Quote:...........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.
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.”..........
http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl/teams/titans/ben-and-shane-walker-say-th...