Kevin Walters’ honeymoon as coach of his beloved Broncos is officially over after a Queensland media outlet published a damning report of the club legend’s tactics and man-management skills.
The Broncos are officially in crisis mode following Thursday’s 46-0 loss to Wayne Bennett’s South Sydney Rabbitohs at Suncorp Stadium.
Two staffers - general manager of football operations Peter Nolan and head of performance Andrew Croll - were sacked on Friday.
Walters’ position is not considered under immediate threat despite the fact the Broncos have won just three of their first 15 games under the club champion, who won five premierships as a player.
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However, an article in The Courier Mail published on Saturday claimed unnamed players described Walters’ communication style as ‘awkward, vague and inconsistent’.
Walters on Thursday night confirmed reports the club this week told star forward Tevita Pangai Junior he is free to leave Red Hill, despite being contracted until the end of 2022.
Pangai Junior subsequently claimed he was hauled into Broncos headquarters on his day off and told the bad news.
Matt Lodge is also expected to exit the club before the end of the current campaign, with the New Zealand Warriors tipped to sign the controversial prop.
Representative winger Corey Oates is another player seemingly on the outer, with Walters this week playing down reports of a confrontation with out-of-favour veteran.
Cooper Cronk suggested the negative comments could be the opinions of a disgruntled minority of Broncos players.
But the Melbourne Storm and Sydney Roosters legend admits he has seen little tactical improvement from last year’s wooden-spooners since Walters replaced Anthony Seibold as head coach.
“I just don’t know what to believe, what’s true or what’s not because this obviously is the first year of Kevvie’s coaching career and the Brisbane performances have been OK at different stages but it’s purely on emotion,” Cronk told Fox League.
“When they play well it’s all emotional, when they play poorly there’s nothing there in terms of technical effort and a few other areas.
“Look, I’m not sure where this sits. The reason why Kevvie was brought back to the club was to bring that whole unity and bring Broncos back together again.
“And the few names that have been tossed around in terms of contributing to the story are the players that are so-called on the outer.
“… I think Kevvie’s safe for the time being but geez he really needs to get the Broncos playing a better style of football, otherwise he’s in a lot of trouble moving forward.”
