Former Broncos champion Gorden Tallis has ripped Brisbane players who reportedly complained about copping a spray from coach Kevin Walters on Thursday night.
The Broncos were smashed 53-6 by the Eels in Brisbane and, after sitting in fourth on the ladder just five weeks ago, are now outside the top eight with one round remaining.
Walters unleashed on his team in the sheds after the match, a spray captured on Nine’s cameras, which rugby league reporter Ben Dobbin said was not received well by some players.
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Dobbin told Triple M a number of players were “upset” about how Walters reacted to the loss, which could have confined them to a third straight year outside finals.
Tallis said Walters “had a right” to flame his team and claimed the players who reportedly complained “couldn’t have made it in my era”.
“What about Craig Bellamy in the coach’s box every minute? It’s a high-pressure situation where at the moment what do you want them to say? Sir Alex Ferguson kicked the boot at David Beckham in the head,” Tallis said on Fox League.
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“Whoever those two are that whinged … they should just write a line through them.
“If I found out and I was at that organisation, I don’t want to play with that guy.
“If I got called soft, my response is I’m going to prove him wrong. And if you want me to stand in front of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves going mad and racing at me, that takes courage.
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“So if someone goes, ‘You’re soft’, how is he going to stand in front of Jared Waerea- Hargreaves?”
Bulldogs great James Graham agreed with Tallis.
“You’ve got to face the music. You’ve got to face the truth and Kevvie is within his rights to give the team a spray,” Graham said.
“That is designed to get a response and the response shouldn’t be, ‘I’m going to go and whinge about it’. The response should be, ‘I’m going to stand up next week’.”
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