into a grand final and won it (in 1992) in the fifth year.

"What I want to point out is that Kevin has had four years as coach and got us into a grand final in the third (in 2023) without the playing staff that we had then. No other Broncos coach has done that.

"The expectations have got quite stupid and the critics want to crucify Kevvie but people that don't understand history go off on a tangent and it doesn't help in any way."

Walters has been the subject of an online newspaper poll where the majority of respondents said he should be sacked. That won't happen as the club CEO Dave Donaghy has publicly stated. Maranta does not believe sacking coaches is the answer to the club's issues when they are performing poorly.

He put his money where his mouth is back in 1991 when the cacophony of external noise to sack Bennett was at its loudest.

"It was a Sunday night and we had just been beaten and I went home and was watching Channel 10," Maranta recalled.

"They were running a poll where they were asking people if they wanted Bennett sacked.

"I rang our media guy and I said, 'tell everyone in the media that I am going to make a statement on Monday'.

"Monday was the day Bennett used to talk to all the rugby league writers but instead of the usual four or five the whole place was chock-a-block with 30 or 40 media from every channel and outlet."

Maranta said Bennett's "eyes nearly popped out" but he told him not to worry as he fronted the press, who were expecting him to announce that the coach would be punted.

"I then made the statement, 'Thank you for attending. We have just extended Wayne's contract as coach for another five years'. That blew them all away," Maranta said.

Bennett, already on contract for 1992, won that year and added two more titles (1993 and 1997) in that period.

Maranta is convinced Walters will lead the Broncos to title glory and said calls for him to be sacked were just as out of order as the push for Bennett to be axed.

"I know Kevin is a Bronco through and through. He's had four or five different coaching jobs and has learned under Craig Bellamy and Wayne Bennett," Maranta said.

"He has done all the learning process and I know him as a serious competitor and someone that doesn't put up with mediocrity.

"Kevin understands our Broncos culture and that is significant when you appoint people."

Canberra Times

 

[tommy]

Agreed, but when you have mods firing insults and vitriol at you without repercussion it kind of leaves a shitty taste in your mouth.
Im not innocent of being a smart ass but i try not to explicitly call people fucking idiots for having different opinions.

Try participating in the us election thread. It's baaaaad in there.

 

[Big Del]

Try participating in the us election thread. It's baaaaad in there.

politics and religion .
I avoid .

 

[Jason Simmons]

Criticise all you want, I didn't hear any of this criticism when we made the GF just praise for Kev and the amazing work he did to take us from the spoon to a GF. We miss the eight and its pile on time. Pretty fucking fair weather in my opinion and if the shoe fucking fits, wear it.
You don't have to like it, but i stand by it.
There is dozens of posts blowing smoke up Kevs ass when we were winning, and a bad season riddled with injury the same people few calling for his head.
THE VERY DEFINITION OF FAIR WAETHER.

Actually if you’ll recall, which you likely don’t, many on here were worried about our comp leading error rate and other school boy errors, we had in our side last year, issues which a real coach should be able to address.

Those same errors cost us that GF appearance you’ve hung your hat on and those issues magnified themselves this year, into the absolute rubbish they dished up, which the coach despite personally promising to address repeatedly throughout the year, was yet again unable to address…

So maybe this lot are uncoachable.

Or maybe Kevin can’t coach…

 

[Midean]

@Harry Sack / @Kimlo can back me. I've never rated the spud. The best respect he got from me, was I started calling him his real name when we made the final. He's been Keb or Kebin since. He's a dud.

There was a point where I didn't want to sack him purely because we shouldn't deal with that Sydney team shit. There's no replacement, so hopefully he proves me wrong next year. He won't though.

A fair weather fan would be like someone switching teams when we are losing, or stopping the support of their club when they're losing. That hasn't been the case. The reason people are bagging him, is because he's not helping the club they love.

No one is a bad fan for being critical of the team when they deserve it, because they care about the team. That sort of rubbish take on being a fan will get you plenty of reactions on Facebook, but on here, people with brains know that criticism isn't the same as turning your back on the team.

