Brisbane are putting their faith in Kevin Walters and Parramatta have done likewise with Brad Arthur but what was the rush in either situation?
NRL clubs seems perpetually scared of a coach pulling up stumps and taking their talents elsewhere even though in the vast majority of cases, they rarely switch teams unless they’re pushed out the door.
There have been a few notable examples in recent times of top-line coaches like Ivan Cleary leaving the Wests Tigers for Penrith, Wayne Bennett being lured to Newcastle by Nathan Tinkler’s multimillion-dollar house of cards and Des Hasler bouncing out of Brookvale for Canterbury a few weeks after Manly’s 2011 premiership win.
But for the most part, coaches are a conservative bunch who don’t want to leave what they have set up. They crave the security of their existing role and whether they’ve tasted premiership glory at that club or are still in the process of getting there, they are way more often than not loath to leave for supposedly greener pastures.
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Walters and Arthur are clearly in that category of coaches who believe a title is on the horizon even though the odds of that happening in a 17-team league are long even if the roster is loaded with talent.
Broncos coach Kevin Walters. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
And did either club think their coach was being headhunted elsewhere or even wanted to leave?
It’s good for the coach to have job security but it’s better for them to be on their toes, earning an extension each time.
Walters has a winning record of 44% early in his third season at the helm. Granted, he took over a team which was coming off the wooden spoon after Anthony Seibold’s time at the helm failed dismally so the 14th-placed finish in year one was understandable.
But after adding Adam Reynolds and Kurt Capewell last year and being in fourth spot with a 12-6 record after Round 19, the 1-5 finish to the season (the only win over a struggling Knights outfit) to plummet to ninth to miss the finals should have been a red flag at Red Hill.
Brisbane have been one of the most impressive teams in the first fortnight of the NRL season but that equates to two weeks of a 24-match campaign.
The Broncos should hold their horses when it comes to locking in Walters until the end of 2025.
This season was supposed to be the last of Seibold’s multimillion-dollar five-year deal. Brisbane did not pay out the remaining three years but forked out a reported seven-figure sum as part of the settlement with Seibold.
At a time when most clubs have sacked coaches more than 12 months out from the end of their contract only to replace them with the next lamb to the slaughter (some teams on multiple occasions), teams should be more circumspect about offering long-term extensions.
That’s not to say Walters won’t lead them back to the finals this year and potentially make them title contenders again in the near future.
They should be 3-0 and remain at the top of the ladder after Saturday night’s home clash with St George Illawarra if they maintain the form which vanquished the premiers at Penrith and the Cowboys last week.
But on the strength of what Walters has achieved in totality as coach thus far, the contract extension seems premature.
The Broncos are this weekend celebrating the 30th anniversary of their premiership win over the Dragons and Walters, who was a five-eighth in that all-conquering 1990s team, said at his captain’s run media conference on Friday that he wants the current side to use the examples of the past to create their own identity.
“It’s an important part of our history but what’s an even more important part of this team right now is they leave a legacy like those teams left,” he said.
“And that’s been the instructions all week about this team and what they can achieve.
“Those times were those players and for myself, it’s now time for this team to really stand up.”
Further north, the Cowboys finalised a new deal for Todd Payten until the end of 2026 – that decision was a no-brainer. He’d taken the team from 15th to a converted try away from a Grand Final appearance last year.
Parramatta announced earlier this week that Arthur’s contract had been extended until the end of 2025 as he embarks on his 10th year in charge at the club.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
With a 52% win rate and last year’s Grand Final appearance on his resume, he’s done a great job in rebuilding the club after Parra had plumbed the depths of two straight wooden spoons in the four years after their unexpected run to the 2009 decider.
He was already under contract until the end of next year but Parramatta have got in early to add another 12 months to the deal.
They are now 0-3 after going down to Manly on Thursday night – the Eels have been competitive in all three matches, losing by narrow margins to top-quality opponents and they face premiers Penrith and South Sydney over the next couple of weeks.
It’s happened many times in the past that when the same voice is giving the players instructions that eventually they stop taking in the message, especially if the team keeps coming up short in the finals.
The 48-year-old will become Parra’s longest-serving coach ahead of someone whose message eventually wore thin after years of near-misses and the end came swiftly in Brian Smith, who resigned mid-season in 2006 after the Eels had romped to the minor premiership before again coming up short in the playoffs.
Again, Arthur could end up leading the Eels back to the finals this year and get the club’s 37-year premiership monkey/gorilla off their back. But was it necessary to re-sign him so early in the season before he came off contract?
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Noel
Roar Rookie
I honestly think the conjecture over the Moses contract is doing a lot of harm to the recruitment at Parra. Until they lock him in, they can't really get anything done, other than to offload.
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
Every club needs to be able to turn the players they had to recruit into the players that they wanted to recruit.
Emcie
Roar Guru
Might need to check your Catalans history
Eelsalmighty
Roar Rookie
Of course, but the positive, as much as I don't like to lose great players is that we're now recruiting some 'fringe type players' and building them into stars, even if they move on because we can't keep them due to cap. restraints. As a Parra fan you don't have to look too far back, and they're are numerous clubs currently in this position, to see the opposite. Paying overs for 'stars' who go backwards at your club.
