How the Ezra Mam fallout has exposed a glaring detail around Brisbane's axing of Kevin Walters

OPINION

Brisbane Broncos CEO Dave Donaghy may as well have kicked Kevin Walters while he was down after admitting to 'cultural' and 'leadership' issues at the NRL club this week, in the wake of the Ezra Mam drama. The Broncos are dealing with the fallout from a car crash involving the 21-year-old playmaker, who Queensland Police allege was driving without a license and tested positive for drugs after colliding with an Uber driver in Brisbane last Friday.

Police have not yet laid charges and will await the results of a second blood test for drugs before determining the fate of Mam, who checked himself into rehab on Monday. But there is a belief across the NRL world that the star five-eighth's $4 million contract could be torn up if he's found guilty of the allegations against him.

Broncos CEO Donaghy addressed the situation on Monday and said Mam was remorseful and particularly concerned about the occupants in the other car, amid reports a four-year-old girl travelling in the Uber suffered a fractured hip. The Broncos boss indicated they'll wait until the police have dealt with Mam before deciding what course of action the club will take but described it as a "grow up" moment for the wider playing group.

But it was Donaghy's admission that the situation highlights wider issues at the club that goes some way to explaining their shock decision to sack former coach Walters, and replace him with renowned disciplinarian, Michael Maguire. "We've been very deliberate about investing in our leadership capability and our culture in the football program. We have been disappointed across the course of the year with where we are," the Broncos CEO said on Brisbane radio on Monday.

"I'm not going to shy away from the fact I do believe we've got some cultural challenges. Part of it is back to leadership. It's an area I've highlighted we need to invest in. We know that is going to take a lot of hard work. We might not fix it overnight, but we will certainly be very deliberate about designing it."

Kevin Walters sacked after a drop in standards at the Broncos

Those comments suggest the Broncos board had little faith in Kevvie's ability to crack the whip and pull the underperforming squad in line. But in Maguire, the club has signed more of an old school type of coach renowned for his no-nonsense approach to hard work, attitude and commitment, who's not afraid to deliver some hard truths to a playing group frequently accused of being too big for their own boots.

Donaghy's eye-opening remarks are not the first time the culture and leadership at the Broncos has been called out in 2024, with a pre-season scuffle between rep star Patrick Carrigan and captain Adam Reynolds foreshadowing problems as far back as February. There were also unflattering reports questioning the standards at Broncos training during a horror run of form in the middle of the season, with AAP reporter Joel Gould - who is a regular attendee of Broncos sessions - claiming teammates were not holding one another to account for a litany of mistakes he witnessed.

It appeared obvious the Broncos were lacking strong leadership to drive those standards and there's a sense Walters was too lenient with his high-profile stars and left the situation go unresolved for too long. Kevvie built up plenty of credit in the bank for masterminding Brisbane's run to last year's grand final but by the end of the 2024 season - and their failure to qualify for the finals - that credit had completely run dry.

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Brisbane's fall from grace in 2024 was by no means simply down to Walters. The playing group and especially the senior members of the team have to take plenty of responsibility after the Broncos had one of the worst defences and completion rates of any team in the NRL last season. But ultimately it's the coach's job to address the team's shortcomings and come up with solutions, like the best coaches in the NRL such as Craig Bellamy and Ivan Cleary have done so consistently well. Unfortunately for Walters, he fell well short in that regard.