'Optimistic' Walters goes head-to-head with Green for Broncos job

Kevin Walters said he would "be myself and have a crack" in his interview for the Broncos coaching role on Thursday as he and Paul Green faced their date with destiny.

Maroons coach Walters was relaxed and upbeat at lunch time on Thursday as he and Johnathan Thurston attended a pre-arranged promotion at the iconic Breakfast Creek Hotel which was celebrating the return, since the COVID-19 outbreak in March, of the famous XXXX "beer off the wood" which continues to be served from wooden kegs.

Former Cowboys coach and 2015 premiership-winning mentor Paul Green had his interview with the Brisbane board mid-afternoon with Walters set to follow.

The 52-year-old Maroons coach missed out on the Broncos head coaching job at the end of 2018 but is ready to take the reins of the club where he won five premierships.

"I am very comfortable. I have put a lot of work into myself over the last 15 years to be a coach. That's what I want to be, so we will see how we go this afternoon," Walters said ahead of his interview.

"You are always learning. It is a different process this time around. I'll just get in and have a crack and be myself. I feel that is the best way to present myself."

Broncos 2006 premiership-winner Brent Tate told pan66.com recently he believed the Broncos could bounce back quickly from their dire 2020 season and Walters, who has received plenty of support from former teammates and players that he has coached, said that there was "only one way to go" for last-placed Brisbane.

"I am very optimistic with the talent and people at the club that things can get moving fairly quickly," he said.

"I have some great relationships at different clubs and with different players. I have been the State of Origin coach for the last five years and built some strong relationships there as well. I am grateful for all the support people have shown so far but it doesn't mean anything just yet."

Storm coach Craig Bellamy was an assistant coach to Wayne Bennett at the Broncos and knows what makes the club tick. Walters was also an assistant to Bellamy at the Storm so he is well qualified to speak on what he would bring to the table.

Bellamy said it is was vital for successful clubs to honour the past, which is where Walters has vast knowledge.

"Kevvie did a good job with us," Bellamy said.

"Just watching the Broncos a bit this year, perhaps they need a bit of a history lesson in what made that club great and why it was great and Kevvie would be ideal to do that.

"Part of it is knowing what the people that were there before you did.

"It's really important for our club at Melbourne.

"I didn't play at the Storm but when I went there, senior guys like Robbie Kearns and Steve Kearney, those guys basically oozed what the club was about.

"I didn't want to go in and change that bit. We changed some footy stuff but not the culture stuff, we had to keep that going."

There is a sense the Broncos have lost touch with their rich history. Bellamy said it was sometimes hard to do but insisted that "you have to remember where you came from".

"I was at the Raiders when they first started and we went through some tough times, then Mal [Meninga], Badge [Gary Belcher], Ricky [Stuart], Laurie Daley and Bradley Clyde came and all of a sudden we had a really good team and won some premierships," he said.

"The one thing I liked about those guys was they always remembered the guys who started and Ricky is big on that now at the Raiders."

Storm five-eighth Cameron Munster, who grew up wanting to be a Bronco, said Walters had been outstanding in instilling pride in the Maroons jersey as Queensland coach and would do the same for Brisbane.

"We have always warn the jersey with pride and he… speaks about how the Broncos have lost that," Munster said.

"They have lost their barbecues and lost the players that used to play there beforehand. They don't really go to the club anymore.

"It pretty much shows where the club is at, no disrespect to them.

"You've always got to admire and remember who played before you. That is something Kevvie would bring back to that jersey, a bit of pride.

"They need to bring people in that know success at that club. That is something I feel they need."

Thurston, who "spiked the keg" at the XXXX promo on Thursday and was in town for Thursday's Broncos v Cowboys clash, said both Brisbane coaching candidates had plenty to offer.

"I have been coached by Kevvie at Origin level, and there is no higher pressure-cooker than Origin. That is when you see true colours," Thurston said.

"His playing record speaks for itself. He is part of the fabric there and knows the culture better than anyone.

"We have seen what Greeny has done at the Cowboys to bring the first ever premiership to the region.

"Being coached by Greeny I know that wherever he goes he will be successful, as will Kevvie.

"It is going to be a tough decision for the Broncos. They need to get the decision right, given where they are."