NRL 2021: Brisbane Broncos sign Billy Walters for 2022 season, Josh Hodgson staying in Canberra

First the Broncos got Adam Reynolds, then they landed Kurt Capewell. Now Billy Walters is on his way to Brisbane as part of his dad Kevin’s Red Hill rebuild.

The Broncos have continued their aggressive recruitment-and-retention drive with Brisbane coach Kevin Walters signing his son Billy as part of his Red Hill revolution.

News Corp can reveal Walters is coming home to the Broncos after agreeing terms on a one-year deal ahead of his Wests Tigers side’s clash with Brisbane this Sunday at Suncorp Stadium.

New Broncos football boss Ben Ikin is putting his stamp on the club, having signed or upgraded five players in just 19 days, with Walters joining Penrith’s Kurt Capewell and Brisbane trio Jake Turpin, Kobe Hetherington and Tyson Gamble as his roster targets.

The acquisition of Walters comes just 24 hours after Turpin, the club’s No.1 hooker, activated a one-year option to remain at the Broncos until the end of 2022 and spearhead Brisbane’s quest for finals football next season.

Watch The 2021 NRL Telstra Premiership Live & On-Demand on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >

Wests Tigers utility Billy Walters has finally come to terms with the Broncos for next season.

Walters has been on Brisbane’s radar for the past six months, but Broncos bosses were unable to complete a transfer deal with the Wests Tigers this season due to salary-cap restrictions.

Now the move is official, with the son of Broncos coach and club legend Kevin to be added to Brisbane’s full-time roster in November with a view to playing a supersub role in the No.14 utility slot next season.

The Broncos will have a family-club feel with the versatile Walters to join father Kevin and his uncle Steve, Brisbane’s team manager, on the club’s books next year.

Ikin confirmed the former Easts Tigers playmaker will be in Broncos colours in 2022, ending months of speculation over whether Walters would be released by Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire.

“Billy won’t be coming here this year but he will definitely be at the Broncos in 2022,” Ikin said.

“It will be a one-year deal.

“Where he plays is to be determined by the coach, but Billy has great utility value so I’d say that’s where he will start.

“Depending on how Billy plays and how the team performs and how we go with injuries, things could evolve across the season.”

Walters has played 11 NRL games, making his Storm debut in 2019 before shifting to the Tigers, where he has played just nine matches in 18 months due to a knee reconstruction.

The 27-year-old is a quick-stepping five-eighth or halfback who could also operate as a possible back-up to Brisbane’s first-choice hooker Turpin.

Former Maroons Origin coach Kevin Walters (right) with his son Billy at a Queensland Residents training session.

As he prepares for Sunday’s clash against the Broncos, Tigers coach Maguire revealed Walters’ tenure with the joint-venture club will be over at season’s end.

“Billy won’t be here next year,” he said. ”He has fitted in really well, he is a real professional and a great young guy. I wish him well.”

The Broncos are making waves with the composition of their roster for 2022 as the reigning wooden spooners brace for a second consecutive season without a finals appearance.

Walters is the 13th player to either sign with, or pledge their loyalty to, the Broncos this season, joining fellow recruits Capewell, Brenko Lee and South Sydney halfback maestro Adam Reynolds.

Meanwhile, the Broncos have retained a host of players headlined by Turpin, Kotoni Staggs, Jordan Riki, Hetherington, Gamble, David Mead and boom youngsters Brendan Piakura, TC Robati and Selwyn Cobbo.

Former Queensland Origin lock Scott Sattler watched Walters closely in his former commentating duties on the Intrust Super Cup for Channel 9.

He dismissed fears of Broncos nepotism over coach Walters signing his son.

“Billy might get some flak, but it comes with having a famous footballing surname when you are the son of a legend,” Sattler said.

“Kevvie might get some criticism for signing his son, but the only way to answer it is for Billy to play good football.

“If he plays well for the Broncos, it won’t matter if his dad is the coach.

“It’s a good signing. The utility role is crucial in today’s game and Billy will fit into the Broncos well, he’s a handy player with an infectious personality.”

HODGSON NOT READY TO GO ANYWHERE

A defiant Josh Hodgson has declared he is “not ready to go anywhere” after months of speculation about his immediate future in the nation’s capital and relationship with coach Ricky Stuart.

A rocky season for Canberra, both on and off the field, has seen the hooker caught up in the headlines about a fracture between Raiders players and Stuart.

Those rumblings refused to go away after Hodgson quit as captain in April and then jumped to the defence of fellow Englishman George Williams over the club’s treatment of the ousted playmaker.

But as Canberra aim for back to back wins - for only the second time this season - against Cronulla on Saturday night, Hodgson pledged to see out the rest of his Raiders deal.

Josh Hodgson says he’s staying put in Canberra, putting to bed speculation of a move to Brisbane. Picture: Getty Images.

“I’m not ready to go anywhere, footy is footy, sometimes things happen but my future is in my own hands,” Hodgson said.

“I’m off contract into next year so this is no time for me to be worrying about anything yet.

“Even when next year rolls around, I’m pretty relaxed about the situation I’m in.

“I’m comfortable in terms of my family being born and bred in Canberra, my kids love it there.

“My future is in my own hands, I don’t really worry too much about what I read.

“I’m a big man, I’ll make decisions about what I do and where I go. I don’t read too much into that stuff.”

Hodgson had been heavily linked to the Brisbane Broncos, with a potential switch as soon as this season on the cards despite being contracted to Canberra until the end of 2022.

But earlier this week, the Broncos put a line through Hodgson as a recruitment target.

Originally published as NRL 2021: Brisbane Broncos sign Billy Walters for 2022 season, Josh Hodgson staying in Canberra