Under pressure Brisbane Broncos coach Kevin Walters has been defended by son Billy after their nose-diving season ended with a crushing 50-12 to defeat to Melbourne Storm on Thursday night.
The Broncos were close to winning the NRL premiership last season but have come under-fire in 2024 after missing the finals for the third time under Walters.
Billy, who is a hooker at the Broncos, believes criticism is 'harsh' on his father, with people forgetting the team's rise in 2023.
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"People have short memories, he took a team from wooden spoon to within five or 20 minutes of winning a comp to be beaten by probably the best team in the last 40 years," Billy told Triple M.
"I think it's pretty harsh criticism but it is what it is."
Billy pinpointed the loss of players Kurt Capewell, Tom Flegler, Herbie Farnworth and Keenan Palasia to other teams prior to the season had hurt the depth of the squad.
"I don't think it gets spoken about a lot, I don't want to make excuses, but we lost four really good players last year in Capes, Fleg, Herbie and Keenan," he said.
"As good as these young boys' futures are at our club at the moment, they probably got thrust into the spotlight (early).
"We were probably one of the hunted teams with the year we had last year and unfortunately we didn't handle it well this year but hopefully they all learn from it and bounce back next year."
Speaking after the loss to the Storm, Kevin believes the club can turnaround their fortunes in 2025 with a few injured players back, notably Reece Walsh and Payne Haas.
"We’ve got enough talent here [to win]," Walters said after the match.
"We had five guys, five of our starters. We had four million dollars sitting on the sidelines tonight. I’m not sure if anyone realised that."
