Kevin Walters

Five-eighth Kevin Walters followed older brother Steve to Canberra in 1987 after playing for Brisbane Norths in 1985-86. A reserve back in the club’s grand final appearances in 1987 and 1989 he made his State of Origin debut in the latter year (again as a reserve) before returning to Brisbane to play with the Broncos. Walters’ darting runs and deft passing saw Bronco coach Wayne Bennett shift Wally Lewis to lock and his utility value ultimately led to selection on the 1990 Kangaroo Tour. Walters did not make his Test debut until a year later on the tour of Papua New Guinea. 1992 was a vintage year for the Walters family and for Kevin in particular. A hard-working reserve in the Ashes series against Great Britain he sparked the Australian attack into action when he came onto the field. After playing in the Broncos’ grand final win against St George he played in Australia’s World Cup final victory (giving the final pass for Steve Renouf’s try that wrapped up the 10-6 win) before rounding off a great year with victory in the World Club Championship against Wigan. Following his three-Test appearances as a reserve in Australia's Trans-Tasman victory and Brisbane's win in the 1993 grand final, Kevin Walters proved to be an ideal utility back in making his second Kangaroo Tour the following year. While he was a consistent visitor to the State of Origin arena, he did not play for Australia for another four years. In 1998, following the end of the Super League split, Walters overcame the personal tragedy of the death of his wife from cancer to play in Queensland’s State of Origin success and Brisbane’s grand final win. He was then called into the Second Test of the Trans-Tasman series, scoring a try in Australia’s 30-12 win, but had to withdraw before the Third Test when he was injured in training. In 1999 he captained Queensland in the second State of Origin match before crowning his career by captaining the Broncos to a grand final win over the Roosters in 2000. After originally joining Warrington in 2001, Walters returned to Australia and was called out of retirement by Wayne Bennett late in the season to play a cameo role in the Broncos’ run to the semi-finals.