Gus O
Roar Rookie
I can understand Parra extending BA if Moses and other players they are trying to sign want certainty over who would be coaching Parra. The only logic i can see for Brisbane with Kevvy is for the club to show the playing group they are committed to the coach (so knuckle down boys and focus on playing footy). But you have to assume both clubs had their reasons. There are plenty experienced NRL head coaches around. These include Des Hasler and many others currently working as assistant coaches - Flanagan, Cartwright, Maguire, Potter, Hannay, Price, Furner. I don’t know where Nathan Brown is now, but he seemed to have the Knights on the right track. I acknowledge that there may be few coaches available who you would want to put in charge of a rebuild, but obviously quality and experience in recruitment manager and assistant coaches is essential too. Dumping a head coach is not a solution. Without a clear plan and pathway back to success it is an act of desperation.
GB
Roar Rookie
Manly should lock in Shane Flanagan long-term. That's another peptide premiership in the making.
Big Daddy
Roar Rookie
Tim, by no means , the Broncos went and got Reynolds , Capewell , got young Walsh back . They’re certainly not ordinary it’s just they’ve promised so much and haven’t delivered , beating Penrith twice last year and falling at the last hurdle . Maybe I’ve got I wrong it may be the coach .
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
Every club loses players. You could make a squad for most clubs of former players versus current players, and the former players would generally win. That's a result of the salary cap. Melbourne, for example: 1. Drinkwater 2. Ado Carr 3. Harris 4. Momorovski* 5. Noufoluma* 6. TBA (I'm doing this list off the top of my head, so I'm probably missing someone obvious) 7. Hynes 8. J Bromwich 9. Smith 10. MacLean 11. K Bromwich 12. Kaufusi 13. Finucane *: Loan players, but they couldn't make a deal for them to stay.
Cam
Roar Rookie
Even though he recently got an extension (not sure how), I reckon Sticky is the bloke most under pressure this year. This is his 10th season with the clipboard at the Raiders and he has delivered results of 15th, 10th, 2nd, 10th, 10th, 4th, 5th ,10th and 8th. If the trials and early-season form are anything to go by, they won’t trouble the ladder leaders in 2023. I mean it is a decade now, at what point does the club start to question if Ricky is the bloke who will deliver them a premiership? Especially when you see a bloke like Shane Flanagan without a Head Coach gig, he looks like he has got Manly heading in the right direction again.
Eelsalmighty
Roar Rookie
Add to add to that, and just this year alone, we've seen players like Papalii and Mahoney, and to a lesser extent a couple of others leave the club in a much, much better position than when they started.
Eelsalmighty
Roar Rookie
I back BA, and have through the scaddles etc, so I have no issue with extending his contract, and think it was a good move. Using the 0-3 start to the season as a reason for not doing so is incredibly short sighted in my book. He's a young, experienced coach, who's well respected by the players/club, he bleeds blue and gold, and he's getting results. We're making the finals consistently (most years), and whilst we haven't got the premiership yet, we made the GF last year. One of the best things about our club now, and I think BA has been instrumental in it, is we are starting to 'make careers' (helping to turn marginal FG players into quality FG players), instead of paying (way) overs for 'superstars' and ending their careers. It was a 1 year extension to the end of 2025, not a 5+ year deal
Succhi
Roar Rookie
I don’t think there are a great number of coaches out there anyway. I’d say Walters and Arthur have been fairly successful. Broncos have improved and Parra always in the semis. Only one team can win the comp! I’d assume their respective contracts would have performance clauses?
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
RCG, Paulo, Matterson, Moses, Gutherson, Lane, et al. All current recruits. Are you suggesting that they are all ordinary?
Simoc
Roar Rookie
it demonstrates the incompetence of the admin at both clubs. Particularly the CEO. Most often trying to look after the mate who he is certain will deliver the biggest prize. But it just doesn't happen.
Cam
Roar Rookie
I was thinking Walter's success was off the back of fixing the roster, but I'm now not so sure. They have let some really good players go and the ones they kept have been playing twice as good. I'm thinking the better results the past year or so is predominantly coaching related and should justify an upgrade for Walters. I mean seriously, how did they win the spoon in 2020 with these players in the squad?? The team must have been completely broken by Anthony Seibold when he had the likes of Jack Bird, Patrick Carrigan, Xavier Coates, Thomas Dearden, Herbie Farnworth, David Fifita, Thomas Flegler, Alex Glenn, Payne Haas, Jamayne Isaako, Rhys Kennedy, Matthew Lodge, Andrew McCullough, Corey Oates, Joe Ofahengaue, Cory Paix, Tevita Pangai jnr and Kotoni Staggs.
Nat
Roar Guru
A fair part of extending a coach is about giving the club and players stability as well. Just this week we hear about Bennett attempt at luring Ponga by running down the Knights coach and where the club is heading as a seed of doubt. It is easy to sit at a desk and pose the "why" question but for those at the club who make these decisions see the work, the interaction and the development of coach and players and know when it is the right time to make the call.
Duncan Smith
Roar Guru
Winning your first two games is a guarantee of future success - just like Brisbane in the covid season of 2020 under Anthony Seibold.
Red Rob
Roar Rookie
And he does a great job of distracting other clubs when you’re trying to sign a coach.
Tony
Roar Guru
There's always Griffin
Red Rob
Roar Rookie
Plus the best podcasting winger in the comp constantly pumping up your tyres.