The Broncos didn’t think Kevin Walters had what it took to break their premiership drought so they have taken the ruthless option of punting the coach instead of wasting another year mired in mediocrity.
Less than 12 months after guiding the club he loves to the Grand Final when they were a measly five minutes away from victory before Nathan Cleary broke their hearts, Walters is out the door.
The official line, as is the case in modern sport, that they have “parted ways” but that is merely window dressing to hide the obvious outcome that the powers that be have punted a club legend.
On record alone, Walters has had a mostly underwhelming stint at the helm of the NRL’s biggest club – failing to make the playoffs in three out of four years, punctuated by last year’s near miss.
There were low expectations in his first season after the Anthony Seibold experiment went pear-shaped and the Broncos sunk to their first wooden spoon but Walters has overseen a couple of late-season fade-outs in 2022 and 2024 which ultimately sealed his fate.
This year’s 12th-placed finish with a 10-14 record on the back of 10 losses from their last 12 matches was a cavalcade of poor defence, directionless attack and a lack of action from Walters to right the ship.
The Broncos issued a statement on Thursday night with CEO Dave Donaghy saying: “We owe a debt of gratitude to Kevin, for the enormous role he’s played as head coach over the past four years.
“Kevin put his heart and soul into the club during his time as coach. He is one of the most passionate people you will ever meet when it comes to the Broncos and that helped lift us out of a really difficult time.
“While we will miss Kev and his infectious personality on a daily basis, we certainly don’t want one of the Broncos favourite sons not to stay involved with our great club.”
Walters was also quoted as saying he wished the team and the club all the best.
“Aside from playing here, it’s been the greatest thrill and honour of my life to have coached the Broncos.
“Coaching in the NRL takes a toll, not just on the coach but also their family – it’s time for me to step away and spend some quality time with my loved ones, who have supported me all the way over the last four years.
“I’m grateful to the club for providing me with the opportunity to be head coach and we have come a long way from the wooden spoon to last year’s run to the Grand Final.”
Maroons coach Billy Slater with Reece Walsh. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Walters was under contract until the end of 2026 and will receive a substantial payout but that will do little to soothe the pain of being shown the door by the Broncos, the club where he played five-eighth for 11 seasons, winning five premierships across his 237 matches.
He had won 50 of the 99 games during his Broncos stint but that kind of record is not going to pass muster.
The Broncos could have given him the first half of next season to show he could reverse their losing trend but if the defeats kept coming, they would then have to punt him mid-year, install a caretaker coach and 2025 would be a write-off.
By making the cut-throat call now, they have saved themselves that scenario and have some time to get a new coach in the building before pre-season gets underway in November.
There is a dearth of coaching options in the NRL at the moment due to many of the established mentors switching roles in recent seasons – conservative club CEOs have recycled the likes of Wayne Bennett, Des Hasler, Shane Flanagan and even Seibold after his Broncos nightmare instead of the riskier move of investing in a rookie.
The standout option for the Broncos is Billy Slater.
But it’s going to take a lot of money and ceding plenty of control to an unproven coach at NRL level to get him to take the gig, if he even wants it.
Slater has shown he is a future NRL coach in waiting with victory in two of his first three State of Origin series with Queensland.
He made a few blunders this year and was outfoxed by Michael Maguire but that is all part of learning the ropes.
A Queensland legend, he has the profile to take on the high-pressured Broncos role and also the no-nonsense mantra of holding players accountable from his playing career at the Storm under Craig Bellamy.
One major hurdle if Brisbane went down the path of trying to tempt Slater is that he is under contract as Maroons coach for another two seasons and the QRL CEO is none other than Ben Ikin, who left the Broncos in acrimonious circumstances last year, funnily enough after a falling-out with Walters, his 2000 premiership-winning halves partner.
Donaghy’s previous stint as Storm boss will lead to speculation that the Broncos will chase Bellamy, who has been their white whale after they tried unsuccessfully a couple of times in the past decade to convince him to coach the club where he started out as Bennett’s apprentice.
He has already committed to one more year, yet again, with the Storm for next year and it would be one of the biggest backflips of all time if he even considered a switch this late in his career.
Outside of Slater there are not many standout contenders.
Maguire knocked back interest from Parramatta before they signed Jason Ryles because he wanted to remain with NSW at Origin level next year so he is likely not a contender for the Brisbane vacancy despite his premiership win with Souths in 2014.
Opportunities like the Brisbane job don’t come up very often so he would have to think long and hard about sticking with the Blues if any calls come in from Red Hill.
A left-field option would be Sharks assistant Josh Hannay. The former Cowboys centre is highly regarded for his tactical acumen as Craig Fitzgibbon’s deputy and for his work alongside Slater with the Maroons.
Rabbitohs interim coach Ben Hornby is also seen as an NRL head coach in the making but he has no links to the Broncos that would suggest they would be in the market for his signature.
His former Dragons teammate Trent Barrett was Parramatta’s interim coach and had signed with Brisbane to be Walters’ assistant next year along with Ben Te’o and it is unclear what Thursday night’s announcement means for their future at the club.
Names like Brad Arthur, Jason Demetriou and Justin Holbrook will be tossed around with the most unlikely option being the Walker brothers Ben and Shane after their Queensland Cup success with unusual tactics although it would certainly help get long-term halfback target Sam Walker back to the Sunshine State from the Roosters.
Kevin Walters and Adam Reynolds chat. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
Brisbane entered this season as one of the premiership favourites despite losing Tom Flegler and Herbie Farnworth in the off-season.
Serious injuries to Reece Walsh and Adam Reynolds were body blows but even when they were on the park, the Broncos never truly found their groove.
Walters tried to talk a finals berth into existence late in the season when it looked like their hopes were petering out by saying it was not a matter of if but when they qualified for the eight.
And then the team was flogged 40-6 by the Dolphins to extinguish their faint hopes, followed by a 50-12 drubbing at the hands of Melbourne.
With a roster boasting Walsh, Payne Haas, Patrick Carrigan, Reynolds, Selwyn Cobbo, Kotoni Staggs and Ezra Mam, the Broncos have more than enough talent to be title contenders.
And when a team with that much strikepower can’t even make the playoffs, the coach is always going to be the first domino to fall.
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