Kevin Walters gets the nod as Kangaroos, Jillaroos coach appointments confirmed
New Australia coach Kevin Walters has vowed to stop Broncos star Payne Haas from walking out on Kangaroos camp, amid fears of a mass green-and-gold exodus for the Ashes series.
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New Australia coach Kevin Walters will move to stop Broncos superstar Payne Haas walking out on the Kangaroos amid fears of a big-name green-and-gold exodus for this year’s Ashes series.
Walters also revealed he is open to reuniting with his former Queensland captain Cameron Smith and will speak to the NRL champion about an assistant’s role for Australia’s Ashes mission in October.
Walters was formally unveiled as Australia’s successor to Mal Meninga on Wednesday, capping a remarkable resurrection for ‘Kevvie’ following his shock departure as Broncos coach last year.
Now Walters is set to use his longstanding connection with Haas from their Broncos days to convince the NRL’s No.1 prop not to turn his back on the Kangaroos.
The World Cup champions are under siege with Haas and Queensland Origin enforcer Tino Fa’asuamaleaui having been approached to defect to Samoa ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
In May, Haas revealed he would make a definitive call on his representative future after this year’s Origin series, fuelling a belief he is ready to drop a bombshell on Australia by switching to Samoa.
The ARL Commission is under pressure to review the code’s representative eligibility rules given a slew of defections from tier-one to tier-two nations in recent years, including Haas’ NSW teammates Jarome Luai, Brian To’o and Steve Crichton.
That trio have walked away from Australia to turn out for Samoa, but Walters shapes as a critical trump card for the Kangaroos.
When Haas nearly quit the Broncos three years ago, he revealed it was his close ties with Walters that convinced him to sign a new deal – and Meninga’s successor outlined his plan to sit down with his former Brisbane enforcer.
“In time I will but that’s probably not a conversation for today,” Walters said of keeping Haas in green and gold.
“I just want to explain to those players that are contemplating (defecting), I totally understand their situation but let’s get the Kangaroos opportunity in front of them and see where they’re at with that.
“We’ll move forward from there.
“One thing about the Australian rugby league team is that there’s great talent. We know that.
“If some players elect to play for Pasifika nations or whatever nation, we’ve got plenty of depth here in Australia.
“Obviously we want the best players available. It’s been a terrific State of Origin series. There was great talent on show from both states, so I’m sure we’ll get a very strong 22 to take on the English in October and November.”
A veteran of 12 Tests for Australia, Walters is relishing his return to coaching with the national team, admitting he will be better for his experiences in charge of the Broncos.
The Broncos legend led Brisbane on a fairytale charge to the 2023 grand final and was four minutes away from delivering the club’s first premiership since 2006, only to sever ties after their 12th-placed free fall last year.
“It’s all a learning experience for me,” he said of his departure from the Broncos.
“I started as a coach in 2001 coaching in the Queensland Cup and here we are 24 years later coaching Australia.
“It’s been a great journey for me and every year regardless of the situation it’s been learning for me. I’m still learning as a coach.
“I feel that the experiences that I’ve gained over the last 24 years has put me in a great position with this Australian Kangaroos job.
“I’m going to do a great job. I’ve got a lot of confidence in myself and my ability to get the best out of players.”
Walters was linked to a possible role at the Titans next season if the Gold Coast sack Des Hasler in the coming weeks, but he confirmed the Kangaroos position takes him out of the running for an NRL job in 2026.
“Certainly,” he said. “At the moment, my focus is the Kangaroos. I want to do a great job there with the Ashes series. It’s a big job. England will be tough. We’ve got to be ready to take that toughness on.”
Maroons hooking legend Smith has offered his services to Walters and the Kangaroos coach says Origin’s most-capped player, who also played 56 Tests for Australia, is on his radar.
“That (hiring Smith) is something that we’ll have to have a look at,” he said.
“I’m not sure of Cameron’s position at the moment and what he wants to do but he’s been a great leader for the Kangaroos.
“I have worked with Smithy as a captain-coach relationship with the Queensland State of Origin team for a few years.
“We’ve got a good relationship. I’ll get my feet under the desk first. There’s a lot of decisions to be made around staff so we’ve got to get that right.
“Certainly, we’ll look at that in the next couple of days.”
WALTERS ERA BEGINS AS KANGAROOS, JILLAROOS, COACHES NAMED
The ARL Commission have unveiled a new Kangaroos era with sacked Broncos coach Kevin Walters completing the ultimate resurrection with a green-and-gold comeback.
