NRL 2020: Wayne Bennett says Kevin Walters is the man for Brisbane Broncos job
Paul Green and Kevin Walters are locked in a fierce battle for the Broncos job but according to foundation mentor Wayne Bennett, there is only one man ready for a Red Hill rescue mission – here’s why.
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The Broncos board must heed the words of Johnathan Thurston and Wayne Bennett when they meet in the coming weeks to decide which coach can steer them out of the troubled waters left behind by Anthony Seibold.
If the thoughts of Thurston and Bennett – two of the most powerful voices in rugby league – hold any weight, Broncos bosses must rubber-stamp Kevin Walters as their Mr Fixit for 2021.
The Broncos board started the search for Seibold’s success in recent days and while they have pledged to cast the net far and wide, the net will surely be tightened to capture two men ... Walters and Paul Green.
Of the two, Walters is said to be in the box seat, a nose in front of Green, who has some ground to make up to convince the Broncos board he can provide the instant harmony that ‘Kevvie’ would inject if he came bounding through the doors at Red Hill.
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Thurston’s critique is compelling. The champion playmaker won a premiership with Green at the Cowboys in 2015 and the image of the pair hugging in the minutes after their fairytale triumph is etched in stone.
So when Thurston, speaking on Channel Nine a fortnight ago, opted for Walters, his former Origin coach, ahead of Green for the Broncos job, it was a seminal statement.
Thurston qualified his comments by suggesting it is not a slight on Green‘s ability, rather a case of the Broncos finding the right coach for the right moment.
Right now, the Broncos squad is such an emotionally insecure and battered collective that some TLC, rather than a coaching CV, could prove the winning formula in the battle for Seibold‘s throne.
Which brings us to Bennett, Brisbane’s foundation coach, and the only man to have taken the Broncos to the Promised Land ... on six occasions.
Now at South Sydney, Bennett still revels in the daily narrative at Brisbane some 900km away.
His relationship with Walters has at times been peculiar and pernicious but, like a father-and-son stoush, they have waged family-style blow-ups that ultimately cannot break a premiership-winning bond.
In 2005, Bennett sacked Walters as an assistant at Red Hill. He felt Walters needed to get away to better himself as a coach. Fifteen years later, Walters may concede that Bennett was right for asking him to sever ties with the Broncos club that had become his security blanket.
Now, Bennett believes the Broncos need the security of Walters.
Asked if the Broncos should hire Walters as their next coach, Bennett said: “In these present circumstances, yes, they should.
“The big thing for me is that Kevin would unify everybody at the Broncos.
“He was a great player for the club, the fans love him and as a Broncos coach, the Queensland people have to have that confidence in you.
“Right now, the Broncos need to be unified, rather than someone in there being a super coach.
“Kevin is not a divisive person.”
The evidence of that came last week, when I received unsolicited text messages from two Broncos players. One said: “I hope Kevvie gets the job. I would run through brick walls for him.”
Therein lies the challenge for Green.
Perceptions in life are often unfair but they come with a perceived reality and the knock on Green, rightly or wrongly, is that he is too hard-edged, too intense and too abrasive to handle Brisbane’s young, vulnerable playing group.
The counter-argument is that Green has won back-to-back premierships at Wynnum Manly, gave the Cowboys their maiden title and took North Queensland to two grand finals in three seasons.
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Intriguingly, Green and Walters were interviewed for the Cowboys job in 2013. The Cowboys panel said Green blew Walters away in the presentation stage.
But the Broncos board should be wary of smooth talkers. Seibold, with his over-hyped Harvard 10-day degree, talked a good game and delivered a 35 per cent win record, not to mention the worst season in Brisbane’s history.
Bennett is not everyone‘s cup of tea but no-one can dispute he knows what makes the Broncos tick.
If the Broncos board followed Bennett’s succession plan two years ago, they would not be in this mess. This time, they should listen to his words on Walters ... and trust his gut feel.
Originally published as NRL 2020: Wayne Bennett says Kevin Walters is the man for Brisbane Broncos job