Brisbane star Selwyn Cobbo’s explanation over comments made about his coach Kevin Walters has been called into question as the NRL club’s latest drama overshadows their 2023 season preparations.
Queensland Maroons Origin star Cobbo responded in a statement on Sunday after astonishing comments from a podcast recorded in October emerged. Cobbo told the ‘Back of the 135’ podcast he felt Walters was a good person but “not a good coach”.
“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,” Cobbo said.
“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.”
The Broncos released a statement later on Sunday morning in which Cobbo apologised for the “silly comments” while claiming they had been “taken out of context”.
But veteran rugby league reporter Phil ‘Buzz’ Rothfield did not buy that claim, accusing Cobbo of “backtracking quickly” on what was likely his honest opinion.
“Look ... for footballers and sportsmen they (podcasts) are a lot different than doing live radio and live television and newspaper interviews because you get yourself into a relaxed environment, you drop your guard,” Rothfield told the Big Sports Breakfast on Monday.
“My thought is you say what you really think.
“So I don’t wear his retraction. I think what he said in the podcast is actually what he thinks.”
Rothfield warned the drama, the latest in a long line of controversies for the Broncos, was “not going to go away” with Walters now joining the list of the NRL’s most under-pressure coaches.
“It’s a problem that’s very hard to take for Kevin Walters in that we’ve been mentioning for months that Anthony Griffin at St George Illawarra, Adam O’Brien at the Newcastle Knights and Justin Holbrook at the Titans are probably the three NRL coaches under the most pressure going into the news season,” Rothfield said.
“... Well I think we can make that a quarter and three Kevin Walters in with the same level of pressure as those coaches.
“He had the Tyson Gamble blow-up last year, where Tyson Gamble on another podcast came out and said he basically didn’t rate Kev as a coach ... and that he turned to Adam Reynolds for his advice,
“Kevvie also had the blow up with (Broncos’ head of football) Ben Ikin last year ... and Kevvie hasn’t been able to get over the fact that Ben is there as the football manager and he’s got so much to offer. He hasn’t, as far as I’m concerned, taken what Ben has got to offer on board.
“There’s been the Rhys Walsh drama on the Gold Coast a week ago, his fight with David Fifita, And through no no fault of his own Payne Haas is away on personal leave ... that’s a horrible story with the charges his mum’s facing.
“So the club is dealing with a lot of turmoil. It’going to take great leadership to get them out of it on the eve of the season.
“It’s a club that has continually had big issues for a long period of time, going back to Wayne Bennett’’s messy exit. To all the drama around Anthony Seibold and his departure from the club.”
Rothfield said it was a critical moment for the club and particularly chief executive Dave Donahgy.
“Everything at an NRL club on the field starts with the coach and the coach and the coach has to accept full responsibility for the results. But when the drama is so wide-ranging and as broad as what they’re dealing with now, this is a real test for the leadership of their CEO Dave Donaghy who has to step in and he has to fix this mess,” Rothfield said.
“He has to get every single player, the coaches, Ben Ikin, all working together as a team to stop what’s happening right now .. because this is a story that will not go away.”
Meanwhile, some of Cobbo’s other comments from the podcast appearance have raised eyebrows with the 20-year-old revealing he left the Broncos’ crunch Round 24 clash last season at halftime.
Cobbo was rested from the match and still had faint finals hopes but they were thwarted in a dismal 53-6 hammering by Parramatta. The winger said he had seen enough at halftime when Brisbane were trailing 31-6.
“I sat out that game. They make you go to the game and I left at halftime because we were getting flogged,” Cobbo said.“I just sneaked out.”
