The 2015 NRL grand final was, for a Queenslander, one of the most epic rugby league moments.
It did not matter whether you supported Brisbane or, like me, were a diehard North Queensland supporter – the sight of two Queensland sides doing battle at Stadium Australia and trampling over New South Wales’s sacred turf looked phenomenal.
Finally, Queensland had made New South Wales admit that at least one of their teams was the best in the competition.
But then something changed.
The Broncos went off the boil, sacking “Super Coach” Wayne Bennett; the Cowboys trotted out the same plays for the next five years, and they too sacked their coach and let go of a host of now brilliant players, including Kalyn Ponga, Jahrome Hughes and Viliame Kikau.
The Gold Coast Titans, perennial underachievers, began to have limited success.
So, what happened to the Queensland sides?
As was documented in a recent article by BenchWarmer, which laid out the big issues in retention with the Cowboys and the Broncos, player retention is a big problem.
The Broncos let go of Sam Walker and Reece Walsh this year and both have become stars for their new sides.
How much better would the Broncos be with Sam Walker in the side? (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
The Cowboys, well, their lack of player retention has been well-documented.
The second thing that happened at both clubs is poor coaching decisions. The Broncos lost a full year of development under Anthony Seibold and the issues run deeper than just his coaching performance alone.
The Cowboys held onto Paul Green probably one and a half seasons longer than they should have, and that has hampered their growth now.
The Gold Coast Titans, on the other hand, have bought well, retained local juniors and have discovered new stars who have done exceptionally well for them. Only now are questions beginning to be asked of Justin Holbrook’s coaching style.
More than that, the problem with Queensland’s two oldest rugby league sides is that they have lost their identity.
It began with the Broncos when they hired Anthony Seibold.
Seibold is a good coach, and his ways proved popular with the Rabbitohs, but he struggled to adapt his coaching style to the Broncos’ way of doing things.
Paul Green began by laying down the law, but he relied on his senior players to enforce it. Johnathan Thurston and Matt Scott were rightfully co-captains and enforced his culture well.
However, once Scott suffered his career-ending injury and JT retired, Green seemed bereft of ideas and players to enforce the club’s culture.
They targeted Todd Carney and recruited Ben Barba and neither would have enhanced the club’s reputation.
Jordan McLean, an enforcer in Melbourne, has largely been missing in action in his Cowboys stint. Jason Taumalolo, a destructive player, is too much of a nice guy off the field to enforce culture.
Despite these missteps, there is a new hope for both sides.
Kevin Walters is a good coach who is working against a system that is against him. His success with the Maroons speaks volumes of his ability to inspire and lead teams back from the brink.
If Walters has a supportive board and free rein to sign and develop the players he wants playing for him, the Broncos should do well.
Admittedly, questions remain about his judgement over Walsh, Walker and Tom Dearden, but he seems to see hope in the remainder of his players to play well for them. What Walters has tried to do is to instil the old-style Broncos values into his players, with limited success.
Todd Payten has a ‘take no prisoners’ approach with the players and holds everybody, including himself, responsible for what happens on the field.
His refreshing honesty and accountability before the players and the media has helped to turn the club around.
Young players need accountability and honesty from their coaches and they need to know that the coach supports them.
Scott Drinkwater has the potential to be a very good five-eighth for the club and with Jason Taumalolo, Valentine Holmes and Reece Robson in the mix, the Cowboys have some good leaders for the foreseeable future.
Payten’s culture of accountability and honesty with everybody has helped the players rise to the occasion and, for now, at least, the Cowboys are the best of the Queensland sides (in terms of ladder position).
Culture is a big part of the way Queenslanders play their football. After all, playing for Queensland in Origin and emulating the likes of Thurston, Billy Slater and Cameron Smith has been the dream for most young Queenslanders.
With Walters, Payten and Holbrook helming their respective clubs, there is hope, even without relying on Obi-Wan Kenobi to save them.
Instilling values into football players takes time, and Walters and Payten in particular need time to instil those values.
Gibbo
Roar Pro
This is called hyperbole. It's more often used by writers in creative pieces rather than in formal pieces, but I utilised it here to provide a bit of a chuckle, some lighthearted banter and to demonstrate the sheer dominance of the Cowboys and Broncos during 2015. Whilst being a Queenslander myself, I try to keep my writing neutral and generally make fun of anyone and everyone rather than one side. Apologies if that did not come across.
Gibbo
Roar Pro
Both clubs have suffered from an exodus of seasoned players. Green should've blooded newer players earlier to learn from the likes of Scott, Cooper, Thurston and Morgan so that they could take on some of the leadership now.
Gibbo
Roar Pro
Interesting point about the limited 1 out plays. That's something that the Broncos and Cowboys (and the Titans to a lesser extent) do a lot. That was a feature under Paul Green for the Cowboys, and it looks like it's come into the Maroons game plan now as well. The Cowboys seem to be getting fitter as the season wears on, and whilst they may not be able to compete with the top echelon this year (and possibly not for most of next year either), as their younger players come through and develop well (like the Deardens, Asi's and the Hamiso's), they'll be a force to be reckoned with in a few years. The Broncos are still a few years off. They need a serious culture think.
Gibbo
Roar Pro
Or the Cowboys signing Ben Barba and attempting to sign Todd Carney. Who knows? Next, some NRL side will be signing that horrible criminal Israel Folau! What would the world have come to then! :silly:
Gibbo
Roar Pro
You have a point insofar as I failed to define what a good or bad club culture was. I violated my own rule of good writing and that was to define my terms. That was my bad. I mentioned the fact that concerns have recently been raised about Holbrook's coaching because I literally just finished reading an article about it. Any club that surrenders a 22-0 lead and loses the match has to have questions asked of its coaching. Thanks for the comment and always open to suggestions as to how I can improve.
elvis
Roar Rookie
Parra isn't winning before 2026? I want your crystal ball!
