Billy Walters lifts the lid on dad Kevin's sacking as hooker's Broncos future called into question

Broncos hooker Billy Walters says he was left heartbroken by Brisbane's decision to sack his dad Kevin as coach. The 30-year-old revealed he was completely caught off guard as the news filtered through that his father had been axed by the club and after immediately worrying about what his father was going to do admitted he started to wonder if he still had a future at the club.

Walters' sacking from the head coach role at the Broncos stunned not just Walters but much of the NRL world, with even the players themselves taken aback. Broncos captain Adam Reynolds admitted his shock at Walters' axing and claimed most of the playing group found out through the news that he had been dismissed. Only days after Walters' axing, Michael Maguire was announced as the new Broncos coach, with the club facing swift backlash over how they handled the drama.

And Walters recalled as his brother informed him that their dad had been summoned before the Broncos board and it looked like he would be sacked, the hooker felt nothing but complete shock. "I didn’t believe it at first. I didn’t think there was any way it would go down like that," he told The Courier Mail. "I thought my brother was overreacting and maybe dad wouldn’t get sacked but would get a stern warning. When I did get word, there were so many thoughts going through my mind.'

Walters said while there was no denying it was a poor 2024 NRL campaign for the Broncos, he feels it was unfair for Walters to pay the price. "It will always sound biased because I am his son but I don’t think Kevvie was the reason for that," Walters said.

"The year we made the grand final we had 95 per cent of our squad have their best year and we had a great run with injuries. Even little things like 50/50 calls went our way. This year we lost a lot of experienced players. It’s sad to think how far we fell considering we were three or four minutes away from beating the best team in the NRL era in a grand final.”

Billy Walters eager to prove himself to Michael Maguire

Walters also admitted that following his father's dismissal he briefly wondered if he too could be headed out the door. Despite being signed until the end of 2026, Walters wasn't sure what his future at the club would look like after his father's sacking.

"I’m not going to lie there was probably about a half an hour there after getting the news where I thought, ‘I don’t want to be at the club'. But you have to look at the bigger picture. I don’t make the decision on who the coach of the Broncos is. It sucks for me because he is my dad but I’m not there to decide that," Walters said.

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The hooker also says he is keen to prove to new coach Michael Maguire that he is the best hooker at the club. Walters has long been targeted by social media trolls, who claim he is only there because of his father. And following his dad's sacking his future was again called into question. But Walters says the silver lining of the whole situation is he can prove that he is the best hooker at the club.

"I’ve received a lot of messages and comments through social media about people telling me to enjoy Super League or Queensland Cup,” he said. "I’m keen to get there and prove the haters wrong that I wasn’t wearing the No.9 because my dad was the coach. I was wearing it because I’m the best No.9 at the club."