Veteran Corey Oates says teammate Selwyn Cobbo feels "really bad" about the controversial podcast comments he made about coach Kevin Walters but insists they won't derail Brisbane's NRL season.
Oates copped a grilling about Cobbo's comments after Broncos training on Tuesday when he fronted the media.
In the podcast Cobbo said Walters was "a good person", before adding "but I don't think he's a good coach."
The 20-year-old winger went on to say at various stages of the podcast that "he's not the best coach", "the way he coaches is a bit weird, I guess" and "he's an alright coach".
The convoluted comments were made in October, but surfaced on Saturday, after which Cobbo said in a statement: "The fact is that Kev is a very good coach...I was lucky enough to play Origin for Queensland last year and that is off the back of the coaching of Kev and his team."
Cobbo apologised to Walters after his comments hit the press. Walters told Channel Nine on Monday night that he was hurt and disappointed by Cobbo's "out of line" remarks, but said the 20-year-old was "very apologetic" and that the pair would "get on with things".
Oates believed that would be the case.
"Cobbo has apologised for it and I think he feels really bad," Oates said, while adding that the brouhaha would not fester in the background.
"They spoke. They cleared it up...they are fine. The team is fine. We are all training really great."
On the subject of podcasts, one of which last year featured former Broncos playmaker Tyson Gamble saying captain Adam Reynolds rather than Walters was the team's attacking mastermind, Oates explained why he did not do podcasts himself outside of those conducted by the club's media department.
"I don't put myself in those situations," he said.
"We have just got to not get caught in that sort of area...and not get stuck in the media saying things you don't want to. You learn along the way. It is a harsh environment. You learn the hard way sometimes but so long as you learn from your mistakes, that's fine.
"If (Cobbo) had asked me if he should have done it I probably would have said 'no', but he might feel comfortable doing it. I have never done it unless it is with the club."
When asked if the off-contract Walters should be the coach long-term Oates said he would "definitely back him".
Walters inherited a shambles of a team in 2020 that finished last and took them to ninth in 2022, despite a diabolical late season fadeout.
"I've been here through a lot of things and I think Kevvie is doing a great job, finding out the sort of coach he is and what sort of players he is dealing with. It is not easy to do when you have got a team that struggles for so many years," Oates said.
