NRL 2021: Ben Te’o in mix to join Kevin Walters’ Brisbane Broncos coaching staff

Kevin Walters will be given extra support next year as he fights to save his job, with an ex-Maroon in the mix to join the Broncos.

Ben Te'o. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty

Brisbane bosses have shown their faith in Kevin Walters by authorising funding to beef-up his coaching unit as part of the Broncos coach’s mission to break the club’s 15-year premiership drought.

News Corp can reveal the Broncos board has given the green light for Walters to employ another assistant in the head coach’s quest to save his job next season and propel Brisbane back into finals contention.

It is understood Walters is mulling over a number of candidates, with former Queensland Origin hit man Ben Te’o, who formally announced his retirement last week, said to be highly regarded by Broncos hierarchy.

Broncos coach Kevin Walters has the backing of Brisbane bosses to hire another assistant coach.

Walters’ current assistants, John Cartwright and Terry Matterson, are contracted for another 12 months and there is a view the Broncos can benefit by adding more football intelligence to their brains-trust.

A Broncos mid-season review found the club’s football department to be under-resourced in the wake of last year’s Covid crisis which forced Brisbane to slash millions from their bottom line.

The arrival of CEO Dave Donaghy and football boss Ben Ikin has transformed Brisbane’s front office, easing the strain on Walters, who responded by winning four of their last nine games as the Broncos offloaded the wooden spoon.

Now Walters has set his sights on a finals fightback in 2022 and Broncos chairman Karl Morris revealed the club will give the second-year NRL coach more ammunition to ramp-up his Red Hill revolution.

“We are keen to give Kevin more resources,” Morris said.

“Kevvie has to work out over the off-season who he wants to add to his staff.

“All I have said to him, ‘You look at what you need and we will adjust from there’.

Broncos chairman Karl Morris (right) has praised Walters’ evolution as coach.

“Dave (Donaghy) has come away from his time as CEO of the No. 1 performing team at the Storm and there is a whole range of things that made them (Melbourne) better.

“Dave’s job is to give Kevin all the tools he needs to be as successful as he possibly can be at the Broncos.”

Walters is off-contract next year and Brisbane bosses are keen to give him a 12-month extension, but the upgrade may well hinge on how the Broncos start their 2022 campaign.

Cartwright, the Titans’ foundation coach, is aged 56, while Walters’ other right-hand man, Matterson, is 54.

Given the posse of teenage talents coming through at the Broncos, headlined by TC Robati, Brendan Piakura and Xavier Willison, Brisbane may benefit by having a more contemporary voice.

One option is Te’o, who has had a major impact behind the scenes at the Broncos since his return to the club last year.

Brisbane’s band of young forwards have enormous respect for Te’o, who amassed 173 NRL games and won a premiership at Souths in 2014 before his successful conversion to rugby, playing 16 Tests for England.

At 34, Te’o is keen to move into the coaching sphere and the Broncos believe he could help develop Brisbane’s rising forwards as one of the most feared defenders of his generation.

Broncos’ retired forward Ben Te’o is keen to move into the coaching sphere.

Morris said Walters has gradually settled into the cutthroat Broncos coaching job after some turbulent early months.

“I think Kevin has enjoyed the support of Ben and Dave and it made him realise that all he has to worry about is coaching the team,” Morris said.

“At some stage, Kevvie probably felt he had to do it all to save the Broncos but we have surrounded him with really good people.

“Not only Dave Donaghy and Ben Ikin, but a new head of performance (David Ballard) and there is scope for Kevvie to add another person to his staff.”

Walters is confident he is building an on-and-off field team to deliver a finals campaign for the Broncos next season.

“It was a tough initiation but I am a pretty resilient bugger and I am sticking on the path that is the Broncos path,” he said.

“I expected to play finals at the start of the year, but if you aren’t at your best, you will get found out.

“The finals is a genuine goal next year. We are going to be better, mark my words.”

Originally published as NRL 2021: Ben Te’o in mix to join Kevin Walters’ Brisbane Broncos coaching staff