Ben and Shane Walker say their freewheeling style can save Jarryd Hayne at the Gold Coast Titans

[Dogzof95]

PETER BADEL, The Courier-Mail
August 23, 2017 4:02pm

RUGBY league’s most radical coaches, Ben and Shane Walker, have put their hand up for the Titans job and believe their freewheeling style can help Jarryd Hayne rediscover his magic.

The Ipswich Jets co-coaches are so confident in their ability to rebuild the Titans they are prepared to walk the ultimate NRL career tightrope by signing a death-or-glory one-year deal.

CONTENDER: Walters wants Titans job

ANGER: Hayne blames Kent

Two years ago, the Walkers ignited Queensland’s premier competition, the Intrust Super Cup, deploying a fresh tactical style that powered Ipswich to the first premiership in their 35-year history.

The Walkers achieved success with the lowest budget in the Intrust Super Cup, giving the former Brisbane Broncos duo confidence they can fire at the NRL’s equivalent paupers, the Titans.

The Walker brothers have put Ipswich on the map with their expansive playing style.
The Walker brothers had lengthy NRL playing careers, amassing a combined 285 top-grade games between 1995-2006, and scoffed at suggestions they are a high-risk package deal.

“Whatever the procedure is, we’re interested in coaching the Titans,” Shane, 39, said.

“We see the Titans as a sleeping giant. We see them having great potential and I have no doubt rugby league can succeed on the Gold Coast. It’s got a community that is itching for a winning football team.

“We’re not begging for a job, but we know what we do works and we would love to get the Titans prospering.

“We’re prepared to sign for only 12 months if that’s what the Titans wanted.

“We would back ourselves to have success in 12 months and there’s a good chance the Titans would see that and want to us beyond that.

Ipswich celebrate after winning the NRL State Championship Grand Final in 2015.
“Job security is not what drives us. We have successful businesses away from football so we do this because we love it.”

The Walkers pride themselves on man-management and cultivating a tight-knit team culture.

With player discontent a key reason for the sacking of Neil Henry, the Jets co-coaches believe their enterprising approach will inspire Titans players and see the Hayne Plane take off.

“Our style is made for Jarryd Hayne and Ash Taylor, who like us is a Toowoomba product who played touch football all his life,” Ben Walker, 40, said.

“I’m certain we could work with Jarryd Hayne.

“He is a superstar and I am confident we could get the best out of him.

“At the end of the day, he is one of the most talented players in the competition and if you get him playing to his ability, then he can single-handedly put you in the finals race.

“Earlier this year, Wayne (Bennett, Broncos coach) dropped Ben Hunt and after one training session with us, he absolutely thrived under our system.

“We would need to see what makes Jarryd tick, but he would get freedom under our system because we encourage our players to take a chance that presents itself if they have trained for it.

“There’s a number of things that interest us about the Titans. They’re a Queensland team, a one-team town and an underachieving club that has never won a premiership.

“We haven’t just fallen out of the tree as coaches.

“We have developed our playing style over 24 years of football. It delivered a premiership in the Intrust Super Cup and we have no doubt it would work even better in the NRL with a squad of full-time, more talented players.”

 

[Dognacious]

Titans could do worse. They are a good coaching duo. Co coaches huh? Maybe we can have Dymock / Pay co coaches?

I cant rate walters as an NRL coach, origin only has figureheads for coaches, the players have the skills already.

 

[Mr Invisible]

How would that work with the salary cap including coaches / support staff now though.

 

[Dognacious]

How would that work with the salary cap including coaches / support staff now though.

You would probably get 2 walkers for the price of 1 Des or less.

 

[Indiandog]

i love walker bros.

i wish we can get them

they will be a revelation to rugby league if they do end up with a first grade side.

 

[Bulldog_4_Life]

I would love them here. After 6 years of Des I just want to see some exciting football.

 

[Shanked]

i don't watch the queensland comp, what's so special about the way they play?

 

[The DoggFather]

Walker's on!

 

[_G-Dog_]

Buy 1 get 1 free

 

[Indiandog]

i don't watch the queensland comp, what's so special about the way they play?

in simple term they are Steve Jobs of rugby league or i would even say they are the Des hasler of 2012 (plus the premiership). Walker bros took Ipswich jets an underdog and 4 GF losers before that, to Queensland cup victory in their first year of their coaching for the first time in the history of ipswich jets through their innovative coaching style.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...e/news-story/a7cd570eecab9dfaf047a4093ad3803e

 

[habs]

Who are these bozos and what do they mean by radical coaching style???

