Gorden Tallis has explained the motivation behind publicly lashing his former NRL club, saying he just wants Brisbane’s top brass to have Kevin Walters’ back and give him the respect he deserves.
The former captain launched a sensational tirade on radio on Sunday, claiming the Broncos’ board had reluctantly hired club great Walters as coach and were now undermining him just two games into the season.
Walters has made a concerted effort to reconnect with his former teammates and other past players, Tallis among a host of former captains to address the side in the pre-season as they attempted to rebound from a historic wooden spoon in 2020.
But Tallis said on Triple M that the club was “going to implode” unless Walters was handed the “full reins”.
“I just want Kevie to get the support that he deserves,” Tallis told AAP on Wednesday.
“Most first-grade coaches get the support; I’m sure if (Roosters coach) Trent Robinson makes a decision he gets the support, Belly (Melbourne’s Craig Bellamy) makes a decision and gets the support.
“I just hope that Kevie gets that same respect.”
The coach insists he has had that from the Broncos board, ahead of new chief executive David Donaghy’s arrival following his messy exit from the Storm.
“With this race day, it’s a non-issue. There was no ban or snub of the old boys, I made a decision early in the week that being at the races less than 24 hours after we played a game wasn’t a good option,” Walters said.
“We have seen plenty of the Broncos old boys across the past few months, we’ve had basically all of the Broncos captains come in over the pre-season to speak to the players.
“Educating the current players about Broncos history and what it means to be a Bronco has been a real focus for us, and we make sure they have access to the former players every day – and that will continue, you can be certain of that.”
After back-to-back losses to begin his reign and news that gun fullback Reece Walsh was heading to New Zealand Warriors, Walters celebrated a win on Tuesday with the re-signing of highly touted backrower Jordan Riki.
Riki, 21, credited former players Sam Thaiday and Petero Civoniceva for their close work with him as he set sights on “putting this club back on the map again and making it a powerhouse”.
“I’m huge on loyalty. If you give me a chance I won’t let you down and I like to play like that,” he said ahead of Saturday’s clash with Canterbury.
“It’s easy for someone to say ‘I’ve got your back’ but it hits the heart for me and I know a lot of these boys are the same.
“We’re dying to win … we’re young, still have a long way to go but we’re on the way up.”
After David Fifita’s shift to the Gold Coast, Civoniceva said Riki’s three-year contract extension was a coup for the club as they sought to retain gun off-contract pair Xavier Coates and Kotoni Staggs as well as emerging backrower Brendan Piakura.
“The club’s doing everything possible in terms of talking to the players about where their future lies,” he said.
“We’d love them all to stay – the hard cold reality of the NRL is that we could potentially lose a few – but there’s a real good feel there and Jordy (re-signing) is a good indicator of that.
“No doubt it’s always tough when you go through tough periods like this; we’d all love to be winning but it’s a process we have to go through.”