And even if being critical of the team does make me a bad fan. It doesn't make Kevin Walters a good coach.

View attachment 29584

Dud.

Criticism is fine. But folks in here are calling for him to be sacked on the back of an injury riddled season.
And in regards to the term fairweather, you are arguing semantics.

@Harry Sack / @Kimlo can back me. I've never rated the spud. The best respect he got from me, was I started calling him his real name when we made the final. He's been Keb or Kebin since. He's a dud.

There was a point where I didn't want to sack him purely because we shouldn't deal with that Sydney team shit. There's no replacement, so hopefully he proves me wrong next year. He won't though.

A fair weather fan would be like someone switching teams when we are losing, or stopping the support of their club when they're losing. That hasn't been the case. The reason people are bagging him, is because he's not helping the club they love.

No one is a bad fan for being critical of the team when they deserve it, because they care about the team. That sort of rubbish take on being a fan will get you plenty of reactions on Facebook, but on here, people with brains know that criticism isn't the same as turning your back on the team.

And even if being critical of the team does make me a bad fan. It doesn't make Kevin Walters a good coach.

View attachment 29584

In

Actually if you’ll recall, which you likely don’t, many on here were worried about our comp leading error rate and other school boy errors, we had in our side last year, issues which a real coach should be able to address.

Those same errors cost us that GF appearance you’ve hung your hat on and those issues magnified themselves this year, into the absolute rubbish they dished up, which the coach despite personally promising to address repeatedly throughout the year, was yet again unable to address…

So maybe this lot are uncoachable.

Or maybe Kevin can’t coach…

Nathan Cleary would disagree with you strongly, as would any other non biased nrl fan.
Cleary played like a man possessed and would have ripped any team apart in those final 20 minutes.
Take of your rose-tinted glasses and you would see that as well.
Us losing that grand final had NOTHING to do with our error rate and more to do with our team having 2 players with Grand Final experience vs a side with 3 consecutive years grand final experience and the most in form side of the past 10 years with one of the best players of the modern era putting on a master-class.
But you go right ahead and blame that loss on coaching Einstein.

And yes mate, I was one of the people concerned about our error rate, so I do recall it, but go ahead and be a smart arse about it, very constructive way to have a conversation.

There is no doubt Kev is not the best coach around, but the blame does not lie squarely on his shoulders, and he has done well with taking us from the spoon to a Grand Final, a fact you seem to conveniently forget when pushing your narrative.

 

[Big Del]

our team having 2 players with Grand Final experience

Yep , and one of them choked .

 

[Midean]

So who do we replace Kev with?
We didn't make the eight so he has to go.
**** the fact that he took a young rookie side within 20 minutes of winning a grand final against the best side the NRL has seen in recent history.
A side that had won three consecutive Grand Finals.
A side packed to the rim with experienced world class players that have played together since their teens.

We had Reynolds and Capewell and the rest of our side were kids, in a club down on confidence and morale from winning the first ever spoon in the clubs history on the back of a disastrous coaching appointment.

And Kev still got us to a Grand Final.
But yea, let's sack the guy because we missed the eight in an injury riddled season.

Fucken clowns.
You ***** want to get personal, that's fine with me, I will happily take a break from this nutjob circle jerk forum till next season.
Because it seems everyone else has Kevs back except you miserable lot.
Dave Donaghy has Kevs back, but I suppose you all think he is wrong too?
The players seem to support Kev, the old boys do as well.
But sure, you lot all know better!

Throw a ban at me if you want, I used the term fairweather and a whole pack of soft ***** got their panties in a twist and threw a tantrum about it, and started with the personal insults so you can all get fucked.

I'm out.

 

[Midean]

Yep , and one of them choked .

So fire him, not the coach.

 

[cento]

Wow Billy I get defending your dad but chill man we’ll see what happens with this review and go from there

 

[Broncosgirl]

So who do we replace Kev with?


Throw a ban at me if you want, I used the term fairweather and a whole pack of soft ***** got their panties in a twist and threw a tantrum about it, and started with the personal insults so you can all get fucked.

I'm out.

