NEWS Why Smith believes that Broncos players deserve more heat than Walters

SEN’s Cameron Smith has labelled calls for the Brisbane Broncos to sack coach Kevin Walters as premature as pressure mounts on the underperforming powerhouse.

The Broncos were expected to compete for a Premiership in 2024 but have failed to deliver on those expectations and bowed out of finals calculations after an embarrassing 40-6 loss to cross town rivals the Dolphins.

Smith believes the playing group must take more accountability for their performances over the 2024 season rather than Walters.

“There is all this talk around Kevvie’s position and whether he should be the coach,” Smith told SENQ.

“They are jumping the gun if they get rid of him. That’s jumping the gun.

“You have to take into account what the team did last year. It was a fair effort to make a Grand Final and let’s be honest, they should’ve won it.

“It’s gone wrong this year so they need to sit down pretty quickly and do a full review as an entire squad and be brutally honest with each other.

“It’s the only way you can move forward and people need to put their hands up and admit they weren’t good enough.

“That’s senior players and the coaching staff. All of it.

“When you pull on the Broncos jersey, you have got to be prepared to play every week because other teams are coming to get you.

“The attitude is entirely up to the players. You can coach players in skill, tactics and technique but attitude comes down to the individual and how much they want to go out there and make sacrifices.”

The Broncos' depth has been tested significantly throughout the year with star players such as Reece Walsh, Adam Reynolds and Payne Haas spending extended stints on the sideline during the season.

Smith said the Broncos players should take inspiration from Penrith who have proven themselves to be the model of consistency.

“They haven’t had the same hunger or motivation that they had last year,” Smith said of the Broncos.

“I had them as Premiership favourites. It’s gone the other way.

“They haven’t put in the work needed to go again. Penrith have made four Grand Finals in a row and if they make it this year then it’ll be five. It’s just incredible.

“They are a side and a group of individuals who are willing to work hard and make sacrifices every week.”

The Broncos end their 2024 campaign with a Thursday night blockbuster at Suncorp Stadium against Minor Premiers Melbourne.

SEN

 

[Sproj]

Regarding standards.. I remember watching a story on Jonah Lomu.

Members of the AB team were discussing him coming back into the side after a break, may have been health related, can't remember exactly. What did stick out though was all the players parroting the point: They were cheering for him to get to "The level that we require". When they were talking about the level, it was made clear that AB players wouldn't be accepted if they didn't get there.

They all expressed joy that Lomu eventually achieved the standard required (obviously his kidney issues weren't known at that time).

I wonder where we sit on players hitting fitness/ strength and other standards?

Great in theory but if your entire squad is underdone and/or injured, you aren't like the All blacks where you have 5 teams of world class players to choose from. As great as Lomu was, they would have another 10 guys who could come in and perform at that level. Must more restrictive when you have only 30 players and 10 of them are freaking halves.

 

[Skathen]

Smith will never be associated with the Broncos.

Greed does things to people..... he's no longer on footy player money.

 

[Browny]

Honestly , sport journalism is Australia is an absolute shitshow.

I don't want to see us turn into a litigation country but 100% some of these journos should be taken to court so they stop writing absolute dribble. Should be illegal and some countries would absolutely not stand for this shit.

It’s because they use weasel words to avoid outright bullshit.

“Understood to be ………”
“Believes that ……….”
“Sources close to the club………”

 

[theshed]

I'll take it, i for sure said the players deserve as much if not more heat than Kev for our position, and if future immortal and all time great Cam Smith says it, there has to be some merit to that.

I had folks in here give me a hard time for that opinion, but it seems im not alone in thinking it.

I don’t think anyone is saying the players aren’t the problem. The issue is, Walsh or Cobbo don’t manage the team, Kev does. So if the playing group has a bad culture or doesn’t have the right players, we need to find someone who will make the required decisions to fix it.

If you have a team full of bad attitudes, low standards, or the wrong skill sets then either the manager fixes it or you change manager. I don’t care how many players we have to move on or swap out to fix the culture, I just think Kev has proven he isn’t the man to do it.

The players are a symptom not a cause.

 

[hench2020]

Regarding standards.. I remember watching a story on Jonah Lomu.

Members of the AB team were discussing him coming back into the side after a break, may have been health related, can't remember exactly. What did stick out though was all the players parroting the point: They were cheering for him to get to "The level that we require". When they were talking about the level, it was made clear that AB players wouldn't be accepted if they didn't get there.

They all expressed joy that Lomu eventually achieved the standard required (obviously his kidney issues weren't known at that time).

I wonder where we sit on players hitting fitness/ strength and other standards?

The same All Black generation that choked at every World Cup?

 

[McHunt]

There is only one member that we are aware of on this forum that believes anything Badel says...and even he won't believe this because it stands up for Kevvie.

You have a weird fixation on Badel, especially for someone who doesn't have access to anything he writes. I don't get why you're so bent out of shape over him. He's pretty boring and rarely adds much of himself editorially, all told. Unlike say Buzz or Crawley.

What was the lie he told you that broke your back?

 

[McHunt]

There is only one member that we are aware of on this forum that believes anything Badel says...and even he won't believe this because it stands up for Kevvie.

Oh, and the comment I made wrt to the Chopper Burgess piece was that the Murdoch press omitted his comment that the club should get a new coach. A surprising omission given it was the most sensational (clickbait, if you must) comment he made. You would know this if you both listened to the interview and had access to the piece published in the CM and Australian.

It's not a matter of "believing" Badel. It's seeing how the reporting process operates. What is included, what is left out. In this case, Badel (Murdoch press) did not "stand up" for Kevvie. It simply did not press down on sacking him immediately.

You really need to get access to these articles so your strong, defamatory opinions on this fairly plain vanilla sports journalist can be more informed.