 

[habs]

in simple term they are Steve Jobs of rugby league or i would even say they are the Des hasler of 2012 (plus the premiership). Walker bros took Ipswich jets an underdog and 4 GF losers before that, to Queensland cup victory in their first year of their coaching for the first time in the history of ipswich jets through their innovative coaching style.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...e/news-story/a7cd570eecab9dfaf047a4093ad3803e

What's so special or tactically different about their teams?

 

[Indiandog]

What's so special or tactically different about their teams?

in my view they know hot get the best out of players, specially how they used marmin barba on their way to 2015 premiership.

they seemed to play hot potato footy but every player knows their position in that hot potato stuff.

Ipswich jets seemed to have all bag of tricks in 2015 under walker brothers.

whole highlight reel is worth the watch but if you cant do that watch it from 11:05.

 

[dogluva]

i don't watch the queensland comp, what's so special about the way they play?

You will probably laugh at this but the Walker boys had the short goal line drop out tactic and the short kick off after opposition scores and the majority of the time they got the ball back. We tried to emulate that but our success rate paled in comparison to theirs.

Also they had plenty of players in motion at all times in attack and they threw the ball around like there was no tomorrow.Plenty of speed in the backs and the forwards

The tactics worked, not as much this year, but by golly they were entertaining.

Interesting is their philosophy on completion rates..........

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...d/news-story/d8ba234832b3a3b791cf9b49addffb7c

THE Ipswich Jets, in the Queensland Cup, are about to change the way rugby league is played.

The Jets do not use block plays, an attacking move used ad nauseam among all 16 NRL clubs right now.

They never wrestle in defence. Indeed, they prefer to let their opposition have quick play-the-balls, again in direct contrast to the NRL way.

Marmin Barba of the Ipswich Jets tries to get past a tackle. Pic Jono Searle.
They kick-off short every time instead of driving the ball deep for a big front-rower to hit it up against them.



Every dropout is also short, even though it leaves teams attacking their tryline.

They don’t care about completion rates. They sometimes run backwards and often run sideways, with the full blessing of their coaches Ben and Shane Walker.

Whatever is considered standard thinking in the NRL there is a fair chance the Jets do the opposite.

But here’s the thing: despite spending about a third on their salaries as what North Queensland Cowboys feeder club, the Townsville Blackhawks, do, which naturally suggests their talent is not as deep, and despite playing a form of football that is the total opposite of the considered way to play in the NRL, the Jets share the competition lead.

And they are the most exciting team in the competition.

So you have to ask yourself the question: are the Jets so successful despite the way they play, or because of it?

“We play a very different style to anyone, anywhere,” Ben Walker said.

Along with his brother Shane, the Walkers have gone back to what renowned Toowoomba coach Duncan Thompson called “contract football”.

The entire coaching philosophy is deliberate.

The Jets are coached this way. More, the Walker brothers are turning conventional thinking upside down.

The golden rule to the Jets’ success is not completion rates, which every NRL coach quotes in his post-match press conference, but time in possession.

Ipswich Jets Co Coaches and brothers, Ben & Shane Walker. Photo David Kapernick
“The completion one is an interesting one,” Ben says.

“I’ve gone back through the years and done completions for every team for every game. I did this two years ago when we started using this style.

“Cronulla, one year, had the highest completion rate for the season but they ran, it might have been, second last.

“You don’t win games by completing sets.”

Of far greater importance, Walker says, is time with the ball.

“That is the only stat that we worry about other than the scoreboard,” he says.

It sounds far too basic, but the Walker brothers have identified the other truth.

They know teams fatigue far quicker defending rather attacking.

In fact, it’s why most coaches cite “completions” as a determining factor in the result.

But it is time, not completions, that is the biggest

Let’s take a look at the recent Origin game in Sydney, which most believe was a dour, if intense, contest, where precious little football was played as both teams worked through their sets.

NSW finished the game with a staggering 91 per cent completion rate. This is nearly enough to win two football games.

Queensland was not far behind at 85 per cent.

Importantly, though, Queensland came out on top in time in possession, 54 per cent to 46 per cent.

And had the ball in their hand at the end when it came time to win it.

“That’s why I don’t care if I see our guys running backwards or sideways, as long as we’ve got the ball there’s not much chance of them scoring.”

