The Broncos are one win away from their first grand final in eight years.
It’s a very different storyline to this time last season, when they prematurely shut up shop for 2022 after a humiliating fall from grace.
And it’s come off the back of a ploy by coach Kevin Walters to restore pride in the club and playing group.
Or as club legend Steve Renouf put it, the players have “learnt what it means to be a Brisbane Bronco.”
The Broncos’ 2022 implosion was one of the biggest stories of the season. They sat in the top four by the end of Round 19 following a seven-game winning streak, only to lose five of their last six games and miss the eight.
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A walk around the club’s training base at Red Hill during pre-season suggested this year was always going to be different. There was no mucking around, a thorough training schedule and even strict video sessions that simply no one could be late for — and that was in January.
But as Renouf told the Fox League Podcast, there was something else going on behind closed doors. Something that was perhaps even more important than getting the reps in on the field.
Walters invited some of the club’s most special players back into the inner circle.
“At the start of the season Kevvie worked on that (instilling pride in the jersey), he came to a few of the ex-players to get us to put some quotes up in the sheds around what it meant to us, our chosen grand finals back in the day,” Renouf said.
“To have that in the sheds every week, it’s great for them to see the passion. They’ve learnt that passion and it’s grown on them — it’s so good to see.
“(My input) was probably more around 1997 and 1998, it was a group of the old blokes — which I was a part of — coming together with the new.
“We came together with a belief in our system and what it meant to be a Bronco. We just put that on the footy field and it’s no different for this group.
“They’ve learnt to be a Brisbane Bronco and what it means to play for each other. It was virtually the same line as what these boys are playing with at the moment.”
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It’s all part of the Kev-olution of the Broncos.
Walters took the reins in 2021 and boy was his work cut out for him. The club was coming off it’s very first wooden spoon and the woes didn’t just stay on the field — even some former players came out and said they felt excluded and unwanted.
The “soft-hearted” Walters used his passion for the Broncos to build a culture that was humming both on and off the field.
It took some time. There was more pain to come with the club finishing 14th in 2021 and even more humiliation to come in the 2022 implosion.
But this year, the group is as united as ever — and the results are showing that.
“That’s what success is — it’s about that playing group (being tight-knit),” Renouf said.
“It’s taken Kevvie a couple of years, but he knew that. He took a hold of this group a few years ago and he’s slowly built that — I say slowly but in the grand scheme of things he’s built it fairly quickly.
“The boys are playing for each other and that’s a big thing.
“It wasn’t there a couple of years ago and Kevvie knew what he had to do, he got some good coaching staff around him and they worked on that.
“They’re (all) mates, they like going out there week-to-week and you can see that on their faces when they play.”
The Broncos have faced a few tests this season. They faced the reigning premiers in Round 1, a Queensland derby the following week and then an historic clash with cross-town rivals the Dolphins in Round 4.
There was a loss to the Rabbitohs, who at the time were the form team of the competition and then back-to-back losses to the Storm and Panthers a couple of weeks later.
But the biggest test of them all was the post-Origin period — that’s when they came unstuck last year.
When asked whether those final six weeks of last season would’ve been used as motivation this year, Renouf said: “Without a doubt.”
“They knew what was going to happen, they’d get to that part of the season (again), there were inklings around about what happened last year, you know ‘they’re going to fold again’,” he added.
“That’s something they would’ve really worked hard on (to not let it happen again).
“But coming into that period compared to last season, they’re a totally different playing group.
“They had that belief in each other and were playing such good rugby league.
“It would’ve been playing on Kevvie’s mind so he would’ve gotten that group together and worked on it with his coaching staff.
“The coaching staff they have there at the moment is great and they understand what it means to be a Bronco.”
The Broncos won five of their last six games this time with the one loss coming in the final regular round when Walters rested all of his star players.
That momentum carried over into week one of finals with the Broncos stunning the Storm 26-nil to book a spot in this Friday’s preliminary final.
“That would have to go down as one of the special games of the season,” Renouf said on reflection given the pressure and what was on the line.
“We talk about the scoreline, but the way they went about it… they belted the Storm out of the game.
