NRL 2022: Kevin Walters not concerned about new hardline contract arrangement with Broncos
Winning five premierships during his stellar 241-game Broncos career, coach Kevin Walters says he knows what it takes to bring regular success back to Red Hill.
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Kevin Walters has backed himself to return Brisbane to the finals and says he will be the first person to admit his failures if he doesn’t deliver on his landmark Broncos coaching contract.
As he launched his second pre-season in charge of the Broncos, Walters insists he has no issues with Brisbane’s hardline contractual stance, accepting he must perform during the 2022 premiership or risk being sacked.
Walters last year inked a two-year deal, but that arrangement will be rescinded and replaced by one that will see the Broncos coach agree to an open-ended, standard employment contract.
While the revised contract will safeguard the Broncos from a financial payout should the parties sever ties, Brisbane are so determined for Walters to succeed they have given him unlimited resources to revive the club as a premiership force.
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Rather than fret about a perceived lack of job security — he can be terminated with three months’ notice — Walters is up for the fight and primed to steer Brisbane to next year’s playoffs.
The Broncos finished third last in Walters’ rookie year as an NRL head coach last season, but the club legend is adamant Brisbane are on the rise after navigating the wooden-spoon debacle under his predecessor Anthony Seibold in 2020.
“I’m not worried about my contract,” Walters said.
“That’s in my manager’s hands, I’m really focusing on what is happening out here on the grass.
“I am confident I will be here long term at the Broncos. I feel I’m the best person for the job here given what’s happened when I walked in.
“If you look at what happened 12 months ago, we were last on the ladder and over the salary cap, so a lot of things have been fixed in a short period.
“This club is about consistency and delivering each week and it’s my job to ensure that happens.
“If that doesn’t happen, I’ll be the first one to put my hand up, but I’m very confident about where we are going and the direction we are taking, particularly with how we finished off last year.
“There’s still more to do, but I’m extremely confident that I’m the right person to take this club forward.
“I’m not bothered by it (his revised contract). It takes as long as it takes to sort out. I know the job here at the Broncos is about getting consistent football amongst us.”
The Broncos showed signs of regeneration at the back end of last season.
They won four of their last nine games and dressing-room morale has been boosted by the marquee off-season purchases of premiership duo Adam Reynolds and Kurt Capewell.
As a player, Walters was a proven winner. The playmaking icon won five premierships at Red Hill during his stellar 241-game Broncos career, a record Walters believes gives him an unrivalled insight into winning methods at Brisbane.
“I understand the culture of the Broncos,” he said.
“What happened 20 or 30 years ago is probably irrelevant to the current guys, but I feel I’m the best person to get the best out of this group.
“I want to do some great things with them. We have some young talent coming through, they have played 30 or 40 or 50 games and I know I can help them become the players that they need to become for us to be successful again.
“There have been some changes made and this is a big season for all of us, coaching staff, the players and the administration staff so we can march forward and be that club that we all need to be.
“Pre-season is always a good time for the players. We have another 10 or 12 players coming back next Thursday which will give us good numbers to work on some team stuff.
“I’m pleased with the first week we have had.”
Biggest hint yet Adam Reynolds to become Broncos captain
Adam Reynolds is set to celebrate one of the highpoints of his decorated NRL career with coach Kevin Walters giving the strongest indication yet the halfback recruit will be crowned captain of the Broncos.
The Broncos launched their pre-season on Monday and Walters said he would use the summer months to run the rule over a number of contenders to fill the captaincy void left by retired back-rower Alex Glenn.
Glenn believes emerging lock Pat Carrigan is ready to ascend to the job on a full-time basis, while Queensland Origin utility Kurt Capewell is another serious option after winning a premiership with Penrith last season.
But News Corp understands Reynolds will clinch one of the most prestigious posts in Australian sport, with Walters believing his captain-coach “relationship” with the premiership playmaker would be “strong”.
The Broncos have had 11 official club captains in their 33-year history, including foundation skipper Wally Lewis, Allan Langer, Walters, Gorden Tallis, Darren Lockyer, Justin Hodges, Corey Parker, Darius Boyd and Glenn.
Now Reynolds is poised to join Brisbane’s elite club of leaders as he prepares to don the storied Broncos No.7 jumper made famous by ‘Alfie’ Langer.
“We have to find a captain from somewhere to replace Alex and Adam is a proven leader at Souths,” said Walters, who will hold his first press conference of the 2022 pre-season on Friday. “For mine, Adam is one of the leading candidates for the job.
