Broncos 2023: Kevin Walters takes cheeky swipe at Selwyn Cobbo over ‘can’t coach’ comments

Kevin Walters was hurt by Selwyn Cobbo’s comment about his coaching ability, but has revealed there is no bad blood with the Maroons ace.

Kevin Walters has taken a playful swipe at Selwyn Cobbo. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Kevin Walters says he has forgiven Selwyn Cobbo for his podcast blast, as the Broncos coach prepares to roll out his beefed-up star winger for Brisbane’s final pre-season hitout.

Cobbo will make his first appearance for the Broncos this season when he is named on Tuesday for Brisbane’s derby trial against the Cowboys this Saturday at Sunshine Coast Stadium.

The Origin speedster will go into the Queensland derby showdown brimming with confidence after producing a sublime tryscoring treble to spearhead the Indigenous All Stars’ 28-24 defeat of their Maori rivals in New Zealand last Saturday.

For Walters, the Cobbo performance was a source of personal pleasure and evidence the Indigenous ace is getting quality mentoring at the Broncos amid the pre-season firestorm that put player and coach on a collision course.

Cobbo rocked the Broncos in January with his now infamous podcast in which the 20-year-old made the explosive assessment that Walters was not a good coach, a critique that cut deep with the club legend.

Cobbo has been slapped with a $15,000 fine by the Broncos, part of it suspended, and he has since apologised to Walters.

The Cobbo-Walters incident had the potential to destabilise Brisbane’s 2023 campaign, but the Broncos coach says he held a meeting to clear the air with the Cherbourg product.

Walters admits he was hurt by Cobbo’s comment about his coaching ability, but told News Corp there is no bad blood with the Maroons ace and only wants the best for him at the Broncos.

“Look, Selwyn is a good kid. I know he didn’t mean what he said,” Walters said.

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Kevin Walters has taken a playful swipe at Selwyn Cobbo. Picture: Steve Pohlner

“The water flows under the bridge here and we have to look forward.

“We have both moved on.

“I have spoken to Selwyn about it and we’re both good.

“He has been really impressive with his pre-season.

“I am looking forward to having another good year with him. He is a good kid, we love him here at the club and we’ll welcome him back this week in a Broncos jersey.”

Asked about Cobbo’s hat-trick magic against the Maori All Stars, Walters fired a cheeky shot back at his rookie winger.

“Yeah it was great to see Selwyn do that ... he has been well coached,” Walters said with a wry grin following Brisbane’s 24-all trial draw with the Titans on Sunday night.

“He is improving all the time.

“Selwyn showed some good skills again in that area, so he must be getting some good coaching I would have thought.”

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Selwyn Cobbo scored three tries for the Indigenous All Stars. Picture NRL Photos

Walters has shown patience with Cobbo.

When the rookie turned up late to the captain’s run ahead of Brisbane’s do-or-die final game against the Dragons last year — their biggest match of the season — Walters refused to drop Cobbo and spoke to him about the importance of professionalism.

Cobbo has put on 6kg over summer and Walters believes Brisbane’s version of Latrell Mitchell has matured physically and mentally.

That was evidenced in the All Stars game, with Cobbo making two blunders in the opening 10 minutes, only to bury the errors and finish with a match-winning hat-trick.

“We don’t just teach Selwyn that (bouncing back from errors), we teach all of our players that and some take it in quicker than others,” Walters said.

“He showed his real class in that last quarter.

“From what I have seen so far, Selwyn is much more settled and more mature than this time last year.

“He has 12 months of NRL under his belt, he has played State of Origin and been in the Prime Minister’s XIII.

“We can’t fault him in pre-season, he had a hiccup off the field last year (fined for driving without a licence), but this year he has been on time, ready to go and next week we will get a glimpse of what he is capable of for the Broncos in season 2023.”

Originally published as Broncos 2023: Kevin Walters takes cheeky swipe at Selwyn Cobbo over ‘can’t coach’ comments