TA
Roar Rookie
You should be writing Fantasy novels or at least keep both hands above the desk. Seriously Walters couldn`t coach a drunk at a Bar and when did the Cowboys have an identity.
Pete
Guest
Agree with the majority of scribes Walters does not seem to have it...but leave it to Tallis he will shake the no gooders down...dearey me just what the Broncos need...
Nat
Roar Guru
The ladder is a good indicator of the teams that move the ball well and (without looking) I would imagine Parra are right up there as well re offloads and passes. It's not only the offloads but the movement of the ball and how quickly everyone gets in position. When they are not doing it against our teams it's very good to watch.
Rob
Guest
It's amazing how the recently introduced rule changes especial the 6 again has impacted on the Queensland teams. I thought the Broncos and Cowboys went from strong physically solid defensive sides to inept unfit teams in the blink of a Covid break. Now it's the Titans that appear to be as unfit as the 2019 GF Raiders. I like to find stats (mostly team related) that give an indication as to why a team is doing well. The big area where Panthers are ahead is passing the football with limited dummy half and 1 out plays. The Panthers and Storm have the least amount of missed tackle but they have to do the least amount of tackling? Tackling and missed tackles is something the Broncos, Cowboys and Titans lead the way in. The most frustrating thing I find in the stats is the somewhat uncontrollable one penalties awarded. The Panthers receive more penalties than any other team 84 and the Cowboys the least 45.
Joey
Guest
Maybe Anastasia could bump up Broncos cap next year by another $8M instead of wasting it on Origin.
Larry1950
Guest
Hindsight is a wonderful thing but Ponga, Hughes, Kikau, Walker & Walsh were all promising but untried rookies when they left their respective clubs. You keep hearing it as an excuse but under a salary cap, clubs can’t keep every kid who looks good as a 17 year old & judgement errors will be made. Hughes for example was a third or fourth string fullback who Bellamy & the Storm staff turned into a quality halfback. All clubs have those stories, the Wests Tigers had let Addo-Carr & Papynhauzen go a few years back, the Bulldogs didn’t get it right with a kid called Thurston. I agree that the Qld clubs have taken their eyes off the ball but as I’ve mentioned in other posts, if you told their supporters in the 1980’s that a club like Parramatta wouldn’t have another premiership in more than 40 years they would have you certified. The advent of greedy player managers, substantially increased salary caps, pushy parents, a ‘want it now’ generation of kids who’ve been mollycoddled all their lives & changes in our society all factor into the current circumstances. I wouldn’t want to be trying to pull a good squad together with the impediments most clubs now face.
Lance Boil
Roar Rookie
I believe club or any organisation culture is definitively a top down problem. By the time you get to the players Culture is a done deal. The constant movement of players between clubs conducted as chess board battle between the NRL, Club boards and players and their managers, what price culture? When you arrive at a club or business you FIOFO . I wonder if Todd Payton's admirable philosophy is extended to everyone not just the players? I hope so!
The Sporacle
Roar Rookie
Thats why its called an opinion and its also a good reason to create a profile. You can also give yourself a cool name like the fellow above :thumbup:
Jak
Guest
the sight of two Queensland sides doing battle at Stadium Australia and trampling over New South Wales’s sacred turf looked phenomenal. Really, is this a thing? Are kweenslandahs so insecure and their minds so small that they honestly think about stuff like this? How embarrassing.
Adam
Roar Guru
Yeah there are somepre-requisites. Get a username and make the effort to write something....
no one in particular
Roar Guru
origin coaching record does not reflect the quality of a guy to coach. See Bellamy, C and Fittler, B. The only coach be beat was Laurie Daley, and he couldn't coach pigs to be dirty Its a small sample size and the teams do not need developing. As a head coach in the NRL and ESL he has a record of 28-50. He is by far the weakest of the 3 Qld coaches
Nat
Roar Guru
Welcome to The Roar. Australia's sports opinion website. Feel free to contribute one of your own fact-based, intellectual analysis.
Dirk Diggler
Roar Rookie
Interesting read Gibbo and my take on this is that the Cowboys retention has been poor and agree they have suffered from the retirements of Scott, Cooper, JT and Morgan. These were all Origin players. The also have aging players past their prime and as you say Green stayed 12 months too long. The Broncos....where do we start? They also lost alot of leadership in a short space of time- Parker, Thaiday, Gillett, Blair and let other players like Arrow ,Wallace, and Hunt go. Their retention manager should have been dismissed once they let Walker and Walsh leave but signed Croft from Melbourne which should have raised some alarm bells instantly. Then the messy divorce from Bennett and allowing Seibold (with one good season at Souths) to take control was the beginning of the end. The jury is still out on Walters, he should be for all intent and purposes be a fantastic coach, having been mentored by Bennett, Bellamy and Meninga. He's won 6 premierships so as far as success goes he should be a winner.......but I'm not so sure.
The Immortal Scott Minto
Roar Rookie
Actually I think the article is spot on. The Broncos signing violent criminals like Matt Lodge and Jamil Hopoate was a sign of things to come. Tevita Pangai with his bikie mates and Payne Hass had a dometic violence incident. Sure rugby league players are not saints but for a long time the Broncos had higher standards than this. They look like they have zero comradery, very sad to see.