“I’m looking forward to working more closely with Adam in the pre-season and getting to know him as a bloke.
“It’s important that a coach-captain relationship is strong and I believe I would have that with Adam. In the conversations I’ve had with Adam, we are thinking along the same lines and see the game the same way.
“He has a cool head under pressure and I like that in a captain.”
Few recruits in Broncos history have arrived at Red Hill carrying the weight of expectation heaped on the pint-sized Reynolds.
Brisbane’s halfback spot has been a poisoned chalice for almost two decades. When Reynolds inked a three-year, $2.4 million deal with the Broncos in May, he was trumpeted as the playmaking white knight who could break Brisbane’s 16-year premiership drought.
The 31-year-old was named Souths skipper last year by former Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett, who believes there is only one captaincy choice for the Broncos in 2022.
“Should Adam be captain (of the Broncos)? The answer is an absolute yes, 1000 times over,” said Bennett, now coach of Broncos expansion rivals the Dolphins.
“I didn’t hesitate when Sam Burgess retired to make Adam captain and if I was at the Broncos, I wouldn’t blink on making him captain again.
“Adam is going to bring exactly what the Broncos need. He is a very tempered person. Very balanced. There is never any drama with Adam.
“He will bring to the Broncos a lot of things off the field that people won’t see. He comes from a very strong club at Souths and he has matured enormously as a leader of men.”
Walters believes Reynolds, a veteran of 231 NRL games who won a premiership in 2014, will bring genuine leadership to Brisbane’s scrumbase.
“We signed Adam back in July and his signing means even more now when you think about the season he had and what he did taking Souths to the grand final,” he said.
“I don’t remember the Broncos ever signing two players from the grand final teams to join us the following year in Adam Reynolds and Kurt Capewell.
“It’s a terrific asset to have those two guys coming to the club and showing our young blokes the attitude that wins premierships.
“Adam has been at the top for a long time, around 10 years, so it’s great for us to get his experience. He has shown he can handle the demands of the NRL in a key position.
“I like that Adam brings knowledge, leadership and experience, he is a very strong character which you need to survive in the halves in the NRL.
“Adam is already committed to the Broncos in the chats I’ve had with him and he wants to finish off with a successful career at the Broncos.
“He has won a premiership at Souths and he won’t be able to do it all himself at the Broncos, so it’s important the coaching staff and the playing group help him achieve success here.”
Premiership pedigree right fight to help bring back glory days
Kurt Capewell believes Brisbane is ready to hit back as a finals force and has pledged to bring his premiership-winning touch from the Panthers to the Broncos.
The Queensland Origin utility celebrated a childhood dream last month when he clinched his maiden NRL premiership ring in Penrith’s 14-12 grand-final defeat of South Sydney at Suncorp Stadium.
Now Capewell has officially severed ties with the Panthers and, with Souths grand-final rival Adam Reynolds, represents the two key Broncos recruits charged with spearheading Brisbane’s premiership fightback.
Rocked by finishing last and third last in the past two seasons, the Broncos need winners and Capewell oozes success.
In the past five years, Capewell, the kid from Charleville, has had a hot hand.
He was 18th man in Cronulla’s premiership win in 2016, made his Origin debut in Queensland’s epic series triumph under Wayne Bennett last November and arrives at the Broncos having played in the past two NRL grand finals, headlined by his perfect finale at Penrith.
Growing up in country Queensland, Capewell vividly remembers Darren Lockyer piloting Brisbane to their last premiership in 2006 and the ultra-reliable back-rower wants to bring the glory days back to the Broncos.
“I would love to win a premiership for the club, it would be awesome,” said Capewell, who has signed a three-year deal with the Broncos.
“Being a Queensland kid, I have a soft spot for the Broncos. I remember watching how successful the Broncos were and while they have struggled over the last few years, I want to be part of turning them around.
“In a football sense, I want to be part of something special at the Broncos - I want to make Brisbane a top-four club again.
“The Broncos should never be anywhere else but the top four, so I want to be a part of it and get the club back up to where it needs to be.”
Capewell will replace retired skipper Alex Glenn in the back row next season and the Broncos could do worse than consider the 28-year-old for the club captaincy given his Origin and premiership status.
Fellow recruit Reynolds is the front-runner to captain the Broncos in 2022, but Capewell would be a handy deputy.
