Brisbane Broncos review: Kevin Walters’ rebuild halted by review ‘farce’

Results of the Brisbane Broncos’ wooden spoon review haven’t even been made public yet, but it’s already been labelled a “farce”.

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 24: Darius Boyd of the Broncos and teammates look on following a Cowboys try during the round 20 NRL match between the Brisbane Broncos and the North Queensland Cowboys at Suncorp Stadium on September 24, 2020 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Brisbane’s largest private shareholder has labelled the Broncos’ independent review a “farce” and urged powerbrokers to allow new coach Kevin Walters to put his own stamp on the NRL’s richest club.

Leading shareholder Phil Murphy, who owns 22 per cent of the Broncos, believes a wide-ranging review, conducted by Netball Queensland chairperson Eugenie Buckley, will not help Walters rebuild the club in the wake of Anthony Seibold’s failure.

Buckley is expected to deliver a final report on Friday after interviewing an estimated 30 Broncos staff, including Walters, who described his involvement in the end-of-season probe as a “mystery”.

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Murphy says the Broncos board should worry less about investigations from external sources and focus more on providing unqualified support for Walters to haul Brisbane out of the wooden-spoon mess left by former coach Anthony Seibold.

“The review is a farce,” Murphy said.

“I don’t see the point of doing a review when Anthony Seibold has moved on.

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“Why is it being done? What’s it going to achieve?

“It won’t change anything or help develop that Broncos team into the juggernaut that they should be.

“They have a new coach on board in Kevin Walters and the club should leave it to him to start afresh and implement his ideas to turn the club around.

The review has stalled future planning.

“‘Kevvie’ has been appointed coach to fix the club, so it’s on his head and shoulders now to get results and get them mentally right.

“I believe Kevvie will turn the club around, but it won’t happen overnight.

“The review won’t tell Kevin anything, he is in charge of the team now, so let him get on with the job with his own ideas.

“The review is academic.”

While the review has been taking place, Walters and the Broncos have been forced to delay any football-related decisions, leaving several players in limbo around their playing future.

Walters will launch Brisbane’s pre-season around mid-November and says he was surprised to be part of Buckley’s probe.

“They are looking at everything,” he said.

“I have been told they are doing a review and things are on hold for the moment until the review comes back to me and then we can move on from there.

“Two ladies were doing the review and one of them spoke to me.

“I’m not sure why they spoke to me because I wasn’t there this year and I wasn’t part of it all, so it’s a bit of a mystery.

“I’m looking forward to what they come up with in the review. I’m sure there will be some good information in there.

“I will respect what they produce in the review and I want it to help our season, not hinder it. Hopefully I can make use of that information.”