Kevin Walters believes Brisbane face an uphill battle to win the premiership without Andrew McCullough

QUEENSLAND Origin coach Kevin Walters believes the Broncos face an uphill battle to win the premiership without Andrew McCullough.

QUEENSLAND coach and Brisbane legend Kevin Walters believes the Broncos face an uphill battle to win the premiership following the season-ending loss of inspirational hooker Andrew McCullough.

The Broncos-Titans derby on Saturday at Robina will be among the headline acts when the NRL, in partnership with Fox League, this week celebrates Retro Round — a tribute to the code’s memorable 1980s era.

Walters was a member of Canberra’s 1987 grand-final team and three decades on, the Maroons coach says the Broncos will have to lift without McCullough to break an 11-year title drought.

“It’s a big blow,” Walters said. “Macca was in career best form. His defence has always been a strong part of his game but he has developed a bit more with his attack as well.

“We are going to find out how important Andrew McCullough really is on Saturday afternoon, that’s the start of their new campaign.

“It will be a new Broncos team now. They can still win the comp without Macca and they are fortunate in that they have a few weeks to find a capable replacement.

“But Wayne (Bennett) has some work to do now. McCullough is an 80-minute player so someone has to step up in his absence and cover his workload, which is phenomenal.”

To celebrate Retro Round, Fox League has partnered with the NRL and clubs to give fans the chance to attend selected NRL games at reduced prices this weekend.

Fans will be able to purchase tickets to the Bulldogs-Eels, Knights-Warriors, Titans-Broncos, Sharks-Raiders and Sea Eagles-Roosters fixtures at discounted prices.

Lara Pitt, Hannah Hollis and Yvonne Sampson at the Fox League Retro Round launch.

Fans can redeem the ticket offer by logging onto nrl.com/tickets and entering the code word ‘retro’ before midnight Wednesday.

In a boost for the Titans, Kiwi Test forward Kevin Proctor returns from a hamstring injury, while Jarryd Hayne has been named at fullback for the Broncos derby.

Titans skipper Ryan James said while Gold Coast’s finals hopes have effectively flatlined, they are determined to pull off a Broncos boilover.

Ryan James was on hand to help launch Retro Round.

“We were disappointed with our loss to the Tigers last week and we want to turn that around against the Broncos,” he said.

“We should have beaten the Broncos earlier this year so that has given us the belief that we can win the derby at home.”

Originally published as Kevin Walters believes Brisbane face an uphill battle to win the premiership without Andrew McCullough