‘Bleeds for Broncos’: how the NRL’s richest club came back

afr.com:

With a nudge from his wife, Heather, ARL commissioner Peter Beattie will be all-in with the Brisbane Broncos when they square off against the Penrith Panthers in the NRL grand final on Sunday.

As a former chairman of rugby league’s governing body, Beattie says he normally avoids wearing the colours of any team, but home and the heart have prevailed.

Showing their colours: Former Queensland premier Peter Beattie and his wife Heather will be supporting the Brisbane Broncos on Sunday. Dominic Lorrimer

Heather Beattie is a Broncos diehard who said on Friday she would gleefully strangle the former Queenslander premier with her team scarf if he didn’t declare for Brisbane.

But Beattie says his admiration for Broncos coach Kevin Walters also helped him over the line. “Kevvy is a really good bloke. And I’m so happy for him.”

Broncos chairman Karl Morris, the chief executive and managing director of Ord Minnett, says Walters “bleeds” the Broncos. He won six premierships as a player – five with the Broncos – and was previously an assistant coach. Walters also has his own blood playing for the team: his son Billy is the team’s hooker.

After being passed over in 2017, Walters was appointed at the end of the 2020 season, when the club finished last.

“The Broncos have been such a powerful brand for so long, people were never going to get used to them being wooden spooners,” Beattie says.

“It’s almost like a return to the old team, the old magic.”

All in the family: Billy and Kevin Walters’ with Billy’s son, Hugo. 

Walters lost his wife, Kim, to breast cancer in 1998, and brought up their three boys solo while helping establish a cancer support charity. He coached the Queensland State of Origin team from 2016 to 2019 with mixed