The spotlight is once again on Kevin Walters’ coaching after Brisbane Broncos youngster Selwyn Cobbo described him as a “good person” but not a “good coach”.
The comments in question from Cobbo came on the ‘Back of the 135’ podcast in late October last year, but have since resurfaced on Reddit on Saturday night.
In it, Cobbo was asked whether he thought Walters was a good coach or not and was honest in his assessment of the former premiership winner.
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“I reckon he’s a good person,” Cobbo said.
“He’s a good person, like a good bloke but I don’t think he’s a good coach. He’s not the best coach but he’s alright.
“I feel like he’s just a good person but I don’t reckon he’s a coach. Even though he experienced footy, been through all the grand finals and all that, but I feel like he’s not a coach.
“But he’s a good person, a good bloke and does a lot for the club. But the way he coaches is a bit weird, I guess. He’s a good person though. He’s an alright coach.”
Speaking on the ‘Marshie’s Corner’ podcast, Gamble had described Broncos halfback Adam Reynolds as a “mastermind” and the “go-to man for everybody”.
“Kev’s the coach but Reyno is the go-to man for everybody. If you’ve got a question about the team or footy, you go to him,” Gamble said at the time.
“It’s not a knock on Kev but ‘Reyno’ has been around for so long.
“Kevvie really understands footy and he’s a good bloke in getting the team up and about but the modern day is so different to the way Kevvie played footy.
“There are some similarities with how you have to be with attitude and stuff, but Reyno is the mastermind around our attack at the moment.”
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Gamble insisted the comments were a “joke” and had been taken out of context and turned “into something it isn’t” but they did not go down well at Red Hill, according to The Daily Telegraph’s David Riccio.
“They’ve gone down like a lead balloon,” Riccio said on Triple M at the time.
“This is the final round of the season for them if they can’t secure a finals berth and one of their key playmakers is making comments that it isn’t Kevin Walters who is the mastermind.
“They are stunning comments to make and it’s gone down like a lead balloon.”
Unfortunately for Cobbo his comments are not likely to go down any better. Reynolds called Gamble in the wake of the drama, telling Triple M the departing playmaker was “apologetic”.
“I rang Tyson to try and clear some of the air there and he was apologetic towards Kevin,” Reynolds said.
“Knowing Tyson, he wouldn’t have deliberately gone out to say something like that or to hurt the coach or anything like that.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Kevvie. He has made my job and my role at the club a lot easier.
“We wouldn’t be in the position we are as a club if it wasn’t for Kevin. Everything I drip feed through the playing group is through Kevvie.
“Those comments are a bit out of line, but speaking to Tyson he was deeply apologetic towards those words and he said, he got it wrong.”
Cobbo enjoyed a breakout 2022 season, averaging 122 metres and scoring 15 tries to go with 21 linebreaks, 92 tackle busts, later rewarded with his State of Origin debut.
The 20-year-old was in high demand but inked a new extension back in June last year to stay at Red Hill until at least the end of the 2025 season.
