Darren Lockyer reveals his transition from champion player to boardroom decision-maker at the Brisbane Broncos came with a personal cost.
The former Broncos captain — who played 355 games for the club, won four premierships and later joined the board in 2013 — has opened up on the strain caused by the sackings of previous coaches Kevin Walters and Wayne Bennett.
Walters was sacked in 2024 after Brisbane missed the top eight, just a year after reaching the 2023 grand final.
Lockyer admitted the decision was particularly tough given their long history as teammates.
“It was the hardest one because he almost won a premiership 12 months before. Just over a year later we parted ways,” he told the Courier Mail.
“When I made my debut in 1995 Kevvie was my roommate and we had a lot of great memories on the field and a lot of laughs.”
He also revealed tension had existed previously.
“When Anthony Seibold got the (Broncos coaching) job Kevvie missed out … our relationship had been strained for years.”
Bennett’s exit in 2018 was more drawn out, following a bitter dispute with the board.
The veteran coach had taken Brisbane to the 2015 grand final, one of the competition’s great deciders, but his tenure ended after months of internal friction.
“Wayne was the most challenging one, because it (Bennett’s sacking) took a fair bit of time. It actually took months to play out.”
“There were a few games being played. There were a few personality clashes between Wayne and others on the board. So it was messy … distracting for the club, damaging for the club.”
“That was hard, because Wayne had been such a big part of my life and been so influential in giving the career that I had, so for us to decide that we had the pathway that’s huge.”
Lockyer said the fallout from both decisions permanently changed those relationships.
“Wayne and I and Kevvie and I will never be the same, but we’d love to know that we can still respect each other and remember the good times,” Lockyer told Courier Mail.
“It’s definitely 80, 90 per cent of where it was, but it will probably never been the same, because of that particular time.”
“When you’re on the board and you start making big decisions you lose some skin. You don’t lose relationships fully, but they’re never the same.”
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