Kevin Walters opens up on his axing from the Broncos, plans to coach again and family pain
Kevin Walters has broken his silence on his time at the Broncos, his plans to return to coaching in the NRL and the pain that will come when his son Billy runs out in the club’s colours.
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Kevin Walters has broken his silence on his Broncos departure, revealing he never saw his “sacking” coming and defiantly declaring he will coach again in the NRL.
Speaking in detail for the first time since his dramatic Brisbane exit five months ago, Walters admits he was gutted by the decision and isn’t yet ready to watch his son Billy run out in Broncos colours.
The Broncos held their 2025 season launch on Thursday night and Walters’ successor Michael Maguire was officially unveiled as the coach to break Brisbane’s 19-year premiership drought.
The Broncos dropped a bombshell on Walters, severing ties with the club legend on September 26 - just 24 hours after he was seen dining at a Chinese restaurant planning the 2025 season with his new assistants Ben Te’o and Trent Barrett.
Walters steered the Broncos to the 2023 grand final, losing to Penrith, but was shown the door just 12 months later after a disastrous 2024 campaign in which Brisbane missed the finals, crashing to 12th spot.
The ultimate NRL podcast hosted by coach Kevie Walters and Ben ‘Dobbo’ Dobbin here.
A BAD FEELING IN MY STOMACH
Despite the free fall, Walters thought he was safe. He was contracted until the end of 2026. Then came the hammer blow, sparked by a phone call that broke his heart.
“I was shocked,” Walters said in his new weekly podcast with co-host Ben Dobbin called Inside Ball, released on Friday.
“We were a long way down the track, planning for 2025.
“We’d hired two assistants, made some changes where we needed to make some changes.
“So we’re already forward-planning for the season of 2025 and then I guess I accelerated things.
“You know, I rang my manager and sort of said, “I’ve got a bad feeling in my stomach that this isn’t quite right.”
“He made a phone call and we went in and they made a decision to finish up with me.
“I’ve been sacked, basically.”
Walters admits he was deeply hurt by his treatment, the roots of which spool back to his initial appointment as Broncos coach in September 2020.
His predecessors, such as Anthony Seibold and Anthony Griffin, enjoyed pomp with official unveilings at formal press conferences.
When Walters was appointed in 2020, there was no official announcement.
The club legend who bled for the Broncos had to organise his own photo shoots and hastily borrow a Brisbane polo shirt as media crews arrived at his home for interviews.
The day after his dismissal, Walters, fighting back tears, attended Broncos HQ and gave a brief statement before leaving with his wife Narelle. He believes the Broncos could have handled that dramatic 24-hour period with more dignity.
But the 57-year-old insists he is not bitter towards the Broncos, refusing to blame others and saying he is proud of his record as coach, going within three minutes of lifting the 2023 NRL trophy.
I WANT TO OWN WHAT HAPPENED
Brisbane sensationally led 24-8 in the 2023 decider against Penrith after an Ezra Mam hat-trick, before an epic Panthers fightback and late Nathan Cleary try broke their hearts in a 26-24 great escape.
“That was hurtful getting up in front of the cameras that day (after his sacking),” he said.
“But I wanted to stand up in front of everyone and let them know that I was leaving.
“That’s why I did it (faced the media). I did it because I want to own what happened and accept responsibility that I was moving on.
“I’m comfortable with what I did at the Broncos in my time there.
“When I got into the building (as Broncos coach in 2020) ... yeah I had to find my own shirt to get into the building and get a photo, compared to where they are now.
“We missed the finals last year by two wins which is not a lot. But also we should have done better and I accept that full responsibility.
“But for it to pan out the way it did, considering when I walked into the building (the Broncos were wooden spooners), I went to a grand final in 2023.
“We were two or three minutes away from winning a grand final.”
THE PAIN OF MOVING ON
Still a club ambassador, Walters has lifetime seats at Suncorp Stadium, but admits initially it will be hard for he and wife Narelle to attend Broncos games to watch his son, grand-final hooker Billy.
While there is a positive vibe around Maguire’s arrival, Walters believes he could have rebuilt the Broncos this season.
Although he says he has come to terms with the decision by Brisbane bosses.
Walters declined to say Maguire’s name, only calling him “the new coach”.
“That’s a decision that they made, and I’ve accepted that,” said Walters, who is also returning to Fox Sports this season as an NRL commentator.
“They made a decision that the new coach coming in was the right one and that, as the head coach there, I could not take the Broncos to where they wanna get to.
“I’ve got no problems with that. That’s their decision. You’ve got to live with that.
“At first, I’m thinking, ‘Why this, why that’. But I’ve accepted it now, we all have (as a family), and we’re moving on.
“I’m excited about what’s happening this year with the podcast and work on Fox.”
INJURIES HURT IN 2024
Asked if he will struggle to watch Billy initially, Walters agreed, adding: “Billy is still at the club and he’s obviously surviving well, he’s back this season for another year, but our whole family’s invested in the Broncos.
“I won five premierships for the Broncos. Some 21 years of my life has been involved with the club and that obviously includes my family as well, so we’re heavily connected and still are with our connections through Billy to the Broncos.”
There is a sense Walters was the fall guy for Brisbane’s ill-fated 2024 season.
He insists he isn’t making excuses when he points out a shocking injury toll that robbed the Broncos of their best players, including Reece Walsh, Ezra Mam, Adam Reynolds and Payne Haas, for large portions of the season.
“The Broncos are a really big club, the biggest in the game,” he said.
“Sometimes you have to make decisions based on your beliefs and we made those.
“We were challenged really deeply with our squad. We had 32 players wear the Broncos jersey last year, which is a phenomenal amount.
“The key part of any rugby league team is their spine (fullback, five-eighth, halfback and hooker combination). Our spine started six games together for the whole 24 rounds.
“The year before it was 17 games.
“This is not an excuse, but there’s a reason for some of the things that happened last year.
“I go back to the grand final last year. Nelson (Asofa-Solomona) not playing at Melbourne in the grand final, that was nearly it for them because he was their go-to man.
“He’s like our Payne Haas, their leader in the forwards.
“Without him in the grand final, the Storm were a different team (they lost to Penrith in the 2024 grand final).”
Such is his love for the Broncos, there is a view Walters’ NRL coaching career is finished because he will struggle to find the passion to work for another club.
COACHING IS MY PASSION
But the former Queensland Origin mentor says he will look for another coaching job in the NRL, pointing to Wayne Bennett, who won six premierships at the Broncos before moving on to the Dragons, Newcastle, Souths and the Dolphins.
“We will see what happens in the next 12 to 24 months. But coaching is my passion. I love working in the NRL,” he said.
“I’m gonna coach again, yes.
“And the reason why - I’ve got a lot of belief in myself and I get great comfort and confidence out of what happened at the Broncos. We got to a grand final.
“Wayne probably won’t admit this, but he is always seen as a Broncos person ... I will coach again.”
Despite being heartbroken by his dismissal, Walters says he is in a good place mentally and spiritually.
“I’m doing really well, really well,” he said.
“Mainly because of the support that I’ve had from my family, from the players, just from people in the street coming up to me.
“Those of you that live around Paddington would know that I walk around the streets of Paddington just thinking about things and often I get a lot of support from people in cars stopping and saying hello.
“It’s a great thing that people care that much about you know, not only myself but also my family.
“It was tough when I got the call (that his time as Brisbane coach was over), but I love the club and I’ve been a Broncos ambassador more than anyone, maybe except Allan Langer.”
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Originally published as Kevin Walters opens up on his axing from the Broncos, plans to coach again and family pain
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