Ken Maumalo, David Fusitu'a, Agnatius Paasi and King Vuniyayawa will return home to NZ on July 27. Video / Warriors / AP
For the past decade, Ben and Shane Walker have championed a flamboyant and frenetic style of rugby league with the Ipswich Jets.
With a game plan based on time in possession and always contesting the football, you only have to look at the team's use of short kick-offs and onsidekicks to see they're doing something a little different.
It's far from your traditional style of rugby league. Speaking with Newstalk ZB Sport, Jets chairman Steve Johnson says they brothers are seen as "rugby league heretics" in some circles. With the Warriors on the hunt for a new coach after sacking Stephen Kearney earlier this season, the Walker brothers have been linked to the Warriors for their first stint in the NRL after a long stay in reserve grade with the Jets.
While the process of finding a new Warriors coach is far from over, Johnson says the Walker brothers are the perfect fit.
"To the Warriors, they'll bring an exciting brand of football that will best suit the wonderful football athletes that exist at the Warriors. They won't shut them down; they'll bring football out of them," Johnson says.
"You've got the natural footballers than Ben and Shane thrive working with."
Chris, Ben and Shane Walker after the Ipswich Jets won the State Championship Grand Final in 2015. Photo / Getty Images
The Walkers led the Jets to the Queensland Cup title in 2015, their first since joining the competition in 1996; building their attacking structures after initially implementing an effective and stoic defensive system. They went on to win the State Championship - contested between the Queensland Cup and New South Wales Cup winners.
The Warriors have been known for their 'razzle dazzle' style of football in the past, but have gone away from that in recent years. Johnson believes the Walker brothers can help get the club back to that style, but in a way that it will lead to victories.
"They'll sit down, analyse the players and bring out the best in them. It won't necessarily be how we played at the Jets – it will be exciting, because that's how Ben and Shane work – it will be different; they'll come up with a game plan that suits the Warriors," he says.
"The risk for the Warriors is replacing like for like. The Warriors' history of coaches, they've appointed your stereotypical NRL coach and think somehow by appointing a different coach that they'll work in a better way with the playing group. It's been their constant mistake. So, Ben and Shane are a breath of fresh air, the point of difference, if you like. I don't think they're a risk at all. The risk is replacing (Kearney) with a like for like coach."
Reports out of Australia at the weekend suggested the Walkers had already been offered a one-year deal with the Warriors, however club chief executive Cameron George said there was absolutely no truth to the claims, with the club's process for finding a new coach not even at the halfway point.
Other names linked to the role include interim Warriors head coach Todd Payten, England boss Shaun Wane, with several others ruling themselves out of contention such as South Sydney Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett, long-time Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy and former Newcastle Knights coach Nathan Brown.
