Sport Confidential: Hull FC pursuing Broncos assistant coach, Walters wants Mozer to stay
The Brisbane Broncos are battling to retain the man credited with reshaping their attack while Kevin Walters has rejected talk that a young star will be forced out of the club.
Hull FC are targeting Broncos assistant coach Lee Briers in a bid to reignite the struggling Super League club.
This masthead can reveal Hull FC have turned to the NRL in search of answers, sounding out Briers and Newcastle Knights assistant coach Brian McDermott.
The English Super League battlers have gone into the market for a replacement for Tony Smith, who severed ties with Hull FC fortnight ago after slumping to second last with one win from eight games.
Assistant Stanley Gene has also exited, with Simon Grix and Francis Cummins placed in charge on an interim basis.
Former Titans coach Justin Holbrook has been touted as one possible successor, but Briers and McDermott are firmly on Hull FC’s radar.
Briers is highly regarded at the Broncos. Recruited by head coach Kevin Walters, the Warrington legend has played a key role in shaping the Broncos’ attack that swept the club to last year’s grand final against Penrith.
The 45-year-old has an option in his favour to be at Brisbane for 2025, but the Broncos won’t stand in his way if Briers believes he can resurrect Hull FC.
Broncos playmaker Jock Madden said Briers has been a revelation for Brisbane’s spine contingent, including halfback and skipper Adam Reynolds.
“Lee has been massive for me,” Madden said.
“He doesn’t get mentioned as much as he should.
“He’s helped me so much with my attack, just simplifying my game, my role, and getting the best out of me in that way.
“He’s a really smart man. He can pick teams apart and always comes in with a strong game plan every week.
“That helps the team massively.”
WALTERS REJECTS TALK THAT MOZER COULD WALK
The future of emerging Maroons star Blake Mozer at the Broncos has been thrust under the spotlight after Billy Walters landed a new deal in Brisbane.
Walters confirmed he has agreed to a two-year extension with the Broncos, keeping him at Red Hill until at least the end of 2026.
The extension means Walters is the frontrunner to wear the No. 9 jersey over the next three seasons, blocking Mozer’s path to the NRL.
Mozer, who turns 20 next week, has long been touted as Brisbane’s next superstar hooker.
However he has only made one appearance in the NRL so far – last year’s final round clash when coach Kevin Walters rested most of his top team.
Mozer has been plugging away in reserve grade, but it remains to be seen how long he is willing to play second-fiddle for.
Mozer lives with Titans forward Keenan Palasia on the Gold Coast, just minutes from the club’s Parkwood headquarters, and there’s no doubt Des Hasler needs a creative No.9.
Mozer is contracted at the Broncos until the end of 2025, meaning he can be poached from November 1 this year, and Billy said he had no intentions of surrendering the dummy-half duties.
“It’s good having Mozer and Cory Paix there. They’re training the house down at the moment and keeping me on my toes,” he said.
“It shows you can’t really slip up and put too many bad games together or they’ll jump on my spot. It’s making me play the best footy.
“It’s good competition and you need to have it. They’re all great players and I don’t want to slip up and give them an opportunity to shine.
“We’ve seen with some of the other boys that have come in this year, they’ve taken the opportunity with both hands.
“I‘m doing my best to keep playing good footy and keep them in Queensland Cup.”
While Billy has forged a remarkable career resurrection since joining the Broncos in 2022, his father hasn’t been all that impressed with one part of his game this season.
“He said I could have my short kicking (licence) back, but no more long kicking,” Billy said.
“I work on it a lot but this year I haven’t been hitting them well.
“I agreed with him on that one. I’ve put it in the back pocket for a couple of weeks.”
Coach Walters also addressed speculation Mozer could be squeezed out of the club.
“Blake certainly has a future here,” he said.
“We are monitoring his progress in the Hostplus Cup.
“He is playing good footy there and striking up some good combinations. We’re expecting him to come through and play NRL here, but at the moment, Billy and Tyson have a mortgage on those two positions.
“Billy and Tyson are playing well, but we see Blake as a long-term player here.
“He is a young player coming through and learning his trade.
“He is still honing his skills in the Queensland Cup. He is building some good relationships at that level which is going to help him when he does get his chance.
“I expect him to play in the NRL this year, I have no hesitation with him playing in our team.”
MOOSE RETURNS
Former Brisbane and Queensland Origin villain Josh McGuire is back at the Broncos.
No, not as a player, but as a member of Kevin Walters’ coaching team.
Sport Confidential can reveal Walters has bolstered his coaching stocks by adding ex-Broncos, Origin and Test firebrand McGuire as Brisbane’s wrestling coach.
McGuire replaces former wrestling coach Brett ‘Bumper’ O’Farrell, who severed ties with the Broncos in pre-season.
McGuire amassed 259 NRL games, including 194 for the Broncos from 2009-18, and at 34, he is still young enough to play in the NRL, born in the same year as Brisbane skipper Adam Reynolds.
