Kerrod Walters

Kerrod Walters
Personal information
Born 20 October 1967
Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia
Playing information
Height 175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight 80 kg (12 st 8 lb)
Position Hooker
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
Booval Swifts
198?–87 Ipswich Jets
1988–96 Brisbane Broncos 181 23 0 0 92
1997–98 Adelaide Rams 41 4 0 0 16
1999 Gateshead Thunder 22 2 1 0 10
2000 Brisbane Broncos 1 0 0 0 0
Total 245 29 1 0 118
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1989–94 Queensland 7 2 0 0 8
1989–92 Australia 8 1 0 0 4
Source: RLP and Yesterday's Hero

Kerrod Walters (born 20 October 1967 in Rockhampton, Queensland) is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1980s and 1990s. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representative hooker, he played most of his club football with the Brisbane Broncos, with whom he won the 1992 and 1993 NSWRL Premierships. With twin brother Kevin and older brother Steve, Kerrod Walters holds a unique place in Australian League history.

Playing career

Early years

Hailing from Ipswich (but Rockhampton-born), Kerrod Walters first showed his talent with the Ipswich Jets alongside brother Kevin and Allan Langer. This combination later became known as "the Ipswich connection". In 1988 he and Ipswich teammate Langer joined the newly formed Brisbane Broncos to compete in the Winfield Cup premiership. Along with Shane Duffy Walters was named the 1988 Brisbane Broncos season's rookie of the year.[1]

Brisbane Broncos

In 1989 Walters represented Queensland, being named man-of-the-match in the third game of that year's State of Origin series and was also chosen as Australian hooker over Greg Conescu. He played for Australia in the three-Test series against New Zealand that year.

In 1990 he out-pointed New South Wales hooker Ben Elias to play further Tests against New Zealand and France, but after the shock First Test loss to Great Britain on the 1990 Kangaroo tour, he was replaced by Elias for the remainder of the tour.

The following year Walters was sent off for punching Western Suburbs Magpies forward Graeme Wynn in a club match, and his resulting two-week suspension opened the way for brother Steve to come into both the Queensland and Australian teams. This connection continued when Steve Walters was injured on the 1991 tour of Papua New Guinea and Kerrod was called up to replace him.

While Kerrod did not appear in a Test match during 1992, he played his role in the Broncos' grand final and World Club Championship wins. That year he was awarded the Broncos' player of the year. The Walters brothers had already become the first trio to play for Queensland and Australia when, in 1992, they achieved another milestone when all three were selected to tour with the World Cup squad. Kerrod and Kevin Walters also became the first twin brothers to play rugby league for Australia.[2]

After the Broncos' back-to-back grand final win in 1993, Walters made his final appearance for Queensland the following year. During the 1994 NSWRL season, Walters played at hooker for defending premiers Brisbane when they hosted British champions Wigan for the 1994 World Club Challenge.

Super League and England

In 1996, he was cut from the Broncos and signed with Super League club, the Adelaide Rams. In his second season with the Rams, he was dropped from first grade (after a falling out with coach Rod Reddy) but returned to something resembling his best form late in the season after Reddy's sacking.

When the club folded at the end of 1998 Walters joined Gateshead in the European Super League but returned to Australia midway through the 1999 season after he and his wife were injured in a car accident while on holiday in Thailand.

Retirement

At the end of the 1999 season, Walters signed a one-year deal with the Broncos but played in just one match from the interchange bench during the 2000 season. That year he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in the sport of rugby league.

In 2004 Walters became the 5th former player inducted into the Broncos official Hall of Fame.[3] During the 2007 season at the Broncos' 20-year anniversary celebration, the club announced a list of the 20 best players to play for them to date which included Walters.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Honour Board". broncos.com.au. Brisbane Broncos. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  2. ↑ Kerrod Walters at yesterdayshero.com.au
  3. ↑ "Broncos Hall of Fame". broncos.com.au. Brisbane Broncos. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  4. ↑ Dekroo, Karl (2007-05-09). "Still the king". The Courier-Mail (Australia: Queensland Newspapers). Retrieved 2009-12-08.

External links