Kangaroos coach Kevin Walters has opened up on his brutal sacking from ther Broncos a year after he almost guided them to an elusive premiership.

Walters was three tries up in the 2023 Grand Final only for Nathan Cleary to break Broncos hearts and after missing the finals the following season he was let go by the club he won five premierships for as a player.

Speaking with The Sydney Morning Herald,

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“Yeah, I’ll be honest, it wasn’t great after I got removed from the Broncos,” Walters told The Sydney Morning Herald.

“But you just have to find yourself and find a way to get through it all, which we did. I’ve got this really strong inner belief in myself and the way that I coach, because I’m different to other coaches.

“It’s successful, and that’s been proven yet again [in the Ashes]. I know back in my time in the Broncos, they were a basket case when I walked in there.

“I fixed them up, got membership, sponsorship, everything breaking records; crowd support breaking records.

“Then we didn’t have a great year [in 2024] and I get that can happen at different times. So I got removed.

But the confidence in myself was still there. I still have unfinished business in the NRL, and I’ve got unfinished business with the Kangaroos this Saturday.”

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Kevin Walters was sacked after the Broncos missed the finals in 2024.Source: News Corp Australia

Walters admits it was a tough pill to swallow that the club he loves didn’t have the belief in him to win a premiership after going so close in 2023, but he had no doubt the 2025 title was a matter of when not if.

“[I wasn’t] so much let down, but it just would have been nice for them to believe in me a bit more,” Walters said.

“From where we’d been to where we were … they obviously won the premiership this year, but to be honest, I expected them to. It was hard [to not think that could have been me], but sometimes in life you get thrown these situations and you have to be strong about it.

“But they were always going to win the premiership at some stage. It’s done now. We just get on with life.”

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Walters also rubbished suggestions he was replaced by the hard-nosed Michael Maguire because he wasn’t tough enough on his players amid a perceived rock star faction of the playing group led by Reece Walsh.

“That was garbage,” Walters said.

“You have to build relationships with players to get them connected. All this ‘rock star’ stuff … I like to see people express themselves. If Reece [Walsh] wants to paint his nails, well go and paint your nails, mate.

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“As long as you’re buying into the team values, you’re not late for training and you’re doing the right thing by the team, you can do whatever you like in your spare time, as long as it’s not disrupting or having a negative effect on the team.

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“I always remember [former Broncos coach] Wayne Bennett was very simple around the rules: wear the right gear, don’t be late, stay out of jail. Simple. You don’t get to be as successful as I have if you’re soft – as a player, as a coach.

“I know I have a different look on things, but to say I’m soft or that I’m not hard enough on the players, I just laugh that off.”