There was speculation McGuire could return to Red Hill for a playing cameo, but the controversial hardman says he is happy working with Brisbane’s emerging forwards.
“It’s nice to be back at the club where it all started for me,” he said.
“I’m happy to be home and around such a lovely bunch of fellas.
“The Broncos are a very family-oriented club so I’m very thankful for the opportunity.”
McGuire had a drama-charged finish to his career, copping two suspensions last year in the English Super League for abusing rival players.
Now the former Maroons enforcer, who has a full-time job working with Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Australia, wants to give back to the Broncos’ next generation.
“I enjoy being at the club and doing whatever I can to help the boys,” he said.
“I’m working with some of the younger boys in particular and helping where I can.
“I’m there to be there to help mentor the younger fellas about the highs and lows of playing in the NRL.
“There’s some fantastic young guys here. There’s a tier of guys coming through like Xavier (Willison), Kobe (Hetherington), Fletcher Baker and Benny Te Kura, they are on the way up and I’d love to help them along.
“There’s no set schedule, my main job is with the PBR, so I’m here to help out when Kevvie needs me.
“It’s great to see the Broncos back to where they should be, they are a powerhouse of the comp and I’m appreciative to be part of this set up.”
McGuire had his best years at the Broncos, agonisingly missing their 2015 grand final loss due to injury, before stints at the Cowboys and Dragons en route to his ill-fated swansong with English club Warrington.
TITANIC BATTLE FOR YOUNG GUN
Gold Coast coach Des Hasler is facing a huge battle to retain a rising superstar at the Titans.
Sport Confidential can reveal Zane Harrison has become one of the most sought-after teenagers in the code with at least six NRL rivals circling the promising 17-year-old.
A Palm Beach Currumbin product, Harrison is off-contract at the Future Titans academy and a bidding war has broken out for the halfback ahead of next month’s Australian championships on the Gold Coast.
Such is his talent, Harrison was invited by Hasler to be part of the Titans’ train-and-trial group for their recent pre-season.
Harrison is cutting his teeth at Tweed Heads and is rated by Queensland league scouts as one of the best products to emerge from Gold Coast’s nursery in the past 20 years.
Hasler believes Harrison can be the Titans’ next long-term No. 7 and hopes the Gold Coast can stave off poaching raids from NRL rivals.
Speaking in pre-season, Harrison said he relished training with the senior group at the Titans, who have lost halves Toby Sexton and Jamal Fogarty in recent years and currently have Tanah Boyd calling the shots.
“It’s such a good experience training with all the boys at the Titans,” the teenage sensation said.
“It’s surreal knowing I’m coming back to school next year but getting to do a NRL pre-season is pretty cool … I’m extremely grateful for this opportunity.
“I’ve just gone into this trying to prove a point that I’m not too small and I can handle a pre-season.
“It’s obviously a good experience training with all the experience at the Titans and it makes you a better player, that’s been my goal.”
FORAN TO KEEP HUGHES’ JERSEY WARM
Titans veteran Kieran Foran has a secret agreement with the club which could see him play on in 2025 as Gold Coast plots a poaching raid on Melbourne star Jahrome Hughes.
While Foran is technically off-contract at the end of this season, he can extend his tenure into a third season with Gold Coast by mutual agreement with the Titans.
The parties have agreed to park talks until later in the season, but at this stage Foran is keen to play a 17th season in the NRL next year and his form when on the park has been encouraging.
That would give the Titans time to put together an irresistible offer to Hughes to return to the Gold Coast in 2026.
There were denials all round when Corey Parker suggested this week that Hughes was considering a return to the Gold Coast.
But stranger things have happened and there’s no doubt the Titans would roll out the welcome mat for Hughes with the richest contract of his career if given the opportunity.
While it’s a long time for Des Hasler to wait for a gun playmaker to land at Parkwood, Hughes’ signature would at least give the Titans something to look forward to.
Foran at least gives Hasler an experienced head in the halves as he attempts to build a premiership roster at the struggling club.
MANAGER’S EYE-WATERING STABLE
A new NRL super agent has emerged, amassing more than $7 million of talent and some of the code’s biggest stars.
Gold Coast-based Nash Dawson has joined the ranks of the game’s biggest managers after quietly assembling a client list to envy.
Dawson, 30, boasts some of the NRL’s most marketable players in Broncos superstars Reece Walsh and Ezra Mam along with Dolphins dynamo Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Storm flyer Xavier Coates.
He is also ushering in the next generation of talent in Maroons prop Moeaki Fotuaika (Titans), big-money Dolphins recruit Kulikefu Finefeuiaki, Titans flyer Alofiana Khan-Pereira and Raiders speedster Xavier Savage.
Throw in Brisbane’s Jesse Arthars and Xavier Willison, emerging Titans prop Josiah Pahulu and Sydney-based Daejarn Asi (Eels) and Jaxson Paulo (Sea Eagles) and Dawson’s now one of the NRL’s big-hitting managers.
With a host of lucrative deals about to kick in, Dawson will be managing more than $7 million of talent annually and has more youngsters coming through the ranks.
