Lockyer to sit on panel to decide next Broncos coach

Brisbane legend Darren Lockyer will sit on a three-man selection panel which will decide the next Broncos head coach, with candidates set to be interviewed in the next fortnight.

Broncos director Lockyer, chairman Karl Morris and CEO Paul White make up the panel that will interview the candidates, which NRL.com understands will at least include New Zealand coach Michael Maguire, Broncos assistant Jason Demetriou, South Sydney mentor Anthony Seibold and Maroons coach Kevin Walters.

The selection process will be overseen by a senior independent Broncos staff member with the appointment of the successful coach for the 2020 season, as chosen by the three-man panel, to be ultimately approved by the Brisbane board.

All candidates have been required to complete psychometric testing, undertaken by an independent company, and will be given interview times.

The Broncos are not rushing the process but do not intend for it to linger either. NRL.com understands several interviews may be done as soon as next week.

The Broncos have examined coaching recruitment procedures and panel makeups in other sports, particularly the AFL, where all candidates go through the same process and undertake psychometric testing.

Wayne Bennett will coach the Broncos for his 26th and final year in 2019 but his successor will not be appointed in the same way that Bennett was when he returned to Brisbane from Newcastle in 2015.

On that occasion, the move to recruit Bennett was undertaken by two Broncos directors and ultimately ticked off by News Corp heavyweight Lachlan Murdoch.

Michael Miller, the executive chairman of News Corp Australasia, will need to rubber-stamp the installation of the next Brisbane coach but the process will not be clandestine, as it was in 2015 when bringing Bennett home was a coup that needed to be managed behind the scenes.

Miller has been kept informed this year of the club's plans as News Corp is the majority shareholder, via subsidiary Nationwide News, in the publicly-listed Brisbane Broncos.

The Rabbitohs earlier agreed to put contract extension talks with Dally M coach of the year Seibold back until the end of the 2018 season. South Sydney general manager of football Shane Richardson told NRL.com several months ago that the club's intention was to retain Seibold, who will have a massive decision to make if he is ultimately offered the Broncos job.

Seibold played for the Broncos in the lower grades and has coached several of the players in his former role as Queensland assistant coach.

He is a Queenslander and his character is also well known by White due to a long-standing association back to their Rockhampton days.

Maguire, who won the 2014 premiership with South Sydney, has already knocked back an opportunity to coach Manly with his sights set on securing the Broncos job.

Demetriou is highly regarded by the Broncos players and staff and understands the way the club works after linking with Brisbane at the end of 2016.

He also has a track record of success as a head coach in the state leagues and in the United Kingdom.

Walters, who won five premierships with the Broncos as a player, has stated his interest in becoming head coach of the Broncos for many years after three stints as Bennett's assistant.

He has the support of the Broncos Old Boys network and NRL.com understands he will be released from his Maroons deal, which ends in 2020, if he secures an NRL head coaching job.

Lockyer's role in selecting the next Brisbane coach comes hot on the heels on him being admitted to the Sport Australia Hall of Fame. The Broncos, Maroons and Test great became the 23rd rugby league player in the Hall when the announcement was made in Melbourne on Thursday night.