Brisbane president Karl Morris insists Kevin Walters will be the club’s NRL head coach next year, but says any future contract extension is likely to last a year.
The Broncos conducted an end-of-season review in their year.
Morris said Walters, who was under contract until the end of 2023 after signing a one-year extension in March, was the man to lead the club forward after taking the latest rankings two years ago in ninth place. season.
Brisbane have won 13 games with Walters this year, the most since 2018, but have lost five of their last six games to move from fourth to ninth and miss the final.
The Broncos paid former manager Anthony Seibold a hefty layoff package when they split in 2020 in the second year of their five-year contract, a scenario the club does not want to review.
Morris said he wasn’t worried about the perception of instability resulting from Walters not extending his contract beyond next season.
“The way I see it is that he has a contract until the end of next year and at some point during the year we will have a conversation with him about the possibility of entering into a normal employment contract or extending his current contract. “Morris told AAP.
“I think it would be an annual contract. I don’t see what the advantage or advantage of having an employee is, forget Kevin Walters, with a contract for over a year. “
Morris was impressed by Walters’ “enthusiasm and dedication to improving the whole team” and his work to create a happy team culture.
The Broncos jumped five places in the standings from their 14th place last season and challenged many experts who hadn’t even come close to the top eight this year.
“There has been a big improvement,” Morris said.
We always knew it would take more than two seasons to build a team around a manager.
“The Broncos background was probably the most important part of what (Walters) brought.”
Individual player highlights under Walters included a stellar season for winger Selwyn Cobbo, who made his Origin debut this year, and the emergence of five-eighth Ezra Mam as a rare talented player.
Walters also oversaw winger Corey Oates’ career resurgence from declining footballer to contender for Broncos Player of the Year.
Prop Pat Carrigan has emerged as one of the key strikers in the game after an ACL injury.
“They are older now and have 50 and 60 games behind them,” Morris said of the emerging talent.
“The addition of (Kurt) Capewell and (Adam) Reynolds added a bit of experience.
“The young players have two, three and four years of experience behind them and that will make a difference next year.
“What hurts the most is that we were fourth and finished ninth.
“Halfway through the season we won seven in a row. We probably went a bit further and some things didn’t hold together, especially injuries and suspensions after their home state ”.