Craig Bellamy believes Kevin Walters can restore Brisbane’s glory days
The battle for the Broncos post ramped-up after Kevin Walters and Paul Green were interviewed for the job on Thursday. According to Craig Bellamy, there is only one option.
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Storm coach Craig Bellamy has called for his former assistant Kevin Walters to be given the Brisbane job, saying the club legend is the perfect candidate to give the Broncos a “history lesson” in greatness.
Bellamy’s sentiments were echoed by Storm pivot Cameron Munster, who says his time working with Walters in the Queensland Origin set-up has convinced him ‘Kevvie’ has what it takes to rebuild the Broncos.
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The interview process to succeed Anthony Seibold has been completed, with Walters and former Cowboys coach Paul Green fronting the Broncos board on Thursday afternoon to deliver their pitches.
Walters and Green had one hour each to outline their blueprint for success to Brisbane’s executive as the Broncos prepare to appoint the coach that can lead the club out of the premiership cellar next season.
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The Broncos will formally announce Seibold’s successor next week. Walters spent three seasons at the Storm under Bellamy from 2011-13 and the Melbourne super coach believes the Broncos need a mentor with an intimate understanding of Brisbane’s premiership-winning culture.
“I probably shouldn’t say this, but just watching the Broncos this year, perhaps they need a bit of a history lesson in what made that club great and why it was great and Kevvie would be ideal to do that,” Bellamy said.
“Kevvie was one of my assistants for a couple of years. He did a good job with us.
“Part of it (a successful club culture) is knowing what the people that were there before you did.
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“It’s really important for our club at Melbourne.
“I didn’t play at the Storm but when I went there, senior guys like Robbie Kearns and Steve Kearney ... those guys basically oozed what the club was about.
“I didn’t want to go in and change that bit, we changed some footy stuff but not the culture stuff, we had to keep that going.
“You have to remember where you came from and what they did. I was at the Raiders when they first started (in 1982), I was a foundation player and we went through some tough times, then Mal Meninga, ‘Badge’ (Gary Belcher), Ricky (Stuart), Laurie Daley and Bradley Clyde came along and all of a sudden we had a really good team and won some premierships.
“It’s important your foundations are successful, you want to keep building your club around that and that’s one of the important things I’ve seen for a footy club.”
Walters played 241 first-grade games for the Broncos, featuring in five of the club’s six premierships, including Brisbane’s maiden title triumph in 1992.
Walters looked relaxed speaking at a XXXX promotion at the Breakfast Creek Hotel just hours before his Broncos job interview.
“I’m very comfortable,” he said.
“I’ve put a lot of work into myself over the last 15 years to be a coach and that’s what I want to be.
“The best way to present myself is just to be me.
“There’s only one place the Broncos can go at the moment from where they are.”
In the past four years in charge of Queensland, Walters won back-to-back crowns in 2016-17, giving Munster confidence the Broncos legend is a winner who can bring the glory days back to Red Hill.
“Kevvie is coaching one of the best sides in rugby league with the Queensland Origin team,” Munster said.
“We have always worn the Queensland jersey with pride and ‘Kevvie’ has always talked about that, the players that have come before us.
“He has spoken about how the Broncos have lost that, they have lost their BBQs, their old boys don’t go to the club anymore, it shows where the club is at.
“No disrespect to them, but you have to remember the guys who played before you and why the jersey is so proud.
“That‘s something the Broncos need to bring back in that jersey and that’s why people like Kevvie are needed back at the club.
“Being a Queenslander, it’s been really sad to see where the Broncos are at. They have a lot more to give than what they are showing.
“Kevvie knows success and wants success and I feel they need him.”
Originally published as Craig Bellamy believes Kevin Walters can restore Brisbane’s glory days