There is simply no one available to take over from Kev. That fact alone is adding a whole lot of frustration to the 'fairweather' fans outlook on things. Or at least in my case .. this is true.

But referring to BHQ's diehard Bronco supporters as 'fairweather' .. possibly is the biggest insult you could probably throw around.

There is a huge difference between critique .. and criticism.

Critique is what I see most members here do. They offer their own honest thoughts and opinions .. and suggest or offer ways in which they believe improvement can be had. They are, in fact, so far apart from the real fair weather, fake fans, haters etc that it is ridiculous. Just because they don't blindly follow what other members want them to .. does not make them any less of a fan.

Do you really believe that people like Nashy & Co .. who have given us this place and dedicated, in some cases, decades of their lives to it .. because after their loved ones .. the greatest love of their lives .. always has been .. and always will be The Broncos .. are really just .. fairweather?

If you do honestly believe that .. then every member here who has said anything at all that even resembles something like .. 'Oh, (insert players name) is a useless *****, he needs to go" (even if it's a true statement) .. should also be classified and labelled as fairweather too.

Can't have it both ways.

 

[McHunt]

Try participating in the us election thread. It's baaaaad in there.

I would not be game to venture into there. The few times I've made the mistake of venturing into the religion thread I got a fatwa for not wearing my burka.

 

[Big Del]

I'm out.

 

[Big Del]

So fire him, not the coach.

Are you in or out ?
Now I`m confused .

 

[Big Del]

Wow Billy I get defending your dad but chill man we’ll see what happens with this review and go from there

That`s gold !

 

[Cult]

Watch the first four sets from the Melbourne Storm VS Broncos game and see where the differences are. Firstly, we are too passive in defense. We wait for them to come to us and give them a million metres from the get go. If our fitness isn't good enough to move forward in defense for 80 minutes, the coaching is at fault.

Secondly, the play the ball. I understand that you're supposed to get up and play the ball with your foot, but we are legitimately the only team who consistently makes contact with our foot when playing the ball. It slows everything down. Seriously, I implore you to watch the first four sets of the Storm game and you'll see just how much it makes a difference. Storm were playing tunnel ball. The Panthers (Specifically Yeo who throws it backwards like he's snapping it back to a quarterback) do this so well and it gets them on the front foot immediately. We start every game on the back foot because we are doing both of these things poorly.

That's on the coach

 

[Midean]

Are you in or out ?
Now I`m confused .

Not hard to.confuse you mate.
Not hard at all.

 

[thenry]

Criticism is fine. But folks in here are calling for him to be sacked on the back of an injury riddled season.
And in regards to the term fairweather, you are arguing semantics.



Nathan Cleary would disagree with you strongly, as would any other non biased nrl fan.
Cleary played like a man possessed and would have ripped any team apart in those final 20 minutes.
Take of your rose-tinted glasses and you would see that as well.
Us losing that grand final had NOTHING to do with our error rate and more to do with our team having 2 players with Grand Final experience vs a side with 3 consecutive years grand final experience and the most in form side of the past 10 years with one of the best players of the modern era putting on a master-class.
But you go right ahead and blame that loss on coaching Einstein.

And yes mate, I was one of the people concerned about our error rate, so I do recall it, but go ahead and be a smart arse about it, very constructive way to have a conversation.

There is no doubt Kev is not the best coach around, but the blame does not lie squarely on his shoulders, and he has done well with taking us from the spoon to a Grand Final, a fact you seem to conveniently forget when pushing your narrative.

Hard disagree. The GF loss had everything to do with our error rate. The errors meant we were gassed at the end of the game.

We were at 50 odd percent completions at one stage late in the first half.

 

[Kaz]

Again, not saying kev is without fault, but do coaching errors in hindsight warrant sacking?
It's so easy to talk shit after the fact, he is a genius if it works and an imbecile if it doesn't.

I think he is a imbecile either way.

 

[Big Del]

Not hard to.confuse you mate.
Not hard at all.

Well , when you write a half page rant whining about BS and sign off with I`m out .
It seems pretty reasonable to be confused when nek minute you are back whinging again .