‘You can see how much it means to him’: Kangaroos skipper endorses Kevin Walters to take over as the next coach of the national side

The man expected to be Kangaroos coach has received huge support from a player who will fill a major role in this year’s Ashes series.

Kangaroos skipper Isaah Yeo is too young to remember much about Kevin Walters as a player, but he can’t wait to be coached by the Broncos legend, who is expected to be announced as the Australian coach for this year’s Ashes series.

Walters will replace Mal Meninga, who stepped down to focus on his new role as inaugural coach of the Perth Bears, with Yeo relieved they’ve settled on someone who can now start planning for the Ashes tour that begins in October.

Yeo found out through the media that Walters would be taking over and has endorsed the former Broncos and Maroons coach to lead the national side even though it hasn’t been formally announced.

Kevin Walters has plenty of coaching experience and knows what it takes to represent Australia in an Ashes series. Picture: Liam Kidston

“He’s come out and said how much of an honour it’ll be to be able to coach Brisbane, Queensland and his last one was going to be Australia,” the Golden Boot winner said.

“I’m super excited for him. You can see how much it means to him already and I’d love to be a part of it with him.

“That was a bit before my time (watching him play), but you hear stories about how good he was.

“You can see how much he meant to the players by talking to the Broncos boys. If it wasn’t for Nathan Cleary (killing it) for 16 or 17 minutes, then he’d be a premiership-winning coach.

“Everyone I’ve spoken to has massive raps on him.”

Wayne Bennett had been in the mix to take over but was eventually ruled out given he coaches an NRL side, while Immortal-in-waiting Cameron Smith was also in contention after Brad Fittler pulled out of the race.

One of the reasons Fittler didn’t take the job was because there were only a few months to go until the Tests started and there was still so much planning to do for matches overseas.

It’s why Yeo is happy that they’ve gone with someone who has no links to club land, with Walters keeping himself busy with his media work with Fox Sports.

Walters has been busy this year working for Fox Sports. Picture: Brett Hemmings/Getty Images

“It helps now with how late it’s been because it’d be hard being an NRL coach and having to worry about a push to the finals and then you’re trying to do this stuff on top of it,” Yeo said.

“He’s been pretty busy, Kev, doing a lot with Fox at the moment, but it certainly helps because he’s now got three months to try to figure it out.

“That’s probably where it’s gotten a little bit hard for whoever was going to come in because it’s going to be rushed for them. It’s nice that it’s all done and sealed and we can now get to planning what will hopefully be a successful series over there.

“You’d love to be a part of it because of the history behind it and what it means to the English – not just the players – but the fans over there and how passionate they are. I like anything to do with history, so it’d be really cool to be a part of.”

Walters played in the 1992 Ashes series and will bring plenty of passion when the rivalry returns after a 22-year hiatus.

Isaah Yeo is looking forward to this year’s tour after he captained Australia to Pacific Championships glory in 2024. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images

Yeo doesn’t remember much from the 2003 series but is expecting a tight contest just 12 months out from the next World Cup.

“I would have been too young. I do remember getting up and watching England games, but that was really rare and those were really early memories,” he said.

“You hear about the tours and how outstanding they were. We were lucky enough to play a World Cup over there.

“You can feel that England have been building towards this. They had the disappointment of the World Cup, but then they had the Tonga and the Samoa series and they’ve been building towards something with this group under Shaun Wane.

“You can tell it’s going to be a cracking series, and those are the ones you want to be in. Any time you pull on the Australian jersey is the pinnacle of the sport, but to be able to do that in a series like that is awesome.”

Originally published as ‘You can see how much it means to him’: Kangaroos skipper endorses Kevin Walters to take over as the next coach of the national side