It’s been more than three decades since his father—and previous Brisbane head coach—Kevin delivered back-to-back premierships as Broncos five-eighth alongside Allan Langer.
Now, Billy Walters is firming to wear the famous number six in Saturday’s crucial derby with the Dolphins as the Broncos begin NRL life without both Adam Reynolds and Ezra Mam for the foreseeable future.
According to reports in AAP, Walters trained alongside new halfback Ben Hunt on Monday with Cory Paix coming into the squad at dummy-half.
Walters’ last NRL start came at hooker back in Round 11 against the Dragons, however the 31-year-old utility has featured in every match this season under new coach Michael Maguire, providing critical minutes off the bench.
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Given the likely elevation of Walters and Paix into the Brisbane starting thirteen, the experienced Tyson Smoothy is expected to return to the bench after being 18th man against Melbourne.
Despite a disastrous trio of hamstring injuries in last week’s loss to the Storm, the sixth-placed Broncos will still enter the Round 24 ‘Battle of Brisbane’ at Suncorp Stadium as strong favourites with bookmakers.
Brisbane can take a huge step towards an NRL finals return if they can dispatch the Dolphins who are still smarting from a 64-12 hammering by the Sydney Roosters.