Kevin Walters

Kevin Walters has achieved nearly everything there is to achieve in rugby league. The Head Coach of the Queensland Maroons State of Origin team, as a player he won six premierships and represented Queensland and Australia. He was an assistant to Wayne Bennett and Craig Bellamy, reaching grand finals alongside the two coaches regarded as the greatest of the NRL era. He was the third Queensland coach – along with Arthur Beetson and Mal Meninga – in State of Origin history to win their first two series in charge.

With such an extraordinary background, Kevin Walters is an exceptional keynote speaker who intertwines messages about leadership and teamwork with anecdotes of his playing and coaching career. His insights both entertain and inspire.

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Kevin Walters’ rugby league playing career spanned over 14 years, beginning in Canberra where he was named NRL Rookie of the Year and won his first Premiership in 1987.

Following this, Kevin moved north to play with the Brisbane Broncos where he found instant success. Throughout his career in Brisbane, he won six Premierships, a State of Origin series and earned multiple Test caps for the Australian Kangaroos, culminating in a World Cup win in 1992.

In 2000, Kevin Walters was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia’s international standing in the sport of rugby league. He was also a part of the inaugural class inducted into the Brisbane Broncos Hall of Fame.

In 2001, Kevin Walters began cutting his teeth in the coaching ranks, talking the helm at the Toowoomba Clydesdales where he stayed for five seasons, before coaching the Ipswich Jets. In 2009, he moved to France where he coached U.K Super League team the Catalans Dragons for two seasons, which included a historic run of wins within one game of the Grand Final. Returning to Australia in 2011, he worked as an assistant at the Melbourne Storm under Craig Bellamy for three years, finding Premiership success in the 2012 season.

Kevin Walters then took up a position as a halves coach of the Brisbane Broncos and the following year was appointed by Wayne Bennett as his Assistant Coach for the 2015 season, where he guided the Broncos to Premiership runners-up. At the conclusion of the 2015 season, he was appointed Head Coach of the Queensland Maroons State of Origin team. He found immediate success with the Maroon’s top job, winning back-to-back Origin series in his first two years at the helm, a feat unseen since 2007.

A popular NRL commentator and guest on Fox Sports programs including NRL 360 and Queenslanders Only, Kevin Walters is one of Queensland’s and rugby league’s most beloved figures. He currently lives in Brisbane with his wife Narelle and five children.