Walters will get another assistant
BRISBANE bosses have shown faith in Kevin Walters by authorising funding to beefup his coaching unit as part of the Broncos coach’s m`ission to break the club’s 15-year premiership drought.
The Broncos board has given the green light for Walters to employ another assistant in the head coach’s quest to save his job next season and propel Brisbane back into finals contention.
It is understood Walters is mulling over a number of candidates, with former Queensland Origin hitman Ben Te’o, who formally announced his retirement last week, said to be highly regarded.
Walters’ current assistants, John Cartwright and Terry Matterson, are contracted for another 12 months and there is a view the Broncos can benefit by adding more football intelligence to their brains trust.
A mid-season review found the club’s football department to be under-resourced in the wake of last year’s Covid crisis that forced Brisbane to slash millions in spending.
The arrival of CEO Dave Donaghy and football boss Ben Ikin has transformed Brisbane’s front office, easing the strain on Walters, who responded by winning four of the last nine games as the Broncos offloaded the wooden spoon.
Now Walters has set his sights on a finals fightback in 2022 and Broncos chairman Karl Morris said the club would give the second-year NRL coach more ammunition to ramp up his Red Hill revolution.
“We are keen to give Kevin more resources,” Morris said.
“Kevvie has to work out over the off-season who he wants to add to his staff.
“All I have said to him is ‘you look at what you need and we will adjust from there’.
“Dave (Donaghy) has come away from his time as CEO of the No.1-performing team at the Storm and there is a whole range of things that made them (Melbourne) better.
“Dave’s job is to give Kevin all the tools he needs to be as successful as he possibly can be at the Broncos.”
Walters is off-contract next year and Brisbane bosses are keen to give him a 12-month extension, but the upgrade may well hinge on how the Broncos start their 2022 campaign.
Cartwright, the Titans’ foundation coach, is aged 56, while Walters’ other righthand man, Matterson, is 54.
Given the posse of teenage talents coming through at the Broncos, headlined by TC Robati, Brendan Piakura and Xavier Willison, Brisbane may benefit by having a more contemporary voice.
One option is Te’o, who has had a major impact behind the scenes at the Broncos since his return to the club last year.
Brisbane’s band of young forwards have enormous respect for Te’o, who amassed 173 NRL games and won a premiership at Souths in 2014 before his successful conversion to rugby, playing 16 Tests for England.
At 34, Te’o is keen to move into the coaching sphere.