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Message: [QUOTE="Super Freak, post: 2889897, member: 8536"] [SIZE=6][B][ATTACH=full]2076[/ATTACH] [/B] [B]Kevin Walters back at Broncos: Analysis of Maroons coach’s return to Red Hill[/B][/SIZE] TRAVIS MEYN, The Courier-Mail October 23, 2017 KEVIN Walters will return to the Broncos next season as an assistant coach to Wayne Bennett. Walters has had two stints under Bennett as a coach. He was sacked by Bennett in 2005 before returning in 2015, helping Brisbane to the NRL grand final. Walters moved on to the Queensland Origin coaching gig in 2016 and has won his two series in charge, proving to Bennett he is capable of juggling both jobs. Here are five burning questions about Walters’ return to the Broncos. [B]Can Walters and Bennett work together? [/B] Make no mistake about it — there has been friction between Walters and Bennett in the past. Walters was keen to return to the Broncos last season after serving one year as Maroons coach full-time but Bennett blocked the move. They also had a battle over Anthony Milford’s availability for this year’s State of Origin series. Walters is one of the game’s most-loved characters but is the Broncos coaches box big enough for two big personalities like him and Bennett? We will soon find out. [B]What will Walters do? [/B] Bennett, a seven-time NRL premiership winner, brought Jason Demetriou on board as his sole assistant this year and seemed to find success. Demetriou was responsible for tinkering with Brisbane’s attack and producing a style of play which would allow the Broncos to be competitive despite having a smaller forward pack than most rivals. Demetriou will remain at the Broncos in 2018 after missing out on the Titans head coaching role and will have to work in with Walters. Walters, a former five-eighth, had success mentoring Broncos halves Anthony Milford and Ben Hunt during Brisbane’s grand final charge in 2015. He is likely to take up a similar mentoring role with Brisbane’s key playmakers but with his Origin experience under his belt expect Walters to have a more far reaching impact on the club. [B]Is Walters the next head coach of the Brisbane Broncos? [/B] Walters must surely be the favourite to succeed Bennett when the super coach finally decides to give up the game. Bennett will be 69 when his current deal expires in 2019 and the Broncos must now begin succession planning. It took Brisbane years to overcome the retirement of Darren Lockyer in 2011 and it is arguable they are still coming to terms with losing such a huge figure within the club. Walters has publicly declared he wants to coach the Broncos one day. He opted out of pursuing the vacant Titans job recently and after turning 50 last week, time is running out for him to reach his goal. The next two years will decide whether Walters ever coaches the Broncos. Don’t rule highly-successful Cowboys coach Paul Green out of contention either in a few years. [B]Will Walters be the secret to the Broncos snapping their 11-year premiership drought? [/B] The Broncos have not won an NRL title since 2006 and the closest they have come to snapping that drought was in 2015 when Walters was last at the club. Brisbane went within a few seconds of beating the Cowboys in the famous first all-Queensland decider and things could have been a lot different if they had hung on for victory. The ingredients for a premiership are at Red Hill. They just need the right combination to mould them into a title-winning outfit. [B]Can Walters solve the problems within Brisbane’s misfiring playmakers? [/B] The Broncos suffered in the finals on the back of injuries and their key playmakers failing to produce in clutch moments. Halfback Ben Hunt (Dragons) has left the club and there will be huge pressure on five-eighth Anthony Milford to fire when he becomes a $1 million-a-season player next year. Milford and Kodi Nikorima will need to lift their game for the Broncos to be premiership contenders and Walters could be the man to nurture them. He was one of the game’s best shot-callers in his playing days and his influence around Brisbane’s scrumbase cannot be a bad thing. Source: [URL='http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl/kevin-walters-back-at-broncos-analysis-of-maroons-coachs-return-to-red-hill/news-story/2b68e92d2930c7cafc928d21c3e61d17']Courier Mail[/URL] [/QUOTE]

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