Former Brisbane Broncos head coach Kevin Walters has opened up on the club's decision to axe him from his role at the end of the 2024 NRL season.
Despite leading the Broncos to a grand final in 2023, things went pear-shaped for the Red Hill-based outfit during 2024, and the club missed the finals.
Just weeks later, the Broncos confirmed via a mid-evening statement that they had decided to part ways with Walters in what was described as a mutual decision.
Speaking on his new podcast, Inside Ball, Walters claimed that version of events wasn't exactly correct though.
โI was shocked,โ Walters said.
โWe were a long way down the track, planning for 2025. We'd hired two assistants, made some changes where we needed to make some changes, so we're already forward-planning for the season of 2025 and then I guess I accelerated things.
โYou know, I rang my manager and sort of said, โI've got a bad feeling in my stomach that this isn't quite right'.
โHe made a phone call and we went in and they made a decision to finish up with me. I've been sacked, basically.
โThat's a decision that they made, and I've accepted that.โ
The head coach has since taken up a role at Fox Sports, but said he wants to coach again.
โI'm going to coach again,โ Walters said.
โWe will see what happens in the next 12 to 24 months. But coaching is my passion. I love working in the NRL.
โI've got a lot of belief in myself and I get great comfort and confidence out of what happened at the Broncos. We got to a grand final.โ
Walters has been replaced by Michael Maguire at Red Hill for 2025, with the club going in a different direction, and Walters said the club believed he couldn't take them to where they wanted to go.
โThey made a decision that the new coach coming in was the right one and that, as the head coach there, I could not take the Broncos to where they wanna get to," Walters said.
The Broncos play their first game under Maguire against the Penrith Panthers in Round 1 of the 2025 campaign.
