Capewell is the minister of defence at Red Hill
BRONCOS coach Kevin Walters has vowed to fix the club’s defensive horror shows and says marquee recruit Kurt Capewell will provide the backbone that leads Brisbane back to the finals.
Capewell will take the first steps in his Broncos career on Saturday night when the Queensland Origin utility captains Brisbane in their derby trial hitout against the Titans at Cbus Super Stadium.
While South Sydney champion Adam Reynolds has stolen headlines as Brisbane’s No.1 recruit, the acquisition of premiership-winner Capewell is equally critical in the plan to haul the Broncos out of the NRL cellar.
Walters knows that restoring the Broncos as a finals force must start with sorting out their appalling defence.
The Broncos leaked 695 points last season – the worst defensive record in the club’s 33year history – and history shows that teams possessing a poor constitution without the football do not play finals football. Enter Capewell.
The 28-year-old was at the heartbeat of the defensive resolve that propelled the Panthers to last year’s premiership and Broncos players have already detected the 1 per cent attitude Capewell pledged to bring to Red Hill.
If Broncos players are guilty of poor standards or defensive misreads at training, Capewell and fellow veteran recruit Ryan James have called them out.
No shortcuts. No laziness in defence. They are the qualities Capewell learned during his stint at premiership clubs Cronulla and Penrith and Walters says the back-rower will be Brisbane’s Minister for Defence this season.
“Kurt Capewell has already b e en huge in that area (defence) for us,” Walters said. “It’s just the standards he brings and his experience ... his presence in defence has been infectious for the group. “We have to improve our defence, absolutely, and we’ve done a lot of work in pre-season on it. We improved at the back end of last season, but our defence has to be better again for us to play finals.
“If you look at the NRL grand final (last year), Souths had a lot of opportunities to score, but Penrith, through pure determination and will to win, they stopped the try or stopped the line break.
“Kurt was a big part of Penrith’s success. He knows how to handle pressure week in, week out ... he will certainly help us get better in that defensive space.” Capewell will replace retired skipper Alex Glenn on Brisbane’s left edge and is keen to play major minutes against the Titans in his maiden 2022 hitout. “There has been a lot of hard work in the off-season so I’m looking forward to playing some footy,” he said.
“I had a pretty long holiday and it was extended because of Covid, but we’ve had a very good pre-season, the boys are so fit and strong, we will be ready to do some damage come round one. I’m not too sure how long I will play, but I will be pushing to have a bit of a blowout.
“I want to get some good minutes to blow the cobwebs out.”
There is a renewed buzz around the Broncos and Capewell is confident he can help lead a finals revival for the club. “One thing I h a v e lea rn t from Penrith is that the 1 per centers mean everything,” he said. “That’s the key to building a premiership club and hopefully I can bring that attitude to the Broncos.
“I am looking forward to the challenge of moving to a new team and establishing myself as a leader.”