Jets’ Chris Walker scores try. Pic Glenn Barnes
It’s why the Walker brothers got rid of their wrestling coach four years ago, just a season into the job.

Wrestling, they realised, was counterproductive to what they were trying to achieve.

Last weekend the Jets tackled a Souths Logan player just off his tryline. They jumped up quickly and let him play the ball.

“It enables the opposition to roll through the set really quickly,” Walker says.

“They have five hit-ups and kick to our corner and think they’ve had a good set.

“The reality is they’ve rolled through in 30 seconds and then we get it and we hold on to it for a minute or more.

“So we’re encouraging quick play-the-balls against us.”

Eventually, Walker says, the opposition’s lungs go first. And then they come at them with angles and second phase play that takes advantage of the fatigued defence.

The Walkers also see kick restarts differently.

Most kick-offs, he says, go deep for a front-rower to return, where he usually makes it to the 20m line. The Jets kick short and contest the ball.

“If we don’t get it back they get tackled 35m off the tryline,” he says.

“So we’re losing only 15m but we’re better than a 50 per cent chance of getting the ball back.”

The Jets kicked off five times in Saturday’s 50-20 win over the Magpies but got the ball back four times, justifying the decision.

Even dropouts are the same, with another hidden benefit.

“It’s actually easier to defend your tryline, from your tryline, than from 20m out,” he says.

To say nothing of the times you get the ball back.

The Walker brothers have been coaching the Jets with this philosophy since taking the job five seasons ago, but finally let loose in round five last year.

Dave Smith at Cherbourg for Ipswich Jets vs. Souths Logan match – pic Adam Smith
It is against almost every considered tenant of NRL football, but Walker has no doubt it would transfer to NRL level.

Their success against the Blackhawks, who boast several NRL players, showed that.

What’s lacking is the courage of coaches to go against the grain of considered thinking, which would invite criticism.

Better to fail quietly than try to win gloriously.

“The game is played like it is [in the NRL] now because no-one is game to step outside the line,” Walker says.

“But I know it would work in the NRL because the way we play is precisely the way train.”

 

[Indiandog]

You will probably laugh at this but the Walker boys had the short goal line drop out tactic and the short kick off after opposition scores and the majority of the time they got the ball back. We tried to emulate that but our success rate paled in comparison to theirs.

Also they had plenty of players in motion at all times in attack and they threw the ball around like there was no tomorrow.Plenty of speed in the backs and the forwards

The tactics worked, not as much this year, but by golly they were entertaining.

Interesting is their philosophy on completion rates..........

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...d/news-story/d8ba234832b3a3b791cf9b49addffb7c

THE Ipswich Jets, in the Queensland Cup, are about to change the way rugby league is played.

The Jets do not use block plays, an attacking move used ad nauseam among all 16 NRL clubs right now.

They never wrestle in defence. Indeed, they prefer to let their opposition have quick play-the-balls, again in direct contrast to the NRL way.

Marmin Barba of the Ipswich Jets tries to get past a tackle. Pic Jono Searle.
They kick-off short every time instead of driving the ball deep for a big front-rower to hit it up against them.



Every dropout is also short, even though it leaves teams attacking their tryline.

They don’t care about completion rates. They sometimes run backwards and often run sideways, with the full blessing of their coaches Ben and Shane Walker.

Whatever is considered standard thinking in the NRL there is a fair chance the Jets do the opposite.

But here’s the thing: despite spending about a third on their salaries as what North Queensland Cowboys feeder club, the Townsville Blackhawks, do, which naturally suggests their talent is not as deep, and despite playing a form of football that is the total opposite of the considered way to play in the NRL, the Jets share the competition lead.

And they are the most exciting team in the competition.

So you have to ask yourself the question: are the Jets so successful despite the way they play, or because of it?

“We play a very different style to anyone, anywhere,” Ben Walker said.

Along with his brother Shane, the Walkers have gone back to what renowned Toowoomba coach Duncan Thompson called “contract football”.

The entire coaching philosophy is deliberate.

The Jets are coached this way. More, the Walker brothers are turning conventional thinking upside down.

The golden rule to the Jets’ success is not completion rates, which every NRL coach quotes in his post-match press conference, but time in possession.

Ipswich Jets Co Coaches and brothers, Ben & Shane Walker. Photo David Kapernick
“The completion one is an interesting one,” Ben says.

“I’ve gone back through the years and done completions for every team for every game. I did this two years ago when we started using this style.

