NRL 2022: Coach Kevin Walters warned emotional outbursts can miss mark in the modern game

Brisbane Broncos coach Kevin Walters is walking a tightrope and a mind guru has given him advice to stop him tumbling off it following his ferocious outburst at his players.

Angry rugby league fans have defended Kevin Walters’ right to spray his players, but a leading mind guru has urged him to change strategy.

Walters’ fierce spray to the Broncos after their 53-6 shellacking by Parramatta on Thursday has seen the Broncos coach become trapped between the old world in which he played and the infinitely more sensitive one in which he coaches.

Several players have reportedly taken umbrage with Walters telling the players to “show some heart’’, and told him he was too harsh, but former Broncos greats Gorden Tallis and Steve Renouf have declared the players need to harden up.

A News Corp Australia survey of more than 1500 readers has supported Walters’ action, with 97 per cent of respondents claiming Walters’ plea to his player to “show some f----- heart’’ was justified.

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Brisbane Broncos coach Kevin Walters has come under fire for his emotional speech after his side was well beaten by the Eels.

However Phil Jauncey, one of Australia’s leading sports psychologists, concedes Walters is walking a tightrope as he balances player sensitivities with the need for direct advice.

Jauncey defended Walters’ right to give his players some tough medicine, but says the message should be left until emotions cool and should be about specific actions rather than “heart’’.

“It’s a difficult world,’’ Jauncey said.

“These players come through and they might get a ribbon for finishing a race in primary school even if they ran last and criticism has not been promoted in their world.

“It is a tough one. In professional sport if you don’t get good feedback you don’t improve. It’s a tightrope walk.

“After the game is probably not the best time because you are so emotional. (League coaching great) Wayne Bennett and (Former Brisbane Lions coach) Leigh Matthews both said to me the best thing I ever said to them was don’t do it when you are emotional.

“Wait until the Tuesday meeting or whenever it is. People get emotional. We understand that. Kevvie is an emotional guy. He has just lost an important game. But rather than a spray teams need to know what they can fix.

A furious Walters launches into his players after they were smashed by Parramatta last Friday night. Credit: Screenshot

“One of the things I tell people is never talk about something you cannot see. Rather than talk about someone’s heart you need to talk about actions. What are they actually did wrong. I don’t think it matters what generation you are from you should be able to take that.

“If they are lazy then be specific and say that they are taking longer to do things than everyone else. When you are emotional after a game you need to say ‘let’s not get emotional, let’s talk about what needs to be fixed’.’’

One of Walters’ challenges is that he was raised in an abrasive era where sprays were commonplace and players did not object to it, but he is now coaching in a much more sensitive era.

Walters’ first senior coach Tommy Raudonikis once produced a bullock’s heart at Ipswich training and during another sermon at Wests in Sydney broke the dressing room windows.

Reasons why Broncos ‘deserved’ Kevvie’s ferocious spray

Pat Carrigan has declared the Broncos deserved the fearsome spray they received from Kevin Walters and fears a lack of self-belief and below-par training have undermined the team.

A candid Carrigan, who will return from a four week suspension against the Dragons with the Broncos’ finals hopes on life support, had no objection to Walters’ dressing-room spray which has reportedly offended several players after the Broncos’ 53-6 loss to Parramatta.

“It was fair and honest,’’ Carrigan said.

“It was warranted. Not only as players but as fans we are a little bit disappointed in the club’s performances over the last couple of weeks. He is a passionate guy. We all want to get there and we are following him every day.’’

Kevin Walters gives his team a ferocious spray following their insipid loss to the Eels. Credit: Screenshot

Carrigan admitted the team would be motivated by stinging barbs from club legends Gorden Tallis and Steve Renouf, but felt their words came from a place of genuine concern over the Broncos’ form slump, which has left them having to beat the Dragons and pray for a Wests Tigers upset over Canberra to make the finals.

Renouf called the players “precious, soft, privileged knobs’’ on Twitter.

Carrigan said: “They (Tallis and Renouf) are greats of the club. It stings you when they say things like that, but I also know it comes from the right place.

“Stevie and Gordie have been good around the place and want nothing but for us to be a successful group.

“Rugby league is a bit of a me versus you kind of game. If you want to run harder than I want to tackle you then the proof is in the pudding. That has been where we have been the last couple of weeks. Kevvie kind of addressed the attitude around that.’’

Walters may elect to add some competitiveness to his team by including Tyson Gamble at five-eighth. Gamble trained in the main squad on Monday, with Ezra Mam moving to the reserves.

Asked had he spotted any reason for the Broncos’ late-season collapse, Carrigan said: “A lack of self-belief.

Broncos coach Kevin Walters looks dejected after losing to Parramatta.

“We have not started games that well recently. When you give teams a chance to run through you defensively it kind of cascades. Our quality of training — we haven’t been quite as happy with.

“I think we have probably had a soft underbelly the last couple of weeks, but in saying that the group is really motivated to get better. Our performances have not been up to standard, embarrassing to be honest. The last two weeks have not been good enough.

“I am confident we can get the job done against the Dragons, and while we might have to rely on some results we can give ourselves a chance.

“I don’t think it is a failed season, but it is not where I want to be. Some honestly about this journey on which we are going is probably a bit humbling, to be honest, but it’s a reality check to where we are at.

“We have lapses in key areas. Probably attitude is the main thing we need to address. There are Dragons boys I have been mates with who would like nothing more than rub us out this weekend.’’

Club captain Adam Reynolds will undergo concussion tests this week before his place for the Dragons is confirmed. Winger Selwyn Cobbo, rested with fatigue against Parramatta, is likely to return.

Kevvie’s epic spray exposes Broncos generational divide

Kevin Walters is trapped between old and new worlds following his volcanic dressing room spray to the Broncos last Thursday.

Broncos greats Gorden Tallis and Steve Renouf are aghast at news reported on Triple M that two players spoke to Broncos coach Walters and felt he was out of order.

Walters urged his players to “show some heart’’ and called them “soft’’ following a 53-6 defeat by Parramatta.

Tallis said the players “could not have made it in my era.’’

The furore has reignited the debate over how a coach should manage a modern generation of player raised in a less abrasive era than bygone generations.

Wayne Bennett said several years ago that he has had to change with the times and if he spoke to some players as directly as he did in the 1980s then he would have the players manager on the phone to the chief executive the next day.

But former English captain James Graham said the players deserved what they got.

“You’ve got to face the music. You’ve got to face the truth and Kevvie is within his rights to give the team a spray,” Graham told Triple M.

The Broncos have conceded 113 points in their last two games to all but end the Broncos’ 2022 finals dream. Picture: NRL Photos.

“A minimum of two weeks on the spin, they’ve been embarrassing and they’ve let the team down. They’ve let the town down and you know, they should be playing finals

“That (calling them soft) is designed to get a response and the response shouldn’t be I’m going to go and whinge about it. The response should be I’m going to stand up next week.”

Broncos great Renouf tweeted “Precious soft privileged knobs! Toughen up boys” in response to the Fox League story.

Precious soft privileged knobs! Toughen up boys! https://t.co/9kJU5s91Lh

— Steven Renouf (@TheRealPearl03) August 28, 2022

Originally published as NRL 2022: Coach Kevin Walters warned emotional outbursts can miss mark in the modern game