Even if he is overlooked for the captaincy, the veteran of 96 NRL games is determined to play a leadership role by educating Brisbane’s emerging players on the standards that drive premiership performance.
“The one thing I have learnt from Penrith is that the one percenters mean everything,” he said.
“That’s the key to building a premiership club and hopefully I can bring that attitude to the Broncos. I am looking forward to the challenge of moving to a new team and establishing myself as a leader at the Broncos and teaching some of the younger boys the stuff I have picked up along the way.
“I will bring the one percenters, stuff like making my tackles and leading the kick chase, and that’s why ‘Kevvie’ (coach Kevin Walters) got me here.”
There is a renewed buzz around the Broncos and Capewell is confident he can help lead a finals revival.
“It’s awesome, driving around Brissie, it feels like I have come home,” he said.
“It was amazing to go out on the highest of highs at Penrith and it makes me excited about coming to the Broncos and what I think I can bring to this club.
“The Broncos had a young team last year, they are still learning their craft, but they progressed really quickly from the start of last season to the end of the year.
“They finished off with a few wins and it’s given the Broncos a base to build from.
“This pre-season will be a tough one and by round one, we will be ready to go.”
Marquee reveals he’s always had ‘soft spot‘ for Broncos
- Travis Meyn
Adam Reynolds says his move to Brisbane has given him a “new lease on life” as the Broncos’ star recruit declared he wanted to help make the club an NRL powerhouse again.
In his first interview as a Bronco, Reynolds revealed he had been blown away by the support he has received since moving to Brisbane following a decade at South Sydney.
Reynolds, Penrith premiership recruit Kurt Capewell and NRLW star Ali Brigginshaw unveiled Brisbane’s 2022 playing kits at Suncorp Stadium.
The Broncos will sport Kia Australia’s new logo on the Asics jersey when they take the field next year under coach Kevin Walters.
Reynolds, 31, can’t wait to pull on the famous Broncos colours following 231 games over 10 seasons for the Rabbitohs, who he is set to face in a Round 1 blockbuster at Suncorp.
“The messages (from Broncos fans) through social media and on the streets have been a blessing in disguise for me,” he said.
“I’ve got a new lease on life with footy and it’s probably what I’ve needed for a couple of years. I’ve always admired this club and had a soft spot for the Broncos.
“I’m genuinely looking forward to getting out there and playing for the jersey. It’s a proud club and powerhouse that deserves to be back at the top.
“I’ve been booed here many times, whether it be for Souths or representative games. It’s always a great atmosphere and a very vocal bunch of supporters.
“They always turn out in numbers. I can’t wait to run out and play for you guys.
“You definitely feel the love from the fans. Being a one-team town makes a massive difference. In Sydney we were squashed in with seven other teams and fighting for a bit of attention at times.
“You don’t need to do that up here and you can use it to your advantage. At times you want to hide from the media but it’s a good thing to have. We should embrace it.”
Reynolds is Brisbane’s star recruit for the 2022 season when the Broncos will look to put the worst two years in the club’s proud history behind them.
The former NSW Origin halfback is fresh off playing in South Sydney’s grand final loss to Penrith and will provide the experience and guidance in the halves that the Broncos have been craving for years.
With young guns like Kotoni Staggs, Selwyn Cobbo, TC Robati and Brendan Piakura committed to Brisbane, Reynolds said he saw a bright future for the Broncos.
“It’s a good blend of youth and a bit of experience,” he said.
“Experience is something they’ve been lacking over the last couple of years.
“You give those younger boys a few extra games under their belt and they know what it takes. They know what first grade is all about.
“The raw talent some of these boys have is pretty special. I’m looking forward to getting in there and working with a few of them.
“It’s genuinely exciting because some teams don’t have that raw talent and they get by. But that X-factor that can provide outside of a game plan excites you.”
Given he is a 10-year NRL player and featured in the last game of the season, Reynolds isn’t due to report for Broncos pre-season training until mid-December.
But he is itching to get on the paddock with his new teammates and has already started scheming Brisbane’s resurgence with Walters.
“I’ve probably never looked forward more to getting back to training,” Reynolds said.
“I’m like a little kid again. I’m trying to contain my joy, I don’t want to go off too early.
“I’m thoroughly excited about getting in, working hard through the pre-season and hopefully having a special year in 2022.
“I’m excited and that’s a good thing.”
Broncos memberships for 2022 are on sale with reserved seat season tickets available from less than $17 a game.
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