Re-building the Broncos: Inside story of Kevin Walters’ relentless pursuit of Brisbane coaching job

In 2020, the once mighty Broncos had become the joke of the NRL following Anthony Seibold’s disastrous tenure. This is the exclusive story of Kevin Walters’ relentless pursuit to coach Brisbane and how he began rebuilding club’s broken DNA.

Coach Kevin Walters talks tactics with Adam Reynolds. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty

Kevin Walters’ manager reckons he knocked on former Brisbane CEO Paul White’s door 15 times begging for ‘Kevvie’ to be given the keys to the Broncos.

The Broncos were a glamour club falling apart. The year was 2020 and mentor Anthony Seibold, the former Souths coach-of-the-year hailed as the talisman who would make the Broncos great again, was in the deep end at Red Hill.

The Broncos finished with the wooden spoon. Seibold fell on his sword. The mighty Broncos, the richest club in the league with a $50 million empire and six shiny premiership trophies sitting on black plinths in the foyer of their $27 million Red Hill headquarters, had become the joke of the NRL.

Players were unhappy. The Broncos Old Boys were firing brickbats. Brisbane were a club in crisis.

How on earth did it get to this?

Kevin Walters has rebuilt Brisbane’s DNA.

Leading player agent Chris Orr was adamant his client, Kevin David Walters, was the man to mop up the mess.

So he kept knocking on White’s door.

“I pursued ‘Whitey’,” Orr says with a laugh. “I think I went to his house 15 times to discuss Kevvie Walters for the Broncos job.

“The Broncos job is probably the most prestigious and toughest in the NRL. There is a huge expectation that some people don’t understand, but Kevvie understands it because he has lived it as a premiership-winning player for the Broncos.

“There was no other club Kev wanted to coach. Other coaching opportunities would pop up and I would say, ‘Do you want me to put your hat in the ring’ and Kev would say, ‘No, mate.

“He felt he had done his apprenticeship and he just wanted to coach the Broncos.

“Thankfully Whitey agreed with me, he felt Kevvie would be the right fit for the job.”

WALTERS APPOINTED

September 30, 2020 is a day that will be forever etched in Walters’ mind. It was the day he was formally appointed Broncos coach, a month after Seibold brokered a $1.5 million severance package to allow the ‘Kev-olution’ to begin.

Fast forward to September 30, 2023 and Walters is 24 hours away from sitting in the Homebush coaching box for Brisbane’s NRL grand final showdown with defending premiers the Panthers.

From day one, he promised to inject unity. He has delivered. The revival of the Broncos has been gradual, at times imperceptible, but in three seasons Walters has taken the Broncos from last, to 14th, to ninth and now, the big dance.

Kevin Walters at a Broncos fan day. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/Courier Mail

This has been not just a Red Hill rebuild. It’s been bloody remarkable.

“It wasn’t easy getting to where we are,” Walters says ahead of his debut as a grand-final coach on Sunday night.

“We dropped away a bit from the history of the Broncos.

“To be honest, I wasn’t really sure how long it could take, but I knew what the club needed and what I felt worked at the Broncos.

“In saying that, this is not one person’s work. It’s not just me. It’s been a collaboration of a lot of people’s work, including Dave Donaghy our CEO, the board, and most importantly, the players.

“They have bought in from day one and now they are getting the rewards they deserve.”

When Walters stepped into hot seat, at times it seemed like the rookie NRL coach was drowning. The Broncos had no official CEO following the departure of White and Walters had to wait six months for Donaghy to start as Brisbane boss in May 2021 after severing ties with Melbourne.

Walters was not only trying to coach. The salary cap was a mess. Rising superstar Reece Walsh had sensationally quit to join the Warriors. Fires were raging. Walters found himself wading into other parts of the business beyond his remit of coaching a football team to win games.

CAVALRY ARRIVES

The arrival of Donaghy stabilised the front-office. Ben Ikin joined a month later as head of football. Ikin’s first signing was Kurt Capewell, a Penrith premiership winner bought to lift, and drive, standards.

And when Donaghy and Walters flew to Sydney to sign champion Souths halfback Adam Reynolds on a $2.4 million deal, with the backing of Broncos chairman Karl Morris, the tide was turning.

Then Walsh returned this season at fullback. Walters’ playmaking spine was humming. The tide was now a tidal wave of success.

“We never saw the downside of it (Reynolds’ signing),” Morris said.

Kevin Walters talks tactics with Adam Reynolds. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty

“He has had an unbelievable impact on the club, team and season. I couldn’t be any more delighted.

“I always had confidence it would turn from the wooden spoon.

“Once we hit the bottom, the only way was up.

“There are lots of one-off things I can say that have helped get us into the position, but it’s a combination of everything.

“It’s a combination of getting Kevin as coach, getting Adam Reynolds, having a new CEO, good people, putting in all the building blocks that lead you to success.

“A lot of it is about stability and consistency.”

OLD BOYS’ SUPPORT

Broncos co-founder Barry Maranta was gutted by Brisbane’s freefall. He had helped build the club from ground zero in 1988. He never envisaged a day where the Broncos juggernaut that powered to six titles in a golden 14-year stretch from 1992-2006 would finish dead last.

Furious fans threw 150 wooden spoons onto their Red Hill training base. Just two people were interviewed to succeed Seibold: Walters and Cowboys premiership coach Paul Green.

There was a push for Green, given he had won a title in 2015, but Morris was cognisant of Walters’ capacity to harmonise. His link to the powerful Old Boys collective was significant.

“I’m so happy Kevvie is getting the recognition he deserves,” Maranta said.

“I never had one doubt in my mind Kevin could fix the club.

“I knew Kevvie and his family from my time at the club and if anyone knows what makes the Broncos tick, it’s Kevvie.

“Their front-office has also played a major role in the turnaround.

“We have got out of the mediocrity and that comes down to good administration, it’s a critical element in sport around the world.”

BRONCOS DNA

When Donaghy first walked into his Red Hill office, one of his first tasks was taking a long walk with Walters. The Broncos boss brokered a two-year extension for Walters in April, his tenure at the Storm teaching Donaghy the value of certainty in a club.

“It’s a challenging job and Kev has proven himself through both hard work and his ability to be excellent at it,” Donaghy said.

“That’s why we backed him in at the start of the year.

“We could see the work he was putting in, the progress that was being made right across the entire football program.

“He’s always been the right man for the job, it was just a matter of time.

“They’re the closest and happiest group I’ve ever been connected to and a massive part of that is the environment Kev has created inside the football program.

“He genuinely cares for his players, he fights for them and you can see it in the way they play that they are fighting for him, too.

“It’s great to watch and even better to be a part of and I hope they get what they all deserve on Sunday.”

Originally published as Re-building the Broncos: Inside story of Kevin Walters’ relentless pursuit of Brisbane coaching job