Broncos icons back Kevvie despite struggles

3 years ago 351

Brisbane Broncos large Sam Thaiday has backed Kevin Walters to win arsenic the club's caput coach, contempt undergoing a hard archetypal play astatine the helm.

After a fearfulness play successful 2020 which saw the fallen powerhouse decorativeness last, the Broncos managed 7 wins successful 2021 and yet recovered their champion shot arsenic the play wore on.

Thaiday, who played 304 games for the club, said the struggles Walters endured successful his debut play successful Brisbane should basal him successful bully stead for 2022 and beyond.

"You've got to realise he's inactive uncovering his feet successful that role," Thaiday told Wide World of Sports.

"I deliberation he's going to beryllium a batch amended due to the fact that of this twelvemonth and immoderate of the adversity helium had to look arsenic a coach.

"He decidedly evolved into a bully manager towards the extremity of the season. He had a existent absorption and process and I could spot things starting to instrumentality with the players and the mode they were playing footy.

"A pre-season up of him [and] immoderate proceedings matches and hopefully we deed the crushed moving adjacent twelvemonth and we're a much-improved team."

Thaiday's sentiment was echoed by Queensland rugby league fable Wally Lewis, who praised Walters for not giving up contempt looking "a shattered man" astatine times.

"You could spot that helium was precise disappointed, a shattered man, connected a fig of occasions, but helium didn't propulsion successful the towel," Lewis told Wide World of Sports.

"It was a pugnacious twelvemonth for him, highly tough. Coming up with his ain coaching benignant would've been highly hard, peculiarly erstwhile he's had the accidental to beryllium taught by immoderate of the champion coaches successful the game, [Wayne] Bennett and [Tim] Sheens are conscionable a mates of those.

"When you get successful and effort to enactment into your effect your ain coaching style, it tin beryllium a batch much difficult.

"You're moving with a antithetic playing staff, you're moving with antithetic oppositions and to beryllium capable to travel down and fastener successful thing that doesn't conscionable suit the team, but suits the players arsenic idiosyncratic arsenic good is simply a batch easier said than done.

"Having gone down to screen [Broncos training] connected a fig of occasions, you could spot the fig of times Kevvie was scratching the backmost of caput and looking around.

"It is rather openly the toughest relation successful rugby league, coaching, peculiarly erstwhile the expectations are truthful high."

Both Lewis and Thaiday suggested Walters was fixed small accidental to win owed to the Broncos' instability successful the halves, which saw the manager deploy 8 antithetic combinations passim the year.

"You've got 2 blokes retired of the 4 astir important positions connected the field," Lewis said.

"The No.1, No.6, No.7 and No.9, everybody agrees that they are the cardinal positions, and to not person immoderate stableness determination and beryllium capable to execute highly good week aft week makes it astir intolerable [to succeed]."

"I deliberation Kevvie's astir apt recovered who he's going to brace with Adam Reynolds adjacent year, which is going to beryllium great," Thaiday added.

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"Out of those guys [tried successful the halves this season], I thought Tyson Gamble was astir apt the astir consistent.

"Sometimes those guys didn't springiness Kevvie an accidental to continually prime them due to the fact that of their ain signifier and it does marque it hard to triumph games erstwhile you've continually got a antithetic halves operation each 2nd week."

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