“Cronulla, one year, had the highest completion rate for the season but they ran, it might have been, second last.

“You don’t win games by completing sets.”

Of far greater importance, Walker says, is time with the ball.

“That is the only stat that we worry about other than the scoreboard,” he says.

It sounds far too basic, but the Walker brothers have identified the other truth.

They know teams fatigue far quicker defending rather attacking.

In fact, it’s why most coaches cite “completions” as a determining factor in the result.

But it is time, not completions, that is the biggest

Let’s take a look at the recent Origin game in Sydney, which most believe was a dour, if intense, contest, where precious little football was played as both teams worked through their sets.

NSW finished the game with a staggering 91 per cent completion rate. This is nearly enough to win two football games.

Queensland was not far behind at 85 per cent.

Importantly, though, Queensland came out on top in time in possession, 54 per cent to 46 per cent.

And had the ball in their hand at the end when it came time to win it.

“That’s why I don’t care if I see our guys running backwards or sideways, as long as we’ve got the ball there’s not much chance of them scoring.”

Jets’ Chris Walker scores try. Pic Glenn Barnes
It’s why the Walker brothers got rid of their wrestling coach four years ago, just a season into the job.

Wrestling, they realised, was counterproductive to what they were trying to achieve.

Last weekend the Jets tackled a Souths Logan player just off his tryline. They jumped up quickly and let him play the ball.

“It enables the opposition to roll through the set really quickly,” Walker says.

“They have five hit-ups and kick to our corner and think they’ve had a good set.

“The reality is they’ve rolled through in 30 seconds and then we get it and we hold on to it for a minute or more.

“So we’re encouraging quick play-the-balls against us.”

Eventually, Walker says, the opposition’s lungs go first. And then they come at them with angles and second phase play that takes advantage of the fatigued defence.

The Walkers also see kick restarts differently.

Most kick-offs, he says, go deep for a front-rower to return, where he usually makes it to the 20m line. The Jets kick short and contest the ball.

“If we don’t get it back they get tackled 35m off the tryline,” he says.

“So we’re losing only 15m but we’re better than a 50 per cent chance of getting the ball back.”

The Jets kicked off five times in Saturday’s 50-20 win over the Magpies but got the ball back four times, justifying the decision.

Even dropouts are the same, with another hidden benefit.

“It’s actually easier to defend your tryline, from your tryline, than from 20m out,” he says.

To say nothing of the times you get the ball back.

The Walker brothers have been coaching the Jets with this philosophy since taking the job five seasons ago, but finally let loose in round five last year.

Dave Smith at Cherbourg for Ipswich Jets vs. Souths Logan match – pic Adam Smith
It is against almost every considered tenant of NRL football, but Walker has no doubt it would transfer to NRL level.

Their success against the Blackhawks, who boast several NRL players, showed that.

What’s lacking is the courage of coaches to go against the grain of considered thinking, which would invite criticism.

Better to fail quietly than try to win gloriously.

“The game is played like it is [in the NRL] now because no-one is game to step outside the line,” Walker says.

“But I know it would work in the NRL because the way we play is precisely the way train.”

not only the short drop outs but the long ones as well , the mastered it , and few times the opposition teams were unable to catch the ball and ended up going dead over the sidelines.

 

[dogluva]

not only the short drop outs but the long ones as well , the mastered it , and few times the opposition teams were unable to catch the ball and ended up going dead over the sidelines.

I watched a lot of the Qld Intrust on Fox and believe me their style was enjoyable to watch and yes they had both the long and short kicks mastered and they mixed them up so as to ensure the opposition would not be sure which way they were going.

 

[Indiandog]

I watched a lot of the Qld Intrust on Fox and believe me their style was enjoyable to watch and yes they had both the long and short kicks mastered and they mixed them up so as to ensure the opposition would not be sure which way they were going.

yep, and as i said earlier their hot potato stuff was also pre planned with players in positions.

Speed was always their weapons, their forwards too ran as fast as their fullback. lol

 

[Moedogg]

Smart coaches like bellamy will expose them and they will run dead last...

 

[hayes]

State cups are a different level when they one received the ball back 66% on the short kick off and drop outs.

In the NRL the ruck and line speed would kill off their style because the referee wouldn't blow any penalties hold down in the play.

 

[CroydonDog]

Ipswich and PNG have become the excitement machines of the QLD cup.

I think they would be a good fit for the Tits who are almost at make or break for their future on the Gold coast