Brisbane Broncos head coach Michael Maguire has confirmed Billy Walters is no guarantee of retaining his number nine jersey at the start of the 2025 NRL season.

Walters was the starting hooker under his father's coaching, but Maguire may well look to go a different way this year - his first in charge of the Broncos after leaving his New South Wales State of Origin post to take the role.

The number nine jersey at Red Hill is one of the competition's most intriguing questions heading into 2025, with Walters, Tyson Smoothy (who played off the back in a majority of games last year), young gun Blake Mozer, and the previously out of favour Cory Paix all in contention.

Some have tipped Mozer to win the race as he fights to properly kick start his NRL career, but Maguire was less than committal on which way he will go when speaking to the media, instead saying he wants the four players to compete.

"I probably won't give away too much there because I've just said to the boys, 'Go and compete'," Maguire told reporters.

"I'm very fortunate that I've got some really good dummy-halves, and [with] the craft they're learning and what I'm trying to get them to understand and running the game plan.

"They've all shown they're very capable.

"So it's going to be good competition over the next month to drive to where we want to get to. But I could go in any which way with these guys."

Should Mozer win the jersey, it will be a new dawn for the Broncos, but the youngster, rated by some as the best since Cameron Smith, will need to fight for the jersey.

Walters and Smoothy shared the role last year, albeit with limited success, while Paix, once believed to have played last game for Brisbane, has signalled his intention to fight for a new deal at the club.

What is clear is that from a squad balance point of view, the Broncos are unlikely to have four potential dummy half options on their books heading into 2026.

As it stands, Mozer, Paix and Smoothy are all off-contract at the end of this year, while Walters' deal runs into 2026.

The Broncos travel to Sydney to open their campaign for a clash with the injury-plagued Sydney Roosters on March 6 at Allianz Stadium.