A leading mentor dubbed the 'Coach Whisperer' who has led some of Australia's biggest sporting brands to glory has washed his hands of the Brisbane Broncos and denied any involvement in their 2024 failure.
Bradley Stubbs has worked with elite coaches in multiple footy codes including Kevin Walters, Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson, NSW mentor Michael Maguire, Socceroos boss Graham Arnold and three-time premiership winning Richmond coach Damien Hardwick.
He advised Walters when he was Queensland coach in the State of Origin arena in 2019, where the underdogs famously adopted a bullish ''expect to win'' mentality.
The Maroons were unable to back that self belief up with action, ultimately losing the series to New South Wales 2-1.
However those lessons seem to have stuck with Broncos coach Kevin Walters, who assured reporters during the week that there was no doubt that they would beat the Dolphins and play NRL finals.
'There is no if here, we're going to make the finals,' he said.
Brisbane Broncos coach Kevin Walters is under siege after his club was smashed by The Dolphins to all-but end their hopes of playing finals in 2024
Walters famously worked with Stubbs during the 2019 State of Origin series, but the Coach Whisperer has denied being involved in the 2024 Broncos season
That led to reports that the Coach Whisperer was back in Kevvie's ear and the advice of 2019 was being applied once again.
But Stubbs has taken to social media to distance himself from the Broncos, saying if he was working with Walters, there would have been results.
'A media report suggested I am working with Kevin Walters. This is untrue,' Stubbs posted with the hashtag #IWinGrandFinals.
'If I was working with Kevin, the Broncos would be in the top 2 on the table!
'But I do wish my mate, Kevin, all the very best for the rest of the year.'
The Broncos will almost certainly miss the top eight after self-destructing at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night in a game where their season was on the line.
Can the coach explain it?
'No I can't. I will get to the bottom of it though,' Walters said.
But the cracks were there for all to see as the Broncos coach got personal with a journalist in the post-match media conference.
The Broncos barely fired a shot as The Dolphins ran roughshod to have one foot in the finals
It was when a journalist asked Walters about the club's recent heavy losses, including when the Bulldogs thrashed them 41-16 in round 21, that Walters took his shot.
'I wouldn't say that. It wasn't great [against the Bulldogs] but what do you think? You seem to know a lot about everything.
'It has [happened more than once] but as I said it's not great.'
It was not a good look for the under siege coach and several NRL fans posted on social media suggesting his time might be up.
'It's seems Kevy has run out of ideas and it seems he's lost the playing group. And that usually spells the end of a coach,' one posted.
'I think you are a coach with no answers. Same thing week in week out, same effort and results,' added another with the hashtag #byebye
'What planet does Kevvie live on we can still play finals nothing but poor excuses and having a go at journalists this is signs of a poor coach he just doesn't get it he ain't a FG coach,' posted another.
The Broncos will now be relying on their neighbours the Gold Coast Titans to beat Newcastle on Sunday afternoon. If the Knights win, all mathematical chances of reaching the finals are gone.
