Kevin Walters has returned served with a tongue-in-cheek comment after Selwyn Cobbo's late-game hat-trick against the Mฤori All Stars on Saturday.
Cobbo was fined $15,000 for his comments on theย Back of 135ย podcast late last year, split between $10,000 donated to a charity of his choice and a suspended $5,000 personal fine, after claiming Walters was a good man, but not a good coach.
โHe's a good person, like a good bloke but I don't think he's a good coach. He's not the best coach but he's all right,โ Cobbo said on the podcast.
The Maroons' winger had a shocking start to the All Stars clash, dropping two crucial balls in the first quarter and bombing a try, however, the outside back redeemed himself with a second-half hat-trick.
When quizzed over the youngster's performance in the cultural clash, Walters couldn't help himself.
โYeah it was great to see Selwyn do that ... he has been well coached,โ he told News Corpย with a cheekyย grin.
โHe is improving all the time.
โSelwyn showed some good skills again in that area, so he must be getting some good coaching I would have thought.โ
While the head coach, who is on the verge of re-signing with the club, says the comments are behind the pair and was proud to see Selwyn bounce back after the early errors.
โWe don't just teach Selwyn that, we teach all of our players that and some take it in quicker than others,โ Walters said.
โHe showed his real class in that last quarter.
โFrom what I have seen so far, Selwyn is much more settled and more mature than this time last year.
โWe can't fault him in pre-season, he had a hiccup off the field last year, but this year he has been on time, ready to go and next week we will get a glimpse of what he is capable of for the Broncos in season 2023.โ
Cobbo will feature for Brisbane in their final trial match this weekend against North Queensland and could spend some time at fullback after scans confirmed an orbital fracture for recruit Reece Walsh.