Brisbane Broncos youngster Coby Black to make senior debut in trial against Wynnum Manly

The Broncos will road-test the young halfback sensation being groomed to replace Adam Reynolds - PETER BADEL reveals why the Brisbane brains trust are so excited.

This is the 17-year-old young gun Brisbane are banking on to spearhead the Broncos in the post-Adam Reynolds era.

Brisbane will get a glimpse of life without their champion halfback Reynolds when teenage playmaker Coby Black makes his senior Broncos debut in Saturday night’s trial against Wynnum Manly.

It is a measure of the esteem in which the Broncos hold Black that the Helensvale Hornets junior will be blooded against the Seagulls at Kougari Oval before his 18th birthday.

Added to Brisbane’s full-time NRL squad as a development player this season, Black will come off the bench in Brisbane’s maiden pre-season hitout behind starting halves Josh Rogers and Kurt Falls.

Reynolds is poised to ink a 12-month extension, but with the veteran skipper expected to retire at the end of the 2025 season, the No. 7 jumper made famous by Allan Langer will be up for grabs.

That opens the door for Reynolds’ current understudy Jock Madden and the promising Black, who will be out to impress Brisbane coach Kevin Walters in his senior Broncos baptism.

Matt Ballin has lauded Coby Black’s maturity. Picture: John Gass

Underlining his hunger to succeed in the big league, Black has spent the summer picking the brains of Walters and assistant coach Langer – the greatest halves pairing in Broncos history.

“Coby is talented – he has a massive future,” said Broncos assistant coach Matt Ballin.

“He works hard on his craft and is very skilful with the ball.

“He is really confident in what he is doing, but he is doing it with humility.”

Mindful of the searing pressure on young playmakers, the Broncos are taking a cautious approach with Black, who will benefit from the mentoring of premiership No. 7 Reynolds for the next two years.

By the time Reynolds walks away, Brisbane will be hoping Black has matured sufficiently to one day live out his boyhood dream _ winning a premiership in Broncos colours.

A product of Marsden High, the school which produced former Origin stars Cameron Smith and Israel Folau, Black was so impressive for Wynnum Manly in the Mal Meninga Cup last season he was a nominee for player-of-the-year honours.

His form was slick enough to clinch selection for the Queensland City under-17s, whose coach Jordan Rankin – the former whiz-kid who played NRL for the Titans at 16 – lauded Black’s maturity.

Black is being groomed to take over the halfback position when Adam Reynolds retires. Picture: John Gass

“I’ve been in the same position Coby’s in … the young aspiring half who has the world at his feet,” Rankin told the QRL website.

“He’s a kid that really wants to learn, he’s willing to take on information.

“He’s in the Broncos system. He’s a really good organising half, he’s got a really good kicking game … everyone’s talking about this young kid coming through.”

Black attracted interest from the Titans, but he opted for the Broncos, where he is relishing serving his apprenticeship alongside the likes of Reynolds, Pat Carrigan and Reece Walsh.

Ballin says there are no guarantees for Black, acutely aware many schoolboy stars have crashed and burned, but he likes the teenager’s work ethic.

“A young kid coming into first grade as a halfback has to be good at tackling because they are going to get spotted and Coby has worked hard on that,” Ballin said.

“These young guys have had a good pre-season and we’ll see how they go playing.

“It’s up to him. I’m not going to say he will be the long-term halfback here, but if Coby wants to work hard, then the sky is the limit.

“He is a great young kid, he applies himself and works hard.

“He comes in and talks to Lee Briers our attack coach, he talks to ‘Kevvie’ and ‘Alf’ (Langer) and asks them questions, so he is giving himself the best chance.”

BRONCOS START TALKS WITH WALTERS

Billy Walters has secured his future at the Broncos with the once-maligned rake poised to ink a new deal with skipper Adam Reynolds as Brisbane move to cement their grand-final spine.

This masthead can reveal the Broncos have kicked off extension talks with Walters as they prepare to head to America in a fortnight for their premiership opener against the Roosters in Las Vegas.

The Broncos earlier this week signed boom five-eighth Ezra Mam to a five-year mega deal and now Brisbane recruitment chiefs are ramping up plans to retain key spine duo Walters and Reynolds.

Skipper Reynolds is in the final stages of broking a 12-month extension, while Walters will be the next playmaking member to secure a contract as Brisbane look to smash their 18-year title drought this season.

Walters is off-contract at season’s end but is expected to seal a two-year extension until the end of 2026 – capping a brilliant career resurrection for the son of Broncos coach Kevin.

Two years ago, Walters’ career was at the crossroads, thrown a lifeline by the Broncos as he attempted to fight his way back from a knee reconstruction at former club the Wests Tigers.

But Walters, who celebrated his 30th birthday on Friday, was outstanding last season, producing the best football of his career in a 26-game campaign that saw him take a stranglehold on the No. 9 jumper.

Now Walters will receive the ultimate reward for his superb form around the rucks, with the Broncos keen to formalise a twin contract coup for the hooker and Reynolds within the month.

Broncos assistant coach Matt Ballin, himself a hooker who played State of Origin for Queensland, lauded Walters’ metamorphosis from injured playmaker to Brisbane’s No. 1 hooker.

“Billy has been fantastic,” said Ballin, the former Manly premiership rake.

“When I first came to this club, it was his first year, he had been playing a bit of five-eighth at Wests Tigers and a bit of hooker.

“But what I have seen is Billy has applied himself defensively.

“Hooker is a tough position, you are under fatigue the whole game.

“In the halves, you get a bit of a break, but he has worked hard defensively and he is quite crafty with the ball.

“The biggest thing I have noticed is when he defends, he just wants to make tackles, get up there and stop them getting to an edge and he works hard for each player around him.

“When Billy gets a chance to run the ball, he is quite skilful.”

Billy Walters has made the hooking position at the Broncos his own. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

Walters has played 61 matches since his NRL debut for Melbourne in 2019 and a two-year extension with the Broncos puts him on track to surpass 100 top-grade games.

Few clubs in the NRL have competition for hooking spots like the Broncos.

Brisbane have five hookers on their books this season, including 19-year-old young gun Blake Mozer, who will wear the No. 9 jumper in Saturday night’s season-opening trial against Wynnum Manly.

With Walters rested, Mozer has a golden chance to put pressure on Tyson Smoothy and Cory Paix in the battle for a hooking spot.

“There’s great competition at hooker,” Ballin said.

“Those guys have been really patient, Billy has had a couple of really good years playing hooker, Tyson got an opportunity last year and took it with both hands and stayed there (as a bench back-up).

“Blake has had big wraps on him ever since he has come through which is a bit unfair, but that’s what happens with young kids these days.

“I don’t think it’s fair to compare Blake to Cam Smith, Cam is one of his idols and it’s a great thing for him to look up to Cameron, but at no stage has he said he is anywhere near as good as him.

“Now he has to go about his day to day business. It’s up to Blake where he goes from here, he now has to do the hard work.”

Originally published as Brisbane Broncos youngster Coby Black to make senior debut in trial against Wynnum Manly