“I couldn’t believe it, their physicality in the middle — and it was non-stop. I thought there for a while that half way through the game that would tire them out but they just kept going.
“Melbourne would’ve been shell-shocked by it I think.”
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The Broncos will now take on the feel-good story of the season, the Warriors, on home turf at Suncorp Stadium.
As you’d expect Renouf is backing them to win… and then knock over either the Panthers or Storm in the decider.
“I think this group is special enough to actually pull off a grand final win,” he said.
“They don’t have any doubt in their own mind, they have belief in each other.
“One thing Kevvie has really worked hard on is that belief and trust in that guy beside you — and that’s what we had back in the early 90s.
“We knew whether it was Kevvie beside me or Mick Hancock, that they were going to do their job and we just had to worry about own job and the rest fell into place.”
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That’s not the only thing Renouf has noticed Walters pluck from his playing days and implement into today’s Broncos side.
“It’s about having a go and don’t be afraid to attack from anywhere on the field. They’re doing that,” he said.
“I noticed a game the other week they were doing a bit of attacking and it didn’t quite work out, they might’ve made a mistake here and there. But it’s then about pulling back to your game plan and going through the rigmarole for a couple more sets.
“He’s not thwarting them saying ‘you’ve got to stick to this play, play what’s in front of you’. And that’s what they’re doing, they’re playing heads-up footy — and that’s what we were known for.”
Renouf knows Walters well — the pair won 4 premierships together at the Broncos — and he couldn’t be happier to see his mate lead their beloved club to a second-place finish and preliminary final.
Especially after the criticism Walters copped following the 2021 season and the speculation he’d be sacked over the summer.
“Good on Kevvie, he was put under a bit of pressure,” Renouf said.
“He wears his heart on his sleeve, he gets emotional and he doesn’t mind showing that.
“He did wear a bit of the pressure but he knew if these boys could listen to him and what he had to bring to this team it’ll work out in the end. He’s persistent with that.”
And he’s not the only one cheering Walters on.
“I had a chat to (Dolphins coach) Wayne Bennett a couple of weeks ago and we were talking about Kevvie… He’s so proud of him,” Renouf revealed.
“Wayne coached against him but having coached him up here (at the Broncos), Wayne is so proud of what Kevvie’s done with that team.
“He was talking about a few things that were similar to our teams. Kevvie just knew if they get this theory right, it works. He’s done that with the boys and they all respect him.”
A lot of coaches in the NRL can be steely-eyed and intimidating. But not Walters, he’s friendly and approachable, which is something Renouf believes has worked in his favour.
“He’s a good character, Kevvie,” he said.
“He’s soft-hearted, he’s very good one-on-one and I think the players get to see that. So that oozes off on to them and it just settles the whole team.”
But make no mistake, Walters has developed into a coach that won’t shy away from making the tough calls either.
Take the decision to axe veteran Corey Oates for the emerging Jesse Arthars in the qualifying final as an example.
Renouf said only “a good coach can do that.”
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THE OMINOUS REECE WALSH WARNING….
It would be silly to credit only Walters for the Broncos’ season. The combination of good culture and in-form players has been a recipe for success.
And the player that’s been in perhaps the hottest of form this season is Reece Walsh.
The 21-year-old returned from the Warriors to the club he was developed by as a teenager and as Renouf said has “brought life back into” the Broncos’ No.1 jersey.
Walsh leads the team in try assists, linebreaks, linebreak assists and tackle busts.
“(I love) how he loves the game and he uses that,” Renouf said.
“Just to watch him and what he does, he makes that right side lethal — it’s amazing.
“What he does for Kotoni Staggs, he brings him into space. He sweeps around the back, he’s got the pace, he puts Staggs through holes and then that feeds to Selwyn Cobbo.
“It’s very lethal and that all starts with Walsh.
“He’s their No.1 attacking machine. We can talk about the other guys like Herbie Farnworth, Kotoni Staggs and Selwyn Cobbo, but he’s the one that creates a lot.”
When asked where Walsh sits in the list of the competition’s best fullbacks, Renouf said: “He’d have to rate nearly No.1 to be honest.
