NEWS Walters: the art of the deal

The Broncos are showing faith in Kevvie Walters by allowing him to prematurely renegotiate his September 2020 contract, currently worth around $400K. He will immediately switch to a week to week "standard employment contract" based solely on performance, with handsome incentives for on-field success. He will earn major bonuses if he meets Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), such as making the playoffs. The deal includes the go-ahead to shop for fresh talent in his football department. The terms will include a period of notice, thought to be three months.

This means he can now theoretically be sacked before his previous contract would've expired at the end of the 2022 season. But it also means neither party needs to sweat over whether to renew his contract. It's good to go until it isn't.

Donuts and Ikin are also on standard contracts with no fixed terms, and intend to phase out the expensive player options that crushed the club in previous years.

Kevvie says:


“I’m not expecting any favours from anyone here. I have to perform. Every club has to get results and we’re no different. I’ve said for a while I want to be here long term and I intend to do that. But I’m not a fool either. I’m not kidding myself. It’s about getting results and I need to get results to stay in the role which is pretty clear."

“I want to be here for longer. We’ve had some player movement which hasn’t provided stability and what the Broncos need is stability across the playing group and the coaching staff. I never saw myself as a short-term appointment. I want to be here for a while, but to do that everybody at the Broncos has to perform and I’m no different.”

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A firm grip on the Gold

Walters’ agent Chris Orr:


“The Broncos want Kevvie to be their long-term successful coach. The Broncos are looking to throw all their support around Kevvie by increasing resources, whilst taking away any contractual questions by entering an employment agreement. This means Kevvie will be rewarded on results whilst also increasing stability across the club.”

Donuts:

“We’re in discussions with Kevin, so I’d prefer not to comment for now. Look, Kev’s our coach. He’s our guy and he’s determined to succeed. There’s been quite a bit of change here in recent times, but we feel that with a number of things falling into place, the opportunity exists to build on where we currently are."

“We’ve prioritised investment in our football program and supporting our coach, staff and players. The growth I’ve seen in Kev as a coach and in the program led by Ben Ikin has been tremendous. The pre-season starts Monday and we believe the group led by Kev will continue to grow on the gains we saw at the back end of last season. It’s for them to do, but I’ve got the confidence and belief in them that they will. There’s real value in stability and continuity. I’ve been really impressed with Kevvie in the last three to four months. He’s certainly grown.”

Former future of the Broncos Tommy Dearden:

“I had been at the Broncos since I was 13 years old and I took things from a lot of people that helped me on my journey. Kevvie was pretty strict in the pre-season last year about playmakers playing their own game and being their own player on the field. That’s one thing I learnt from ‘Kevvie’: to be my own player out there."

“Your confidence always takes a knock when you lose so many games in a row. You go out and play to win, but I was struggling to get a win for a very long time. It’s been a tough start to my career, but I took some confidence moving to the Cowboys and getting that win against the Dragons. "

"One thing I have taken from Kevvie is having that belief in my game. He wished me all the best when I left. It’s a part of football sometimes that players move clubs and that happened to me. I learnt a fair bit from Kevvie in the short amount of time I was working with him, so I’m grateful for the time I had with him.”


McHunt
 
No other club is threatening to sign Kev so it would be wise of DD & co to wait atleast a few rounds and see the improvements (if any) and make a call from there.
The issue is, I don’t see anyone who would do a significantly better job other then WB, Bellamy or Robinson - but as we all know, none of them are coming here.
Another change of coach would only cause more disruption to this player group imo. Someone like Haas has already been coached by three different head coaches (four if you want to include Peter Gentle) at the Broncos and he is still only 22.
True, but also part of his job is to foster an atmosphere. It's in the club's best interest to keep him happy, and hope that positivity is infectious. That's why I'd be inclined to over deliver on his agreed contract rather than play hardball with him by dangling other coaches over his head.

I'm all for him having a supercoach under him, but he'd have to be paid less than Kevvie.
 
I'm probably in the minority here, but I think we need to give him 2 years- 2022 and 2023.

I think 2021 should be written off completely. Kev came in late to a disrupted pre-season.
There was no CEO for the first half of the season and the playing group was toxic. I think DD, Ikin and Kev have done a remarkable job in essentially a few months to clear the dead wood, make some great signings and get the club into a positive position again.

Any club that signs a new coach normally gives them 2 years. Given the fact that WB, Bellamy and Robinson aren't coming here - Kev should be given the same luxury. Write off '21 and give him 2 years with a solid team behind him in the admin ranks and with the roster he has helped build.

