Former Broncos coach Kevin Walters reveals the truth behind Tom Dearden’s Brisbane exit

As Tom Dearden steered Queensland to a remarkable Origin victory, Broncos fans may have pined for the budding star who slipped through their fingers. Kevin Walters explains how he was lost.

Former Brisbane coach Kevin Walters has opened up about Tom Dearden’s Broncos exit, revealing the North Queensland star was being hammered by comparisons to Allan Langer and needed to get out of Red Hill to save his NRL career.

Walters has hit back at suggestions he botched Dearden’s development after watching the now Cowboys co-captain produce his greatest ever game to steer Queensland to glory in last week’s Origin decider.

Dearden produced a ‘perfect 10’ performance, scoring two tries and saving two others in defence to claim man-of-the-match honours in the Maroons’ epic 24-12 defeat of the Blues to reclaim the Origin shield.

But just four years ago, Dearden was in disarray at the Broncos and there were fears he would be another washed-up wonderboy after his career at Red Hill went into freefall.

Tom Dearden was a rising star with the Broncos during coach Kevin Walters’ reign. Picture: Getty

Blooded as an 18-year-old by Anthony Seibold, Dearden struggled in a losing Broncos team, winning just four of 22 games for the club before a shock mid-season transfer to the Cowboys in 2021.

Dearden played just five games under Walters, who had to make a call whether to re-sign the off-contract playmaker and ultimately copped criticism for failing to show faith in him as he vied with Brodie Croft for the Broncos No.7 jumper.

Walters rubber-stamped Dearden’s move to the Cowboys but has set the record straight on suggestions he didn’t rate him, speaking of his pride at Dearden’s stunning resurrection from Broncos reject to Maroons matchwinner.

“I’m going to clear the air here. Tommy had to get out of the Broncos,” Walters revealed on his Inside Ball podcast.

Tom Dearden scores a try during his final season with the Broncos, in 2021. Picture: Getty

“I would have loved to have played with Tommy Dearden, the little Queenslander. We had him at the Broncos.

“I texted him after the game (the Origin decider), I said, ‘Mate, well done to you’.

“Unfortunately Tommy coming into grade was too early, I think he made his debut against Souths at age 18.

“Tom’s time at the Broncos was just the wrong time.”

Coming through the Broncos Academy, Dearden was regarded as a 15-year NRL playmaker and his selection in the Australian Schoolboys suggested the club had found their most promising halfback since Langer.

With his short stature, snowy hair and baby-faced look, Dearden was likened to ‘Alfie’, but Walters believed the Toowoomba-born product simply needed a fresh start.

The lifeline from Brisbane’s derby rivals the Cowboys has proved a revelation.

Under coach Todd Payten, Dearden has developed into one of the NRL’s rising scrumbase superstars and at just 24, he is now Cowboys co-captain and rated a future Queensland skipper.

“There were too many comparisons, he was getting snowed under,” said Walters, who parted ways with the Broncos last year.

“He was getting hammered and I really felt sorry for him.

“He couldn’t show what sort of player he was.”

Dearden has blossomed at the Cowboys. Picture: Getty

Dearden drew early comparisons to Broncos great Allan Langer.

Asked by co-host Ben Dobbin if Dearden’s exit will go down as one of Brisbane’s most “disgraceful” retention blunders, Walters bristled.

“The club was struggling,” the Broncos 2023 grand-final coach said.

“There was a lot going on and for a halfback to be under that sort of pressure at that age, his confidence was gone.

“I said to him, ‘Mate, this will be a good move for you (to the Cowboys) ... to get out, and look at him now, look how he has kicked on.

“It’s happened before with Johnathan Thurston and Cameron Smith (being missed by Broncos scouts).

“The move up there has been so good for him. He has got out of the limelight and he can just be Tom Dearden.

“He is only 24 so he has another 10 years ahead of him. I hope that’s clear for everyone. He may end up at the Broncos again.”

Tom Dearden was named this year’s Wally Lewis medallist for his brilliant Maroons comeback. Photo: NRL Photos

Dearden’s fightback to wear the Maroon jumper is testament to the never-say-die terrier who produced one of the great Origin debuts filling in for Munster, who was struck down by Covid in 2022.

Many told Cowboys coach Todd Payten he was mad for buying Dearden. The playmaker’s confidence was shot, but Payten persisted, gradually reconstructing the self-belief that has underpinned Dearden’s rise to the Cowboys co-captaincy.

Now, in the wake of skipper Daly Cherry-Evans’ shock sacking following Queensland’s loss in Origin I, Dearden could be the Maroons’ No.7 for the next decade.

“Looking back on it now, I am very grateful to have experienced that,” Dearden said of his frustrating years at the Broncos.

“I built a lot of resilience in my character. I am thankful for having to go through those tough times.

“It was a tough time for a young playmaker coming through, but you grow with experience and that’s what the game is all about.

Tom Dearden celebrates scoring a try during the Maroons’ famous game three victory. Picture: Getty

“That’s what happened with my career. Toddy (Payten) was pretty instrumental in getting my confidence back.

“He put a lot of faith in me when I first arrived at the Cowboys and the belief comes from staying there and working at it.

“Eventually you get that belief and confidence back.”

Payten recalled watching Dearden as a teenager and couldn’t believe his luck when the Broncos were happy to offload him to the Cowboys, who was crying out for a boom playmaker following Johnathan Thurston’s retirement.

“I am very proud, but not surprised really,” Payten said.

“Tommy has gone from strength to strength over the past 18 months, he has become a real leader here and he deserved his chance in rep footy.

Tom Dearden has become a leader, and one of the competition’s premier playmakers, at North Queensland. Picture: Getty

“We supported him early on but all the rest of it Tom did himself. He did all the hard work. He never kicked stones. He showed a lot of faith and belief in himself and he has come out the other side.

“His confidence was low for sure when he got here. He wasn’t very confident in himself, he had copped a pasting publicly, so it was a work in progress.

“It was either put him in reserve grade and let him get his confidence or keep him in first grade and persevere.

“I felt if he went back to reserve grade, it would have just slowed him down long term, so I kept him in the NRL team and he grew with each game.

“He is so fit and because of his aerobic capacity, he is always competing and he puts himself in positions that other players can’t get to.

“I love his competitive nature. He is always in everything.

“He has really grown with the captaincy and I think he will be in the Queensland team for a long time, if not captain of the Maroons one day.”

Originally published as Former Broncos coach Kevin Walters reveals the truth behind Tom Dearden’s Brisbane exit