Now part of international agency Wasserman, Dawson has spent the past decade building a stable of future NRL superstars that is now starting to bear fruit.
He now ranks alongside the likes of veteran agents Chris Orr, Isaac Moses, George Mimis, Paul Sutton, Sam Ayoub, Steve Gillis and Clinton Schifcofske in the heavy-hitter stakes but is much younger than his rivals.
MILF ON BORROWED TIME
Anthony Milford and Jarrod Wallace are fighting to save their NRL careers with the former Queensland Origin duo set to be squeezed out of the Dolphins.
He was once Brisbane’s $1 million man and one of the highest paid players in rugby league, but Milford is off-contract at the Dolphins and at long odds to secure a new deal to remain at Redcliffe.
Wallace, meanwhile, is also a free agent from November 1 and has attracted interest from English Super League clubs.
A foundation Dolphin, Milford was thrown a lifeline by Wayne Bennett, his former coach at the Broncos, and the Samoan Test star was expected to be Redcliffe’s No. 1 playmaker.
But Milford has been overtaken by boom playmaker Isaiya Katoa, whose recent three-year extension is evidence the Dolphins are building their scrumbase around the Tongan Test ace.
Milford has struggled to break into the top 17 this year - he has played just one game - and it’s understood the Dolphins won’t be tabling a new deal after upgrading other players at the club.
Max Plath has signed a new deal, while the Dolphins outlaid big bucks to poach Kulikefu Finefeuiaki from the Cowboys on a three-year deal.
Milford has played 218 NRL games and, at 29, is still young enough to play first grade for another five years, but if he remains in the NRL, it’s unlikely to be at the Dolphins.
Like Milford, former Bronco Wallace has struggled for regular game time this season and could face a pay cut if he wanted to stay at Redcliffe in 2025.
HOP IS GOOD FOR MAROONS
Queensland coach Billy Slater says Eels ironman J’maine Hopgood is a genuine contender for an Origin debut for this year’s series opener on June 5.
The Maroons have been rocked by an injury crisis with key forwards Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Tom Gilbert gone for the season, while Knights superstar Kalyn Ponga is set to miss the entire Origin series due to a foot problem.
That has opened the door for some aspiring Maroons stars such as Hopgood, who has been in impressive form for Parramatta over the past two seasons.
The 24-year-old was 18th man for Game Three last year in Sydney and Slater says he is watching the Hervey Bay product closely after his lion-hearted displays, averaging 34 tackles and 115 metres per game this season.
Eels lock Hopgood can further press his claims when he faces Manly rival Jake Trbojevic on Friday night.
“Absolutely I am looking at him,” Slater said of Hopgood.
“J’maine was involved in our squad for Game Three last year and he was part of our 34-man squad in Brisbane at the start of the year.
“He was just outside the 17 last year and I’m impressed with his performances for Parramatta and his consistent actions.
“You don’t get invited to camp because it’s a holiday or you have won a raffle ticket, you have to earn it and J’maine is certainly in that category of earning his opportunity to be involved in the squad.”
PHIN’S HIP DROP HELL
Dolphins young gun Max Plath has called for understanding when it comes to the hip drop tackles that have crept into the NRL.
Plath served a two-match suspension recently after leaving Titans winger Phil Sami with an ankle injury in a tackle that went wrong.
A cleanskin throughout his junior career, Plath said the increasing speed of the NRL was a recipe for disaster and players weren’t deliberately making the dangerous tackle.
“I’ve never been sent off in my life, let alone suspended, so it was a brand new experience having 12,000 people boo you,” he said.
“I have the same player manager (Paul Hogan) as Sami so I was a bit disappointed I had hurt him. I’m just glad it wasn’t a major injury like an ACL.
“I had a yarn with him after the game and he was in good spirits. No one wishes to hurt someone in that manner.
“I was disappointed, but it was a lesson that you have to be a bit sharper with your tackling technique.
“I’m glad they’re cracking down on it, but the game is so quick and at times it can be really difficult.
“I know what I need to improve on, but I can understand how it happens.”
SPOTTED
Broncos chairman Karl Morris climbing Machu Picchu in Peru this week.
SEALED WITH A KISS
The rival rugby codes aren’t always at war.
Queensland Reds coach Les Kiss returned to his rugby league roots on Tuesday when he stopped into Red Hill for a meeting of minds with Broncos grand-final mentor Kevin Walters.
Kiss played 100 first-grade games for North Sydney between 1986-93, plus four Tests for Australia and four Origin matches for Queensland, one of which was alongside Walters in the opening game of the 1990 series.
Kiss visited Broncos training for a chat with Walters and assistant Allan Langer. Of particular interest was Brisbane’s attacking shapes and ability to isolate opposition players, with Kiss also picking the brain of champion Broncos halfback Adam Reynolds.
The former Maroons winger took over from former Bronco Brad Thorn at the Reds this year and is keen to bring a Broncos-style flair to Queensland rugby.
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