'They got blamed': Broncos great makes ugly axing claim as Allan Langer speaks out

Yahoo

21-05-2025

Gorden Tallis has let rip at the Broncos having accused them of twisting the narrative around Kevin Walters' axing as former trainer Allan Langer has called out the club over their start. Tallis was extremely critical of how the Broncos handled his former teammates axing at the end of last year.
Reports claimed Walters was axed not long after the players undertook a review of their season. Michael Maguire was quickly hired to come in and change the culture at the Broncos to give the side a harder edge in 2025.
The move certainly angered the Broncos Old Boys and it was led by Tallis who was fuming at how the club treated a legend. Club favourite Langer also left his role as assistant trainer after his friend Walters was axed, which meant an end of an era for the team.
And Maguire has not fared much better since coming in with the Broncos dropping five of their last six games. They currently sit in ninth place with after a number of capitulations piling the pressure on Maguire.
And Tallis has let rip at his former club having claimed the players are 'dirty' the narrative was put on them rather than the club owning the decision. 'That was reverse engineered. The club didn't want to make the decision and the players are dirty about that,' Tallis said on Fox Sports' NRL 360.
'The players that I've spoken to are dirty that they got blamed for it. The club should have come out and owned that decision, they shouldn't have put that on the players. That was unfair to put that on the players. There was no meeting, they weren't sitting around, they weren't face to face. And that's the coach's job.
'Wayne Bennett gets asked who does the reviews and Wayne says 'I do it'. He goes and talks to the players and they have a chat and that's how you fix things. That's what men generally do, winners get in groups and talk about it. I don't know what losers do.'
Tallis has previously claimed Walters never had the backing needed to succeed. 'I don't think he ever felt like he got the support that he wanted. From day one, he had to go buy his own shirt to do his own press conference. I felt like he was doing it all alone," Tallis said earlier this year on NRL 360.
The Broncos legend's damning claim about the playing group comes after Langer broke his silence about the current crop's mentality. This comes after the club dropped out of the eight.
Langer is a Broncos and Maroons legend, and won numerous premierships and Origin series with Brisbane and Queensland respectively. His work as a trainer for the Broncos and Maroons is just as iconic as his feats on the field during his playing days.
The legend left his role as Broncos trainer with Maguire keen to start afresh with his own staff. In big news, Langer agreed with work with Billy Slater again for the 2025 State of Origin series. And speaking in the Queensland camp, Langer has offered his thoughts on the current situation at the Broncos.
And the club legend made some telling comments about the playing group watching it from afar in 2025. 'They are lacking team spirit at the moment,' Langer told The Courier Mail. 'The senior players have to get the group together and work out what is going wrong.
'Because it's hard for the coaching staff or anyone outside the playing group...it doesn't look great watching it, especially the last few weeks.'
Former Roosters player Braith Anasta claimed the comments from the club legend were a 'dagger' to the current crop of players. Tallis weighed-in on Langer's comments and claimed it should making the current playing gorup stand up. 'Alf doesn't like confrontation, he doesn't like talking about the club, he's made a point because he loves it so much, so that's really strong from Alfie,' Tallis said.