Kevin Walters could be the unifying coach the Brisbane Broncos need
THE rift between Wayne Bennett and the Broncos is damaging the club and whoever takes over must be a unifying force. Kevin Walters is the perfect answer – so why is he being overlooked, asks MAL MENINGA.
Opinion
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THE rift that has developed between Wayne Bennett and the Broncos is damaging the club, no question — not just as far as this year’s finals series is concerned, but for the future as well.
Unfortunately now, as it drags on for another week, it has descended to the level where players and staff are taking sides depending on whether their loyalty is to the coach or the colours.
Whoever the next coach of the Broncos is, and whenever it is that he takes over the job, the first task will be reunifying the club.
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I find it hard to understand why the Broncos are considering anyone other than Kevin Walters for the job.
On every level, Kevvie perfectly fits the criteria for what the Broncos are looking for in their next coach.
Yet in every conversation on who will replace Wayne in 2019 or 2020, there seems to be this slightly sinister assumption that Kevvie will be overlooked.
And I would like to know why.
There are no bigger shoes to fill in NRL coaching than the ones Wayne is about to vacate.
Although the relationship is now breaking down, he will always be a legend of the club. He helped build the club.
The Broncos have already seen the difficulty in replacing Wayne with someone who is “just a coach”.
I use that phrase with the greatest of respect. But the truth of the matter is, Wayne’s aura has turned the Broncos coaching job into something else.
It is about more than game plans.
It is about managing the pressure, profile, scrutiny and expectations that come with coaching the biggest club in the game, all while working underneath the Broncos unique culture — and the shadow of your predecessor.
No one understands what being a Bronco means more than Kevvie.
Like Wayne, he is a legend of the club. He won four of his six premierships with the Broncos.
The last of those premierships came in 2000 when the Broncos, like now, were facing the daunting challenge of life without a club legend that Brisbane had been built on.
In 1999, Brisbane’s greatest player, Allan Langer, retired (the first time).
Going into the 2000 season, Brisbane looked to be on the ropes.
How would they survive without the man who was their halfback, captain, playmaker and a club legend all rolled into one?
Kevvie stepped up when Brisbane needed him, and took over all of those jobs himself.
And the Broncos won the premiership.
Kevvie filled Alfie’s shoes. Why would anyone doubt he could do the same with Wayne’s?
Kevvie has done his homework. He has done his apprenticeship — with Toowoomba Clydesdales (where he won a premiership) and Ipswich in the Queensland Cup, overseas with Catalans in the Super League, and back home as an assistant inside the systems at Melbourne, Newcastle and Brisbane.
Not to mention he has won two series as Queensland’s State of Origin coach.
Enough is enough. How much more does he have to prove?
Other coaches have been given starts to their NRL careers based on much less than what Kevvie has achieved as a coach.
He is a strong character and he makes tough decisions. We have seen that since he took over the Origin program that he is prepared to make tough calls for the benefit of the team.
He has done that on a number of occasions as Queensland handles a difficult period of transition and has done it well.
He made a number of smart decisions around how the team played in Origin II this year and got pipped at the post — mostly because of the inexperience of his footy team.
But no one could suggest that the Queensland team let anyone down this year. From a team perspective and a strategy perspective, I think he made all the right calls.
He is forthright, understands the game really well and is not shy about giving his opinion on the way that things should be done.
As a coach, that is what I want from an assistant — someone who is thinking about what we are doing and putting up an alternative view to see if there is a better way.
He believes in what he does and that is crucial for anyone that wants to coach.
You have to have a philosophy and believe in what you are doing. If you don’t, how is anybody else supposed to?
His is passionate, compassionate and sincere, and I think all of those attributes will make him a very successful NRL coach.
If all of this sounds like a job reference for Kevvie, than I am happy to put my name to that.
Kevvie is far too polite and humble to push his own barrow. He would never push his own name forward to coach the Broncos, preferring to let his coaching record do the talking for him.
It is a record that is saying plenty. I just hope the decision makers at the Broncos are smart enough to hear it above all the noise.
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