The respective sackings of former Brisbane coaches Wayne Bennett and Kevin Walters have come back to haunt the Broncos.
That is the view of founding club chairman Barry Maranta, who said it was a legacy of respective boards that "despite being fine and decent people haven't been able to understand how to develop a culture or what builds a culture at the Broncos".
Maranta said he was "saddened and disappointed" by decisions to axe Bennett at the end of 2018 then Walters last year.
The Broncos have lost six of their past seven games under new coach Michael Maguire, and have been beset by on and off-field dramas over the past eight months.
Bennett was axed despite having a coaching win percentage of 63.8 per cent from 2015-2018, a figure only surpassed by Melbourne's Craig Bellamy (72 per cent).
Bennett took the club to four straight finals series, including the 2015 decider.
The sacking of Walters 12 months after he led the side to a grand final was a huge blow to Maranta, who thought his advice to chief executive Dave Donaghy to retain the club legend would be heeded.
On September 4 last year, with speculation rife in the press that Walters could be axed for 2025 after a 40-6 loss to the Dolphins, Donaghy told The Courier-Mail: "Kev is the coach and he will remain the coach."
Walters was sacked 22 days later.
"It is one of the terrible stories in sport that a few weeks before they sacked Kevvie, they confirmed in the media he was the coach for 2025," Maranta told AAP.
"As a public company they made a statement to the Broncos supporters and the stockmarket that they had decided to keep Kevvie on. He'd just appointed assistant coaches (Ben Te'o and Trent Barrett) before he was fired."
The Broncos conducted a post-season review led by Bond University director of sport Michael Collins, a former CEO and player with the Chiefs in Super Rugby.
The findings have never been made public, leading to leaks and speculation about the reasons for Walters' demise.
Maranta believes the review was done to justify a decision that had already been made.
"All the reasons given for Kevvie's sacking have been puerile," he said.
"The media was out to get Kevvie and I had reminded Dave about what happened in 1990 when they were gunning for Wayne Bennett after a poll on Channel 10 calling for him to be fired.
"I called a special meeting of all media in Brisbane. They thought I was going to sack Bennett but I extended his contract for five years.
"I wanted everyone to know that the people responsible for the organisation make the decisions, not just because of external winds of change. Bennett then won six premierships and had a wonderful record."
Maranta recalled asking Donaghy to reinforce to journalists that Walters had got the Broncos to a grand final in three years, without the star-studded side Bennett had that took five seasons and won the 1992 title.
"I also said to tell the board members Kevvie's record was better than Bennett's in the context of the early stages of his coaching. Little did I realise that Dave had other views," he said.
Maranta said Bennett's axing in 2018 was "crazy".
"That's after we went out of our way to bring him back," he said.
"Bennett's scrapbook was there for everyone to see.
"Wayne came to the Broncos in 1988 and Kevvie a few years later.
"There is a real substance and historical relationship there and that has been thrown out the window as though it is not important.
"If you look at all the big teams in the world that is a critical element in why they have been so successful. If you throw that out the window, you throw your chances out the window with it."
Maranta said there were unavoidable factors that led to the Broncos missing the finals last year, including star spine members Adam Reynolds, Reece Walsh and Ezra Mam played together just six times due to injury.
"When Dave rang me to say they'd sacked Kevvie he said, 'Did you see Melbourne put 50 on them in the last game?
"I told him we had four Queensland Cup players in that team and Melbourne were on fire.
"The day after they sacked him, Melbourne played the Roosters in a semi-final and put 48 on them. I sent a text to Dave and said, 'Do you think (Roosters supremo) Nick Politis is going to sack the coach?'
"If you are going to use those benchmarks it is going to come back to bite you."
Maranta said he was hopeful the Broncos could "come up with a recipe for success".
"But it is going to take a lot of mea culpas from the administration," he said.
"I feel most for our supporters because they put their heart and soul into the Broncos and like the rest of us they just shake their head in disbelief.
"They ring me up and ask what is going on because football plays such an important element in their lives."
