‘Complete write-off’: Broncos urged to make crucial Kevvie call or face NRL disaster
The Broncos have been urged to make a call on Kevin Walter’s future after Brisbane crashed out of the finals race amid rumbling of discontent within the team.
Last year’s grand finalists went into their Round 26 clash with Wayne Bennett and the Dolphins knowing a loss would end their season.
They responded by slumping to a 40-4 drubbing, a loss that has only turned up the heat on their coach with the Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield declaring Walters had 12 games to save his job in 2025.
Colleague David Riccio, however, said if there were any doubts regarding Walters then club bosses needed to make a decision before the new season.
“I’ve got concerns on the discussion point around Kevvie’s future guys, this is something I’ve spoken about previously, when club’s make decisions to move on a coach,” Riccio said on NRL360 on Tuesday night.
“The fact we are talking about Kevvie in this space, ‘oh yeah, he will get to start next season and we will get to see how many weeks or the first 12 rounds’.
Riccio then pointed to examples in the NRL where failure to make a tough call on a coach had led to wasted seasons.
“It’s always a concern for me because we’ve already seen it, we saw it with Anthony Griffin and St George Illawarra.
“The St George Illawarra board failed to make a decision in the pre-season of the year they eventually sacked him. It was a wasted year for Saints.
“We are seeing it currently with Parramatta who are in a spoon bowl with the Tigers, moving on Brad Arthur with the season still underway.
“If the Broncos get into this position of making a decision on Kevin Walters, next year is a complete write-off.
“There’s no point whatsoever in going forward with Kevvie next year if they don’t believe he’s the man for the job beyond next season.”
Riccio also questioned why the Broncos board hadn’t come out publicly to address speculation over Walters’ future.
“We have not heard from anyone, the higher-ups, coming out and declaring Kevin Walters is at the Broncos for the remainder of next season, no one,” Riccio said.
“We haven’t heard a single word of CEO, chair declaring Kevin Walters will be the coach and until that happens we will be in the scenario of what I have spoken about.”
Broncos legend Gorden Tallis, however, said Walters had the support of the board and the playing group
He did, however, admit that it hasn’t been made public during his tenure.
“I think he does have the support of the playing group and the people that I talk to above say that he is there next year,” Tallis said.
“There’s no talk of them not wanting him as coach, they know there was injuries, they know they didn’t manage expectations.
“Let me let you in on a little secret, when they appointed him he had to go buy his own shirt and do his own press conference.
“There’s been no support for him from day one from up above him, he’s always been there on his own. He got them to a grand final by himself so I trust him to dig them out.”
Following Riccio and Tallis’ comments on Tuesday night, Broncos boss Dave Donaghy has come out, confirming the club are backing their under-siege coach.