Cameron Munster in eye-opening revelation amid calls to sack Kevin Walters as Broncos coach

Melbourne Storm star Cameron Munster believes Broncos coach Kevin Walters has been a victim of unrealistic expectations in 2024 after taking his side to an unlikely grand final berth in 2023. Walters took over the Broncos in 2021 and turned the 2020 wooden spooners into genuine premiership contenders in just three years.

After missing the NRL finals in Walters' first two years in charge, in 2023 Brisbane were just minutes from glory but fell painstakingly short in the grand final loss to Penrith. However, in 2024 the Broncos have looked a shell of the side of the year prior. And after a dismal showing in their final game defeat to Melbourne - where Brisbane showed little grit and determination in the thrashing - fans are questioning if Walters is still the right man for the job.

The Broncos' 12th-placed finish in 2024 represents their biggest fall in club history after coming second in 2023. And if you take out last season, Walters' coaching record is far from stellar.

In his time in charge of the Broncos, the 57-year-old has won just 50 of his 99 NRL games - a 50.5 per cent success rate. The opening round of the 2025 NRL season will mark his 100th game in charge of the Broncos and there is a feeling if Brisbane doesn't hit the ground running he could be out of a job.

Walters is contracted until the end of 2026, but Parramatta’s Brad Arthur and Souths’ Jason Demetriou were both sacked this season after slow starts respectively despite having years to run on their deals. However, Munster - who was given his Queensland Origin debut by Walters in 2017 - believes the Broncos coach has been unfairly criticised considering his side lost crucial personnel ahead of the season and have had just some general bad luck.

"He (Walters) was 20 minutes away from a grand final and probably causing an upset to one of the best squads (Penrith) the NRL has ever seen," Munster told NewsCorp. "It’s an interesting one. Twenty minutes. If the Broncos had their time over again with certain things it could be a very different story. I think they’ve got to stick by Kevvie and I’m sure they’ll make amends next year.

“They have got young boys coming through. You’ve got to remember they lost (Tom) Flegler, Keenan Palasia and Herbie Farnworth. When you lose someone of their calibre and you’ve got a young bloke that probably needs a couple of years to develop, they’re probably just pushing them along earlier, a bit like us last year at the Storm.

"It just takes time. You’ve just got to be patient and the fans have got to be patient as well." However, after a horror year and the big defeat to the Storm, many Broncos fans have seen enough.

Kevin Walters confident he has the side to win a premiership

Despite dealing with injuries to key players throughout the season, Walters has been unable to lift a talented roster to sustained success. However, the coach does not believe the Broncos need to look for reinforcements for 2025.

Walters was questioned after the 50-12 thrashing to Melbourne on whether new personnel would be added to the squad ahead of next season. The Broncos are dealing with several huge contracts in their salary cap, with Walsh reportedly set to pen a four-year deal worth $1.2 million a season, while Payne Haas is raking in a whopping $1.1 million a season and Ezra Mam is on $800,000 a year. All three were sidelined for the match against the Storm and were dearly missed. And with their mega-money deals, there isn't an awful lot of money left over to acquire new players.

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But Walters is confident that he already has the squad to challenge for the premiership next season. "Not a whole lot (will change with the squad)," Walters said. "I don't believe we need to (bring in new players). I honestly believe that the talent is inside the building.

"We've just got to get that talent all working together in the right direction. We've done it before and we'll do it again. We've got enough talent here. We had five guys, five of our starters (worth) 4 million dollars, sitting on the sidelines tonight. I'm not sure if anyone realised that, but we need to be better as a group and as a club than what we were tonight."