“I just love what he’s brought to that position. He’s brought life back into it, especially at the Brisbane Broncos. You could argue that he’s the No.1 fullback at the moment,” he added.
And as for whether Walsh has the potential to be one of the Broncos’ all-time great fullbacks?
“He doesn’t have to go too much further to do that,” Renouf declared.
“Just the way he’s played this year, he’ll go close to Player of the Year. The confidence he plays with — he started the season like that and it looks like he’s going to end the season like that.
“He obviously loves the game and what he can bring to it. When you’re around him he’s full of life, he’s a bit of a jack-rabbit, god he’s a beautiful boy and he puts that on the footy field.”
The Broncos are the big winners in Walsh’s journey.
Walsh was developed in the Broncos system before catching the eye of the Warriors. He saw a clearer path to the No.1 jersey there so was granted a release to join the rival club on a three-year deal.
However with the Warriors’ due to settle back into post-Covid life in New Zealand and Walsh’s family — including his two-year-old daughter — based in Brisbane he was able to negotiate a return to Red Hill.
Walsh has had a career-best season, even incumbent Kangaroos fullback James Tedesco has kept a close eye on his game. But Renouf predicts so much more to come.
“Everyone is stoked that they brought this kid back — and we have to remember he’s still a kid. He’s got longevity in the game,” he said.
“We’re happy to have him back and we don’t want him to go anywhere for a long, long time.
“I think you’ve only just seen the start of what’s to come with Reece Walsh.”
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REYNOLDS THE NEXT LAZARUS?
Walsh’s signing has proven to be a masterstroke — and so has Adam Reynolds’.
The premiership-winning halfback brought a decade worth of NRL experience to Red Hill when he arrived ahead of the 2022 season. And his impact was felt right away.
“When he first came on board I got to speak to some of the young boys like Jordan Riki and Xavier Willison and they loved him,” Renouf said.
“They just thought ‘how good is this? We’ve got a halfback, who’s going to be our skipper.’ This is at training even before ‘Reyno’ had got on the field for his first Broncos game.
“He just changed the way things were at training and the young boys were speaking about that, how good it was and that he was giving them ball on the edge — it just wasn’t happening for them.”
Reynolds’ addition has been so successful that it’s been likened to Glenn Lazarus’ in 1992.
Lazarus was recruited to the Broncos by Bennett, who had spent time with him at the Raiders, and is often credited as the key player that took Brisbane to back-to-back premierships in ‘92 and ‘93.
When asked if Reynolds delivers a premiership will he be next to Lazarus as one of the Broncos’ best signings in history, Renouf said: “Without a doubt.”
“We all acknowledge that Glenn Lazarus did that for us back in ‘92. Lazarus was phenomenal, he changed the dynamic of our forward pack with what he brought,” he added.
“Adam Reynolds has definitely done that, he’s right up there with Lazo’s signing — especially if they get a grand final win. He will go down as one of the most important signings.
“You’ve got to look at where we came from. I hate to talk about two years ago but we were coming out of a hole as a club, we were wounded, our pride was shattered.
“We sort of clambered back a bit, then we signed Adam Reynolds and it changed around just like that, just with his leadership.
“We were struggling around the halves (too), but to have a good halfback that leads from the front and the boys respect has meant so much to this team.”
THE BRIS-VEGAS BUZZ
Remember when furious Broncos fans threw their jerseys on the front steps of Red Hill in August, 2020?
Now they’re lining up just to get a peek at the weekly captain’s run.
“It’s amazing,” Renouf said of the excitement around town.
“When the Broncos are playing well, Brisbane as a community is flying.
“As ex-players still living in Brisbane, we get to feel both the good and the bad — same as the players.
“So for Brissy and this team, what they’re doing at the moment, the place is buzzing, everyone around the city is happy.
“I go down to captains runs during the year and the place is just buzzing. The crowds that are coming to training that weren’t there a couple of years ago — and now these boys have seen the difference.
“They go out there and play and put in 100 per cent, whether they win or lose if they’re supporters see them putting in 100 per cent in every week they’ll turn up and be there for them.
“To go down to captains run at the moment, it’s like a carnival.”
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