NRL 2022: Brisbane Broncos v South Sydney Rabbitohs Round 1 preview

As the Broncos look to produce a Round 1 statement in a Friday night blockbuster against the Rabbitohs, two men will be feeling more pressure to perform than their teammates.

Albert Kelly BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 07: Albert Kelly looks to pass during a Brisbane Broncos NRL training session at Clive Berghofer Centre on March 07, 2022 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Brisbane’s makeshift halves duo Billy Walters and Albert Kelly are under pressure to deliver in Friday’s season-opening blockbuster against the Rabbitohs.

The showdown at Suncorp Stadium has lost some sting following the withdrawal of star Broncos recruit Adam Reynolds due to Covid, but the grudge match has suddenly morphed into a moment of truth for Walters and Kelly.

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The jury is out on both. Five-eighth Billy has had to endure cries of nepotism amid perceptions Broncos coach Kevin Walters is favouring his son, while Kelly, for all his natural talent, was on a train-and-trial contract just 12 months ago and has amassed just 55 NRL games in 10 years due to his inconsistency.

Here is another motivation: when Reynolds returns next week, Kelly or Walters will be the man to go.

Payne Haas crashes into two Rabbitohs last season.

Tom Burgess tries to bust two Broncos tackles.

The Broncos have the front-row grunt, led by 118kg monster Payne Haas, to win the middle third. But if Walters and Kelly can’t deliver control, quality option-taking and slick service to a backline headlined by strike weapon Kotoni Staggs, the Bunnies will inflict round 1 misery.

South Sydney’s spine also has a fresh look. Established stars Cody Walker and Damien Cook must lead the way for rookie fullback Blake Taaffe and unproven No.7 Lachlan Ilias.

Can last year’s grand finalists fire without their champion halfback Reynolds? All eyes will be on the 21-year-old Ilias and Brisbane’s forwards need rapid line speed to pressure the two-game youngster into error.

If the Broncos allow Cook too much freedom around the rucks, Souths’ forwards will have a field day and put Walters’ Brisbane troops under the pump from the outset.

KELLY WINS WEIGHT BATTLE TO EARN BRONCOS STRIPES

Comeback king Albert Kelly has backed himself to fill the Adam Reynolds void after going from a 106kg halfback to Brisbane’s scrumbase saviour for Friday night’s season opener against Souths at Suncorp Stadium.

The Covid-enforced withdrawal of marquee recruit Adam Reynolds has thrust Kelly into Brisbane’s halfback hotseat, but the 30-year-old veteran will run onto Suncorp in the best shape of his 11-year career.

Kelly has stripped a whopping 17kg from his frame and will face the Rabbitohs at 89kg, a far leaner and meaner version of the overweight playmaker whose weight blew out beyond 100kg during his stint in the English Super League.

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During his 2020 campaign at former club Hull, Kelly was arguably the heaviest halfback in top-level rugby league, but since receiving a lifeline from the Broncos last year, the former Titan knew he had arrived at the last-chance saloon.

While there is a view the Broncos have no hope of beating Souths without their $2.4 million import Reynolds, Kelly has vivid memories of his Broncos debut last year, when he inspired an epic 34-16 boilover of the Roosters.

Albert Kelly has stripped 17kg from his frame in the off-season. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

Kelly will partner another unheralded playmaker, Billy Walters, in the halves in the Suncorp season opener, but he says Brisbane’s unlikely scrumbase union can engineer a South Sydney upset.

“I’m excited for this, bring it on,” Kelly said.

“I’m definitely confident I can step up for ‘Reyno’.

“I’ve had 13 or 14 years in the game, I’ve played in Australia and England and I’ve been in all sorts of positions, six, one, seven, lock and even centre.

“But the halves is where I’m most suited and I know what I have to do.

“It’s important I take control of the team and give my teammates around me the confidence to do their jobs.”

Kelly arrived at the Broncos last year on a train-and-trial contract worth $1000 a week.

Heavily overweight at the time, the former Titans young gun decided to get serious about being a professional NRL player and he was rewarded with a one-year extension.

“I came home to Australia last year to literally nothing. No guarantees in the NRL,” he said.

“At my heaviest in England, I was 106kg. But coming back to the NRL, the training intensities are so much higher. I knew if I wanted to keep my career going, I had to get fitter and I’ve done that.

“I’ve lost 17 kilos in total. It’s been nothing but hard work, training hard and sorting out my diet. I’m really proud of how much hard work I have put in. I believe I have earnt this opportunity and I want to hold onto a Broncos jumper for as many years as I can.”

Adam Reynolds and Albert Kelly share a laugh at training. Picture: Tertius Pickard

While Kelly will call the shots at halfback, Broncos coach Kevin Walters has come under fire for choosing his son Billy at five-eighth for the Souths showdown.

But the Broncos mentor hit out at cries of nepotism as he backed the Walters-Kelly alliance to deliver Brisbane’s first win of the new campaign.

“It’s not about what other people think, it’s about what we think as a playing group and the only way to silence all the doubters is for Billy to go out and play the way we know he can play,” Walters said.

“I am extremely proud for him with my dad’s hat on, but I have my coach’s hat on for this game.

“I remember a famous line from Wayne Bennett, if you start listening to the punters, you will be sitting there with them in the stands.

“It’s a great opportunity for Billy. If he plays the football he is capable of, that will be great for us and great for the team as well.”

Originally published as NRL 2022: Brisbane Broncos v South Sydney Rabbitohs Round 1 preview