An emotional Kevin Walters has adopted a phrase from US President Donald Trump to explain his vision of “making the Broncos great again”.
Walters was announced the new Brisbane coach on Wednesday, a role he has coveted and narrowly missed for years when the board picked Anthony Seibold to replace Wayne Bennett two years ago.
The Red Hill legend has been guaranteed for two years that she can turn the club around and save the team from its worst slump after just collecting the 2020 NRL wooden spoon.
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“If I can steal a line from Donald Trump, we have to make the Broncos great again,” Walters told the Broncos website when he was introduced as a coach.
Walters watched Brisbane have a horror year under the now dismissed coach Seibold.
They won only three games, finishing last on the ladder for the first time in Broncos history.
The situation got so bad that many old boys from Brisbane spoke out publicly against the Broncos, their board of directors and trainer Seibold.
Walters’ first port of call is to bring Red Hill back into line, where he won several premierships under Bennett and together with his great colleague Allan Langer.
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Make the broncos great again
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“I’m good at bringing people together, and I just didn’t feel like there was any unity between the playgroup and staff this year,” said Walters.
“It will be my first task to bring everyone back together because we are here together.
“This applies to the entire club, from the administrative staff to the game staff to the players. We all have to come together.
“It’s an old saying, but we have to get on the bus together and get on the bus together.
“I think it’s really important that a club and our identity know exactly where we’ve been and what our history is.
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“Which is even more important right now, and we’re going to put together a group of players who go out for the Broncos every week and whose main goal is to win, because the Broncos was about winning for me.
“Right now we’re in the lowest moment we’ve ever been, but I’m now confident that we’re working vertically with the people we have in the club and the people we bring into the club.
“I want to make sure that every time our fans, sponsors and their teammates put on their jerseys, they are proud of the work they have done on the field.”
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Walters took the time to take on an NRL head coach role.
He worked abroad as well as in Melbourne under Craig Bellamy and in the Broncos under Bennett.
He was an assistant alongside Langer when the Broncos played in the 2015 grand final.
“(I’m) more than prepared,” he said.
“I’ve worked under some great coaches in Wayne Bennett and Craig Bellamy, and my role with the Queensland team in recent years has exposed me to situations that are critical to the team’s performance.
“I think I did great training, and now it’s time to apply that… to the Broncos.
“I’m very excited about the Queensland Rugby League and the Broncos. It’s been a big part of my life and it’s exciting to get back in there and give something back.
“They are a young group and this year I got a glimpse of their possibilities. There are some great young talent coming through.
“For some reason they haven’t been at their best this year, but it will be mine and the staff’s job to make sure we have a really good preseason and we are doing the right thing for the first round, so we’ll make sure everyone is involved are. can be proud of their team. “
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