Warriors Interim coach Todd Payten is diving into his new role head first as he tries to stamp his mark on the team.
There are plenty of names in the hat for the Warriors coaching job.
But none are like Shane and Ben Walker, who are rumoured to be keen on the Auckland NRL job.
Some well-known coaches like Anthony Griffin will lead the race, but the candidates will also include up-and-coming coachessuch as Jason Ryles, the 250-game NRL prop who is an assistant to Craig Bellamy at the Melbourne Storm.
The 41-year-old Ryles is a slightly unusual candidate who reflects the modern sports world — he has assisted England's Australian rugby coach Eddie Jones.
Ryles, who played for the Kangaroos and New South Wales, has already announced he will leave the Storm this year to become a permanent skills/tackle technique coach for England rugby. But it is understood his England contract has an escape clause for an NRL position.
Another outside chance is Andrew Webster, who assisted Andrew McFadden at the Warriors. He was a brief caretaker coach for Wests Tigers in 2017.
All the candidates, despite their varied careers, come from roughly the same school of coaching.
But the Walker brothers have developed a philosophy of their own, and are openly sceptical about how the game is coached.
Ben Walker, Chris Walker and Shane Walker pose for a photo with father Gary and mother Trish Walker after the Queensland Cup Rugby League Grand Final match. Photo / Getty
Shane, a dummy half, and Ben, a halfback, had extensive NRL careers with the Broncos and Rabbitohs in the 1990s/2000s.
"Joined at the hip," is how the Queensland Times once described the pair, who made their coaching name with the Ipswich Jets in the Queensland Cup.
They had a slightly alternative upbringing, in a family which shunned TV. Shane recalls watching the programme Skippy one day when the TV blew up.
"Dad said we'd get it fixed the next week but we left it in the cupboard for 16 years."
Into the backyard they went, and a brotherly comradeship was formed. (Another brother Chris was a teammate at the Broncos, and also played State of Origin for Queensland). Their father and the legendary Wayne Bennett were chief mentors.
The result is a very different type of coaching duo.
Indeed, NRL.com described them as the 'weird and wacky' Walker brothers, an attention grabbing phrase but one which doesn't fairly reflect their ethos.
"It hasn't been thought up overnight, it's something we've discussed over the last 35 years," Ben told league website NRL.com.
Their on-field tactics include short kickoffs, and trying to create tries with ball movement on any tackle.
Stephen Kearney was sacked as the Warriors coach on Saturday. Photo / Photosport
At Ipswich, there were no runs longer than 100 metres in pre-season training, to keep players fresh. They even draw methods from horse racing — players do a short sprint three hours before kickoff. These ideas are backed by input from sports scientist Tim Gabbett.
The rules at Ipswich included banning the return of any player who left the club to earn more elsewhere.
They also insisted that first-grade players have jobs or study to make them "more responsible". And the pair, described as successful business people, talk proudly of having helped steer players into owning their own homes.
They revel in being unique.
Ben notes their two-year study of completion rates showed that teams who were good at completing were often bad at scoring tries.
"Most stats in the game really are pointless," he says.
"Post-contact metres, three in the tackle and wrestle time and all this garbage. It's justifying someone's job."
But Shane emphasises it is not all fun and games
"Contrary to appearances, we spend more time [in training] on defence than attack."
The Gold Coast Titans have turned the Walkers down, twice, despite a stirring recommendation from Broncos legend Steve Renouf.
"Listen to players who have been coached by the Walkers and they speak in awe of how they transformed their football careers and their lives in a lot of ways," Renouf said. "It is the same reverence you hear from players Wayne [Bennett] has coached."
The Walker league revolution is now apparently on offer to the Warriors.
