The Walker brothers have revealed on the Fox League podcast their pitch to NRL clubs as the former Broncos players look for a head coaching role.
Ben and Shane Walker became co-managers of Ipswich Jets after Wayne Bennett advised them to find a club that had never been successful and hand it over.
The brothers took over the Jets in 2011 just after picking up the wooden spoon and in 2015 led the club to their first and only Premier League Queensland Cup.
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They are now chasing an opportunity in the NRL and believe his experience as a head coach, rather than working as an assistant, is invaluable.
“Nobody knows if they’re going to be successful in the NRL until they get the chance, so every year there are assistant coaches who are given the role of head coach and nobody knows if they’re going to be successful,” Ben Walker told the Fox League Podcast.
“We can say with much more certainty that we will be successful, we spent nine years as head coach of a club.
“We didn’t have the feeder system, we didn’t have loads of NRL players, we had a different group and being the manager of a one-team Ipswich town gave us a lot more experience than anyone else.
“So we know for sure that we’re going to be successful, we’ve done it at this level with very modest support.”
History-making former Ipswich coaches Jets Ben and Shane Walker. Source: Notícias Regional Media
The Bulldogs, Warriors and Tigers have sacked their coaches this season, while the future of Titans’ Justin Holbrook is uncertain.
Tim Sheens and Benji Marshall have been named at the Tigers in a succession plan, while Penrith assistant Andrew Webster will take over at the Warriors next season.
The Bulldogs are low favorites to sign another Panthers assistant in Cameron Ciraldo.
“The current system is pretty flawed when it comes to bringing in assistants, especially guys who have never coached their own team, never had to stand in front of a group and really own the oven,” Shane said Walker.
“It’s not until you’ve had to make those decisions. The best thing you can do is lose five in a row as a coach because that’s when you find out what you’re made of and figure out a way to work those things out.
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“Whereas the assistant that’s come from Craig Bellamy or Ivan Cleary, those guys are used to winning football games, they’re not used to losing five in a row and seeing how they get on.
“The other part of being co-coaches like we were, you have to be everything. We own our own businesses, we run them successfully, we have great work teams under us, so we do this every day.
“I’d say we’re a lot more qualified to coach than the guy who’s played footy his whole life, become an assistant coach or an affiliate coach and then become a head coach without a lot of life experience.”
The pair developed a reputation at the Jets for playing an attacking brand of football that was high risk and high return.
They discussed further on the podcast what style they would bring to the NRL.
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