The ARLC has finalised its national appointments with Walters winning the Kangaroos job, while Jess Skinner has clinched an extended tenure with the Jillaroos until the 2026 World Cup.
It can also be revealed Queensland legend Cameron Smith is being groomed as an eventual long-term appointment for the Australian job after expressing his interest in working alongside Walters as an assistant.
The ARL Commission confirmed Walters and Skinner as Kangaroos and Jillaroos coaches respectively on Wednesday morning.
“It is truly an honour and a privilege to be able to coach the Kangaroos on such a stage,” Walters said.
“Playing on a Kangaroos Tour was always a pinnacle as a player, so to be able to lead the best of the best in this environment is very humbling and obviously very exciting.
“This series will be an important step for the growth of international Rugby League and for the Kangaroos. I can’t wait to get started.”
Skinner added: “I’ve really enjoyed the chance to coach at this level so to be given the opportunity to coach the Jillaroos through the 2026 World Cup is incredibly exciting. The women’s game is experiencing continued and significant growth so to be part of the journey at this level is a real honour.”
Walters’ coaching career was at the crossroads after the Broncos legend was sensationally terminated by Brisbane bosses following the club’s 12th-placed free fall last year.
But ‘Kevvie’ has ascended to one of the most prestigious coaching jobs in Australian sport, with Mal Meninga’s move to head-up the Perth Bears opening the door for Walters to take charge of the Kangaroos.
Walters succeeded Meninga as Queensland Origin coach in 2017 and now history is repeating with the 57-year-old ready to take over from the NRL Immortal to spearhead Australia’s end-of-year Ashes campaign.
Former NSW coach Brad Fittler was considered the frontrunner to coach Australia before he opted to pull out of the race.
The search to replace has been vexing for the ARL Commission, who received a number of expressions of interest for the prestigious position.
Smith was thrown up as a possible option given his status as the most-capped NRL player of all-time (430 games), a future NRL Immortal and a 56-Test legend who captained Australia 33 times.
But the ARLC were concerned by the optics of giving the iconic national post to a man with no head-coaching experience at any level of the game _ Smith briefly operated as a Queensland Origin assistant to Billy Slater in 2022-23.
South Sydney super coach Wayne Bennett was privately keen for a third term with an Australian team he last presided over in 2005.
Mindful of Bennett’s availability, the ARL Commission considered allowing club coaches to pursue the job, only to opt against changing the rule at a meeting before Origin III.
That has opened the door for Walters, who has spent this season working for Fox League after severing ties with the Broncos at the end of last year.
The Broncos legend has a proven track record of success – he won his first two Origin series in charge in 2017-18 before steering Brisbane to the grand final against Penrith in 2023.
Walters was four minutes away from lifting the NRL premiership, only for the Panthers to produce a stunning comeback to break Brisbane’s hearts 26-24 in the greatest grand-final collapse in history.
Australia will embark on their first Ashes series in 22 years when they play England on October 25 at Wembley Stadium before completing a three-Test campaign in Liverpool and Leeds.
Walters understands what it takes to succeed on English soil – he famously threw his trademark ‘out-ball’ for Steve Renouf to score the try that won Australia the World Cup in their 10-6 defeat of Great Britain in 1992.
Walters’ former Broncos lock Pat Carrigan said his passion would transfer to the Kangaroos jersey he wore 12 times as a player.
“His personality, his charisma, his passion for any jersey that he’s ever worn and especially for his country would be massive,” Carrigan said.
“He knows how to bring the best out in a wide magnitude of players from different backgrounds.
“If he was coaching our country I’d definitely feel pretty confident as an Aussie fan.
“I hope the big fella gets the job done.”
The ARLC will consider appointing Smith as Walters’ assistant with a view to the Storm legend eventually taking over as part of a Kangaroos succession plan.
Walters recently admitted calling the shots for Australia would be his final frontier in coaching.
“One of my goals, one of my dreams was to coach Queensland,” he told Triple M radio.
“(One was to) coach in the NRL secondly and the third one and probably the biggest goal was to one day maybe coach Australia which was a dream and (I was) not thinking more about it at the time.
“It would be a huge honour to coach Australia. I’d certainly like to sit down with people and have a chat about what the situation is and what they are looking for … I’d be very interested in that role.”
Meanwhile, the ARL Commission is expected to reward Skinner after she took over from Brad Donald and masterminded the Jillaroos’ 90-4 drubbing of England in Las Vegas in March.
Jillaroos players have lauded the influence of Skinner, who boasts both Maori and Indigenous heritage and has proven a popular successor to Donald.
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