Brisbane coach Kevin Walters expects returned fullback Reece Walsh to fire in the NRL next season under the mentoring of club legend Darius Boyd.
Former Broncos captain and fullback Boyd, who won the 2006 premiership with Brisbane and played 209 first grade games for the club in a 341-game NRL career, has a coaching role with the outside backs and Walsh is set to be one of the chief beneficiaries of his wisdom.
"Darius is going to be very good for Reece with his positional play and his all-round work as a fullback," Walters told AAP.
"We are looking forward to getting those two working hard and closely together ahead of next year.
"Darius builds a great relationship with the players which is going to be a positive for Reece.
"He brings a real calmness to his teaching and doesn't mince words either because he has been there and done it at the highest level."
Walsh, 20, has returned to the Broncos after two seasons at the Warriors and has begun pre-season training.
"Reece has slotted straight back in like he never left and has a big smile on his face because he is enjoying what he is doing," Walters said.
"For a younger player he brings a lot of intelligence to the fullback role. He's a good communicator and a very confident young person which you need to play there.
"We have bought Reece to challenge for the fullback position with Tesi Niu. Herbie Farnworth is going to put his hand up there as well. We have also got Selwyn Cobbo who can play there.
"We will give Reece some opportunities at fullback in the pre-season and the trials. No doubt Reece and Tesi are the front-runners."
Meanwhile Broncos recruitment chief Simon Scanlan said the club would welcome teenage playmaker Karl Oloapu back at training "with open arms" amid reports that he is disgruntled and refusing to turn up to training.
The former Australian Schoolboys captain, who attracted interest from the Dolphins, signed a three-year deal with Brisbane at the start of this season until the end of 2025. But the 17-year-old has told Wide World of Sports that he didn't understand the contract he signed and understood he would be in the full-time squad and playing five-eighth in 2023.
The Broncos have put out a statement in response to Oloapu's comments where Scanlan said the NRL and RLPA had reviewed Oloapu's contractual situation and "no wrongdoing by the club was found".
"It is disappointing to learn that Karl feels the way he does, but the door is most certainly open at the Broncos for him to re-join training with our NRL squad," Scanlan said.
