NRL 2023: Kevin Walters finds some sort of peace as Brisbane Broncos strike red hot form

Sometimes in life the setbacks that almost destroy a man create the opening for his success – and that appears to be what’s happening at the Broncos, writes Robert Craddock.

The weird, wacky world of rugby league coaching has been laid bare by two incidents which threatened to ruin Kevin Walters’ career which may yet prove the making of it.

Walters has quietly become an early-season success story, with the Broncos having won all four games and, with a softish draw to come, could easily be 7-0.

After last season’s fade out, Broncos fans cover their ears if you start making predictions, but Walters had a good rivalry week before the epic contest with the Dolphins.

His relatively relaxed state of mind was evident when he was goaded into doing his time-honoured Wayne Bennett impersonation at The Courier-Mail’s Brisbane Battle lunch which lightened the mood and showed a coach at peace with his role.

The Battle luncheon where Brisbane coach Kevin Walters and Kristian Woolf, Redcliffe’s assistant coach, entertained guests. Picture: Adam Head

Sometimes in life the setbacks that almost destroy a man create the opening for his success and there is mounting evidence to suggest that dramatically missing the top eight last season was a far better result for the Broncos than sneaking into a face-saving, yet deceptively shallow, sixth or seventh-place finish.

Had the Broncos crept into the finals it would have been a soft landing that might have given the club the impression everything was ticking along just fine. But there was nowhere to hide when they ran ninth.

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The agony was so acute some players said they could not watch the finals. Even though it left Walters fighting for his future, it meant much of his motivational work had been done for this season.

His players were simply fed up at not playing finals. That late season fade-out was utter rubbish, they thought.

The corner-cutting disappeared and you can tell how fit the Broncos are by the fact they seem to play at the same high level every week.

Kevin Walters speaks after the Broncos took out the first Battle of Brisbane. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

In the last four games last year, they conceded 145 points. In the first four this season just 58. Under pressure they are scrambling like junkyard dogs, almost as if they are trying to push last year’s indulgent failures back in time.

The other setback which has had hidden benefits for Walters — embarrassing though it was at the time — was Selwyn Cobbo’s declaration on a podcast that Walters was not a good coach.

Those chastening comments came out on January 8 just as the Broncos were getting serious in extending Walters’ contract a further two years.

It could have been a torpedo amidships but it actually sparked a solid defence of Walters by some senior players which promoted the club to pointedly defend him and lock the contract in place.

Even players who had had their moments with Walters reportedly were angry at Cobbo, a gifted but slightly overrated player who could not have been given more assistance or empathy by Walters in his breakthrough season last year.

Kevin Walters has the full support of his players. Picture: Steve Pohlner

The Battle lunch saw a fascinating discussion when Broncos great Corey Parker silenced the room by claiming Wayne Bennett was “the worst technical coach I’ve come across’’ but covered any shortcomings by getting the right people around him.

It was relevant to Walters in that it proved no coach has it all. Whatever shortcomings Cobbo was spotlighting can be addressed by hiring the coaches in areas which are Walters’ weaknesses.

Walters has most things covered. Players like him. He can read a game.

He can handle the mega-pressure of coaching Brisbane, a role suited to very few.

And he brings sponsors and old boys on his journey.

But if he is short in any areas, the Broncos only need to do what Bennett does — just find someone who knows better.

Originally published as NRL 2023: Kevin Walters finds some sort of peace as Brisbane Broncos strike red hot form