If they sack him after 10 rounds, who do you hire? There is not one proven first grade coach available that could walk in and make changes from week 1.
 
certain abilities yes , but as I've said it's pointless punting him unless you have a Bellamy or robbo to come in.
stability is what we need atm not another change of direction, so my first step if we fail is the assistants. the hierarchy has mentioned about putting the right people around Kevvie so that's what we should do.
I have never said he should be punted, he should be given every chance to prove himself worthy of an extension. But now is not the time for such talk. That comes after he gets a few runs on the board. That’s all I’m saying.
 
I'm probably in the minority here, but I think we need to give him 2 years- 2022 and 2023.

I think 2021 should be written off completely. Kev came in late to a disrupted pre-season.
There was no CEO for the first half of the season and the playing group was toxic. I think DD, Ikin and Kev have done a remarkable job in essentially a few months to clear the dead wood, make some great signings and get the club into a positive position again.

Any club that signs a new coach normally gives them 2 years. Given the fact that WB, Bellamy and Robinson aren't coming here - Kev should be given the same luxury. Write off '21 and give him 2 years with a solid team behind him in the admin ranks and with the roster he has helped build.

If they sack him after 10 rounds, who do you hire? There is not one proven first grade coach available that could walk in and make changes from week 1.

Exactly. The only way you consider letting him go IMO is if we are 100% fit (injuries/Covid etc) and we're on a massive losing streak.
 
Exactly. The only way you consider letting him go IMO is if we are 100% fit (injuries/Covid etc) and we're on a massive losing streak.
And unless the situation is untenable - we need somebody worthy to replace him with. Not just another unproven coach with potential. We're better off leaving Kevvie in to manage the group as a whole and the culture and get the best of the best assistants around him.
 
Kevvie must be a master negotiator, they've extended him until the end of 2023.
 
I think a few of us are a bit less confident about where the club is going after the trials, if we just had the 1 trial against Wynnum after a good finish last season, we're all probably discussing how high up the ladder we can go.

He should be judged on what he can get the team to do this season, let's all cool our jets and not start throwing around insinuations of getting a new coach based on a couple of trials. I am sure he's still learning too.
 
Donuts:

“Extending Kevin out to the end of 2023 now provides the stability we need to continue the improvement shown in the back-half of the 2021 season. It’s been well documented that we initiated a reset during last season and made a range of changes which resulted in better performances. As head coach, Kevin has played a key role in that change process. We have added some experienced players to our roster who they will play an important role alongside our emerging talent as we aim to move into a growth phase. Providing continuity over the coming two seasons by extending Kevin to the end of 2023 will give our entire football program the stability they need to keep improving and growing as a team and as a club.”​
“It’s about how we can continue to invest in Kev and support him. Ben Ikin has been a great addition, Dave Ballard is doing a great job and Kev’s assistant coaches John Cartwright and Terry Matterson are doing great work. Kev should have all the confidence in the world that we will continue to invest in him and the program. It’s important that we do so.”​

Walters:

“I love this club and coaching the Broncos to being a force again in the NRL is a great honour,” Walters said. We built some momentum late last season and we have carried that into what has been a really good pre-season in terms of on-field workload and building our culture and connection as a group."​
“I’ve been very public in stating that I want to coach the Broncos to a Premiership and that hasn’t changed and this contract extension provides that bit more certainty moving forward. We have a massive round 1 game against the Rabbitohs at Suncorp Stadium next Friday night and the team can’t wait to rip-in in front of our home crowd.”​

Lockyer:

“I feel like there is more calmness in the club. Kevvie is starting to find his feet in his role as coach and he has good support from Ben Ikin, they have a really good plan in place so we’re in a good spot at the moment. There is a good feel among the players at training and Kevvie has to take some credit for that. The top-eight has to be a genuine goal for the Broncos this year.”​

McHunt

No comments from Broncos legend Cam Smith?
 
Complimentary "**** yourselves" to Seibold and White.
 
I have been very critical of Kev as coach.
However, this could make him; or break him, but it's on him.
Enough of the rubbish. Brother sitting next to you, son on the roster, assistants that aren't up to scratch.
But theshed is right; why not get the absolute best assistants (quickly) ? If Kev doesn't get his staff at the highest quality, he may feel more secure but it's false security if the rest of the organisation is operating at a higher level. Kev will be held to account for another season of unacceptable results, and it will be ugly.
It may even be too late but Kev will make or break his own future by the quality of the staff he puts around him. For goodness sake Kev, give yourself (and the team) a fighting chance.
This aged well.
 

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