The pros and cons potential Gold Coast Titans coach Kevin Walters must consider

BEFORE Kevin Walters decides if he wants to coach the Titans or not, MAL MENINGA has a list of factors he must consider.

Queensland State of Origin team announcement. Queensland selector Gene Miles, Queensland coach Kevin Walters and QRL chairman Bruce Hatcher. Pic Tim Marsden

MY ADVICE to Kevin Walters as he weighs up whether to put his hat in the ring for the Titans job is this — make sure the club is the right fit for you, as much as the club is making sure you are the right fit for them.

Kevin wants to be an NRL coach. Opportunities to do that do not present themselves every day, especially at a club that would allow you to stay in Queensland.

But Kevvie also needs to realise that patience is a virtue and the first job that comes along might not necessarily be the best one.

My opinion is this. He has a job and he’s very good at it. He enjoys it and he gets an enormous amount of satisfaction out of it.

Walters has won both the Origin series in which he’s coached the Maroons.

With Queensland he gets to coach the best players in the world — some of the best players the game has ever seen — in the best rugby league product in the world.

If Kevvie decides to leave it and take on the Titans job, I will support him every single step of the way.

He is a great coach. I did not have him as my assistant with Queensland for so many years because of his good looks.

As his friend I just want him to be sure he makes the decision that is right for him and not because there is an opportunity to be had.

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THE Titans as a club need to take this opportunity to work out what they are all about.

The past few weeks and the handling of the Neil Henry situation was not a display of strong leadership.

Last season the club was humming. Six weeks ago things were still going well and then they fell into a panic.

The club is in transition as they move from being owned by the NRL to private ownership by a consortium led by a good man who clearly loves the club very much in Darryl Kelly.

Now is the time for the Titans to take stock of who they are and what they stand for.

Before they can find the coach that is the right fit for their culture, they need to decide what their culture is.

Now is the time to look at the entire structure — the board, the club’s structure, the people they have — and ask whether they are the right personalities to take them to where they want to be.

Queensland State of Origin team announcement. Queensland selector Gene Miles, Queensland coach Kevin Walters and QRL chairman Bruce Hatcher. Pic Tim Marsden

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LET’S assume for a second that Kevvie becomes Titans coach and walks away from Queensland. Who will become the new Maroons coach?

I have no doubt the Queensland Rugby League would be tempted to turn to Wayne Bennett or Paul Green and go back to an NRL club coach doing Origin on a part-time basis.

I think this would be a mistake. Eleven series wins out of 12 under a dedicated Maroons coach is evidence enough the current set-up is the best one.

The job as Queensland coach is not just about Origin. It is a business and development role for rugby league in Queensland.

It is a big job — too big for an NRL coach to do in a six-week cameo.

Walters was an assistant to Bennett in Brisbane for many years.

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WAS I surprised to hear Wayne Bennett refusing to endorse Walters as a candidate for the Titans coaching job? No.

The reason for that is, Wayne is thinking about what is best for the Broncos.

Only Wayne knows when he will stand aside from coaching the Broncos. But my guess is he would like to have Kevin Walters available to replace him when that day comes.

Originally published as The pros and cons potential Gold Coast Titans coach Kevin Walters must consider