NEW BRISBANE CEO Dave Donaghy will lead a wide-ranging review of the club which could see numerous heads roll after chairman Karl Morris admitted there was more pain ahead for the strife-torn Broncos.

In the second part of a series investigating the crash of the Broncos, The Courier-Mail can reveal one of Donaghy’s first tasks will be to thrust Brisbane’s battling football operations under the microscope when he starts on Saturday.

The Broncos are a club in turmoil after claiming last year’s wooden spoon and being anchored near the bottom of the NRL ladder heading into Friday’s derby against the Gold Coast Titans at Suncorp Stadium.

The club has been rocked by the departures of key young players Tom Dearden (Cowboys) and Reece Walsh (Warriors) over the past month and is fighting to retain off-contract superstar Kotoni Staggs.

At least 32 players that were either in Brisbane’s program or overlooked by the Broncos are now at rival NRL clubs, raising concerns about the once famed system that delivered the game’s top talent to Red Hill.

The Broncos have also been hamstrung by a series of questionable recruitment and retention decisions which have caused major salary cap constraints.

Donaghy’s review will encompass the football department headed by general manager Peter Nolan and the wider workings of the Broncos, with no facet of the $52 million business to escape scrutiny.

“Every new CEO will look at the whole organisation,” Broncos chairman Karl Morris said.

“Dave has come from a very successful organisation at the Storm and the first thing every CEO does is review every part of the organisation.

“There is zero doubt he will do that. Dave will be conducting a review of the entire Broncos organisation.

“The board has a role and of course we have to take some of the blame. We are all working towards the path of getting the best team on the paddock.

“We are all responsible to make the Broncos a continuously better place.”

THE SALARY CAP

COACH KEVIN WALTERS took on his dream job at the Broncos late last year, replacing the sacked Anthony Seibold, knowing he had a mountainous task on his hands.

By his own admission, Walters inherited a roster that wasn’t his and he wanted to start making changes.

“I felt I’ve had control from the moment I walked in,” Walters said.

“It’s obviously not my roster as such that I selected, but I’m working with these guys. They’re a good bunch of guys.

“What’s personal for me is fixing up the Broncos. We finished last year and this is a new season, new era. We will fix the place up.

“It might take us a little bit of time but I’m seeing some good positive things. I do take it personally.”

Walters shipped Jack Bird and his $950,000-a-season contract to the Dragons, albeit with Brisbane paying a fair chunk of it. Andrew McCullough and his $600,000 deal followed soon after.

He moved Joe Ofahengaue to Wests Tigers and on Monday told prop Matt Lodge he was free to leave the club if he can secure a deal elsewhere.

Lodge is endemic of the salary cap problems the Broncos are dealing with.

After controversially being offered an NRL lifeline by the Broncos in 2018, Lodge showed promising signs and secured what was essentially a five-year contract extension in 2019, tying him to the Broncos until potentially 2024.

PART I: TEAMMATE TOLD FIFITA TO WALK OUT ON BRONCOS

The final two seasons (2023-24) of Lodge’s contract are player options in his favour, meaning he holds the power when it comes to deciding whether to remain at the Broncos on upwards of $750,000-a-season.

“It’s been a perfect storm in some ways,” Morris said of Brisbane’s salary cap mess.

“We had a range of big contracts we were dealing with and some are starting to come off-contract, giving Kevvie the opportunity and the scope in the salary cap to make the hard decisions that we’ve seen him do already.

“Kevin has enthusiasm in spades, but he has to get the best player list to get us into the top four and they are hard decisions that probably haven’t been made and they haven’t been made because of the contractual arrangements that have been, and are at, the club.”

Lodge isn’t the only Broncos player with a contractual option in his favour.

Corey Oates, who started the season in reserve grade, can also choose to remain at Brisbane next year along with hooker Jake Turpin and Staggs, who the Broncos are attempting to lock-up to a long-term deal.

Five-eighth Anthony Milford’s $1 million-a-season contract has been a disaster for the Broncos over the past four years.

Donaghy’s review will assess who was responsible for the questionable salary cap decisions and how the Broncos prevent them from happening again.

Morris said the Broncos were guilty of not making tough decisions.

“The Broncos have lacked the ability to make the hard decisions,” Morris said.

“Sometimes you have to go backwards to go forwards and the week-in, week-out worry about getting the two points has distracted our plan of setting up the club for the medium to long-term.

“We’re not there to make the top eight. We want to be making the top four and being in a position to compete for the grand final and win premierships.”

That won’t happen until the Broncos get control of the all-important salary cap and their roster again.

THE COACH

A FIVE-TIME PREMIERSHIP winner with Brisbane during a magnificent playing career, Walters long dreamed of coaching his beloved Broncos.

He was overlooked for the role when Seibold was appointed as Wayne Bennett’s successor in 2018, only for that relationship to end spectacularly last year when Seibold was sacked.

Walters was handed the keys to Red Hill on a two-year contract, short in NRL head coach terms, and has had a rocky start to his tenure, losing six of his opening seven games.

But Walters remains focused on cleaning up the mess he has inherited and insists he is not worried about his future.

“I have been put in a position to make this club better than what we were,” he said.

“I’m not worried about the tenure I have here at the Broncos, I have been placed here to make the place better and that’s what I am trying to do this year.

“At different stages I feel the team has improved and then we take a few steps back.

“We are sitting back and having a good look at things. While we have a mindset and we have a thought process, the performances over the next few weeks will determine the direction that we take.”

Walters has the full support of those in power at the Broncos. They understand he needs time to put his stamp on the club and turning Brisbane into a powerhouse once again will not happen overnight.

Board member Neil Monaghan stepped up as interim CEO while awaiting Donaghy’s arrival and said Walters was the man to fix the Broncos.

“We picked Kevvie as our coach and as the right man for the job,” Monaghan said.

“He has a terrific support team around him and is a good person.

“We did not get into this position overnight. It has been years in the making and we won’t fix it overnight.

“Kevvie was a winner as a player and will be a winner as a Broncos coach, but it will take time and hard work.”

THE FUTURE

IT IS DIFFICULT to see the Broncos playing finals football this season or snapping the club’s 15-year title drought any time soon. They may even claim another wooden spoon before significant improvements begin.

The Broncos are a long way from being the club that won six premierships during a golden era from 1992-2006, but Morris hits back at suggestions they have lost their aura.

“No I don’t, I really don’t (think that),” he said.

“We haven’t won a premiership since 2006 but what it shows is how good the NRL is right across the board now. The quality of the NRL has improved dramatically over the last 15 years.

“Theoretically, an NRL team should win the premiership every 16 years. We haven’t lost our aura, but the rest of the league has risen up and matched the benchmarks the Broncos set 15 years ago.

“Look at the data around member engagement, corporate dollars and TV ratings. The Broncos are still a massive brand. Queenslanders still love the Broncos.

“The supporters have been patient and largely understanding that every club has a rough trot. Not one club is immune to the issues the Broncos are now facing, but I am adamant we will come out of it.

“To be honest, there could be more pain ahead. I wish we could come out of this more rapidly, but the building blocks are there and I can say the hard decisions will be made.”

For Broncos fans, the pain can’t end soon enough.

* READ KARL MORRIS’ EXCLUSIVE PROMISE TO KEVVIE ON FRIDAY