Walters’ axing as Broncos coach at the end of last season ruffled plenty of feathers.
Kevin Walters has taken a giant step in repairing his relationship with the Brisbane Broncos after returning to the club as a special guest for his son Billy’s 100-game milestone this week. Walters was left gutted after being axed as Broncos coach at the end of last season, replaced by Michael Maguire despite still having two years remaining on his contract.
Walters is a legend of the club after winning five premierships with the Broncos as a player and coming within a whisker of claiming another one as Brisbane’s coach in the 2023 grand final defeat to Penrith. But a disappointing 2024 season led to a highly contentious axing that left many Broncos greats fuming about how the club had treated one of their own.
After moving into a media role with Fox League this year, Walters put aside any potential bad blood with the Broncos after making a guest appearance at Red Hill alongside Maguire this week, to celebrate his son’s 100th game for the club. In a promising sign the former coach is ready to move on from his axing, Walters presented Billy with his Broncos jersey ahead of Friday night’s milestone game against the Bulldogs at Accor Stadium.
“It was really good… I have known him (Billy) for four or five years now and to see a player play 100 games is pretty special,” Maguire told The Courier Mail about the special moment between father and son. “We always talk about playing one game, let alone 100, but I’ve been able to have a few of the boys with Adam Reynolds’ 300th and Jordan Riki’s 100th.
“Now we have another one, so it’s good to see the experience is within the team. Kevvie came in and spoke really well. It was nice to see a father and son together which was really special.”
Kevin Walters’ axing questioned after Brisbane’s patchy form
Walters’ axing by the Broncos is clearly still a prickly issue, with former teammate Gorden Tallis grilling Brisbane CEO Dave Donaghy recently about the contentious move. Maguire has come under fire over Brisbane’s patchy form in 2025 but he has turned things around in recent weeks, with the Broncos claiming three-straight wins to jump into fifth on the ladder.
Before their great escape against the Sharks in round 16 though, Brisbane were actually travelling worse under Maguire than at the same stage the previous year under Walters. And Donaghy’s response to a question about whether it was the right call to sack Walters, didn’t go down too well with Tallis.
“We made an incredibly difficult decision, and that’s the reality of it,” Donaghy said on Triple M. “Kevvie is a great of our club and he put his heart and soul into the place for four years.” Tallis interjected to take issue with the ‘four years’ reference, considering Walters has been a huge part of the club for more than 30 years, since making his playing debut in 1990.
Donaghy responded: “Sorry Gordie, 30 years. He did four years as the coach and did a wonderful job and was there for a long, long time. We want to ensure we’re acknowledging that and recognising that. But we did feel it was time for a change and we do feel like it was the right decision.”
