NRL finals: The Panthers blueprint that can end Broncos fairytale

Andrew Webster arrived in New Zealand with a proven attacking game plan tried and tested by the best in the business, writes PETER BADEL and TRAVIS MEYN.

Adam Reynolds has called for Kevin Walters to be crowned NRL coach of the year as the Broncos mentor prepares to topple his major threat to the top gong, Warriors sensation Andrew Webster.

The NRL’s feelgood coaching stories of 2023, Walters and Webster are on a collision course in Saturday night’s preliminary final blockbuster between the Broncos and Warriors at a sold-out Suncorp Stadium.

At the start of the season, the jury was out on Walters after Brisbane’s spectacular six-week collapse to miss the 2022 finals. The jury could barely deliberate on Webster who had only three games as a fill-in to his name (two with the Tigers in 2017 and one at Penrith in 2022) and the 41-year-old could have walked the streets of Auckland with the same anonymity as his first-grade coaching portfolio.

But in the space of six months, Walters and Webster have shaken-up the NRL, winning a remarkable 34 regular-season games between them to emerge as the top two contenders for this year’s Dally M coaching award.

Walters has taken the Broncos from ninth to second. Webster steered the Warriors from second last to fourth.

Adam Reynolds and Kevin Walters at a Broncos training session. Picture: Liam Kidston

And while there is a compelling case for Webster given the mid-season demise of Nathan Brown last year, Broncos skipper Reynolds is adamant Walters must clinch the coaching gong after presiding over a ‘Kev-olution’ that has taken Brisbane from wooden spooners to title contenders in three seasons.

“I think ‘Kevvie’ deserves to be coach of the year,” Reynolds said.

“You only have to look back a couple of years ago when he took over the Broncos, he came in at a time where the team wasn’t doing too well and their confidence was shot.

“Players weren’t playing to their potential and he has turned the club around in a short amount of time.

“He has the belief factor back in the team and he has got us playing an exciting brand of football that everyone loves watching.

“I love Kevvie as a bloke and coach.

“He is a terrific fella who knows how to have a good time, but he knows when to be serious as well.

“They are good traits to have as a coach.”

Andrew Webster was an assistant coach to Ivan Cleary at Penrith. Credit: NRL Images.

An equally solid trait is the eye for building an offensive system – and that’s what Webster has expertly achieved this year in his rookie season at Penrose.

Former Warriors recruitment chief Peter O’Sullivan says Webster is the true architect of the attacking juggernaut that has swept Penrith to back-to-back titles and made them the best team in the league for the past four seasons.

A former assistant to Penrith coach Ivan Cleary, Webster devised the Panthers’ attack. According to O’Sullivan, Webster has transferred the offensive blueprint to a Warriors team humming on the back of halfback wizard Shaun Johnson, driving a similar style to Panthers No. 7 Cleary.

“Andrew was the bloke who put together Penrith’s system offensively and he basically has brought the same theory from the Panthers to the Warriors and it’s worked,” said O’Sullivan, now at the Dolphins.

“He has taken the style he helped create at Penrith and planted it at the Warriors.

“At Penrith, Webster had Dylan Edwards as a yardage fullback and he has a similar style of player at the Warriors in Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad.

“Nathan Cleary and Shaun Johnson play as on-ball halfbacks, as they call it, which allows the second receiver, such as Jarome Luai (Penrith) or Te Maire Martin (Warriors), to play a floating role on the left hand side of the field.

“The locks, Isaah Yeo (Penrith) and Tohu Harris (Warriors), play very similar link roles.

“The same mechanics that work at Penrith are working at the Warriors because of the styles of players Webster has at his disposal.

“You can say it’s been lucky or well-planned and I would go for the latter with Webster.

“Andrew knows his footy. He is switched on ... a very good operator.”

Andrew Webster (L) has reinvigorated his halfback Shaun Johnson. Picture: Getty Images

Warriors CEO Cameron George said one phone call to Panthers coach Cleary convinced him employing Webster would not be a risk.

“Andrew is a bloody good coach,” George said.

“When he expressed interest in the job to me, I went through the front door with Ivan Cleary. I rang Ivan. I knew Ivan from attending Webby’s wedding, so I felt comfortable ringing him and being honest with him.

“Ivan knew the Warriors better than anyone from his own time here as coach.

“He said not only is Webby ready to be a head coach, he is the perfect fit for the Warriors.

“Ivan knew the style of person we needed and the coaching style we needed and Ivan’s comments gave me confidence this would work.”

If Webster had simpatico with the Warriors, no-one knew Brisbane’s DNA like Walters.

The five-eighth legend is the only man in Broncos history to be a starting player in five of their six premiership wins.

With the club in crisis after finishing last in 2020, Walters had one overriding charter _ to bring unity to the fractured Broncos.

Harmony restored, Walters is now two wins from a remarkable title triumph, and he could go into the NRL decider on Sunday week as the newly-minted coach of the year.

“He’s the heart of this club,” former Broncos skipper Alex Glenn said.

“He has been here through the successes. He was one of the players who laid the foundations for all the success that has been at this club and to have him steering the ship as a head coach, it means the world to Broncos players.

“I’ve seen him when he talks about this club, he gets emotional and that’s what this club is all about. We’re all heart. It’s always been that way, so to have him here, he knows the values and the culture and he knows what it means to be a Brisbane Bronco player, a clubman and a fan.

“If we can go all the way and bring that trophy back to the club with him as coach, it would be unreal and an amazing achievement for Kevvie.”

Broncos vice-captain Kurt Capewell lauded Walters’ man management.

“His passion and care for the players is second to none,” he said.

“He’s taken that care for his players into his coaching and done a tremendous job.

“Kevvie wears his heart on his sleeve and it might boil over sometimes and you get to see that.

“That’s something he hangs his hat on, how passionate he is.

“He is a part of this team as much as the players are.”

Originally published as NRL finals: The Panthers blueprint that can end Broncos fairytale