ASK REECE WALSH ABOUT the pressure of playing NRL and the Warriors whiz-kid responds with the ease in which he ghosts past opponents in the big league.

He counters with another ‘P’ word. Perspective.

A perspective that comes with becoming a father at 18.

A perspective honed by real trauma: a childhood laced with confusion, confronting the pain of his parents’ separation, and the dynamic of maintaining a difficult relationship with his mother.

Behind Walsh’s stunning rise to NRL stardom this season with the Warriors is a more inspirational story – how the former Broncos young gun from Nerang on the Gold Coast dealt with the drug-induced collapse of a person who should have been the rock in his life.

At the age of 14, Walsh made a decision a teenager should never have to endure.

“I can’t tell you when I last saw my mum ... I think it was four years ago. I’m looking forward,” Walsh says.

“Growing up, things were pretty bad.

“Mum was on drugs. She was in and out of our lives.

“She would float in and try and act like she would be there for me for a bit, then she would go off and do her own things and I wouldn’t see her for ages.

“Then she would come back into my life.

“I wouldn’t say I have given up on her, but for a long time I would think where is she? When is she going to come and see me again?

“I have a good relationship with my dad (Rodney) and my stepmum (Jodie) and she has done a great job raising me. I am always grateful for her support.”

SETTING THE EXAMPLE

WALSH’S TURBULENT UPBRINGING is motivation not to dabble in drugs.

He knows the NRL is a seductive industry. With fame, attention and money, more than one NRL player has been caught using cocaine and recreational drugs.

Growing up, Walsh loved watching fellow Indigenous phenom Ben Barba.

He was 10 when Barba hit the NRL like a tsunami, winning the 2012 Dally M Medal. Barba’s career sadly unravelled, tainted by cocaine use after Cronulla’s 2016 grand final win and a drunken off-field incident just months after he joined the Cowboys in 2019.

“I wouldn’t say just because of my mum that I don’t want to be doing drugs. It’s just my personal feelings,” says Walsh, who has Kiwi blood from his mum and Indigenous heritage via his dad.

“It hasn’t been easy with my mum, but I still say not everyone is as lucky as me, a lot of people have it worse than me.

“I would think, ‘Why would she say that?’, but now that I have grown up it makes a bit more sense.

“Being on drugs, mum probably didn’t know what she was saying half the time.

“As an NRL player, you have to be smart. There is always someone watching and there are little kids at home who watch NRL players and dream of being like us.

“I don’t want to be setting bad examples for young kids who watch the game. I don’t want them thinking that it’s OK to be doing drugs.

“It’s all about setting examples for the next generation.”

DOWN TO EARTH ROOKIE

WALSH SPEAKS WITH A MATURITY that explains why he has made the NRL look like his personal playground.

The Queensland under-18s sensation is rivalling his good mate, Sam Walker, for NRL rookie-of-the-year honours.

Such is his class, vision and flair at fullback, he has taken over the No.1 jumper from rugby-bound Warriors superstar Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, the man who played a key role in his defection from the Broncos.

After just six NRL games, Walsh has four tries, six line breaks, eight try assists and 22 tackle busts. He averages 123 run metres per game.

He is throwing the type of 20-metre, cut-out balls for tries that made Andrew Johns and Darren Lockyer playmaking legends.

Despite making playing NRL look as casual as a beach stroll, Walsh is far from complacent.

“It’s been really hard playing NRL,” he says.

“The Warriors guys and Browny (coach Nathan Brown) have been great for me. Naturally, there is pressure playing NRL, but the Warriors support me and let me play my sort of game.

“The coaching staff don’t put too much on my shoulders. They say just play your role and that’s what I try and do each week.

“If I can keep doing that, my confidence will grow.”

BUCKING THE BRONCOS

THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM IS Walsh’s shock departure from the Broncos.

Walsh starred for the Broncos in a pre-season trial on February 19. He was whispered as Brisbane’s version of Billy Slater.

Fifty days later, he signed with the Warriors.

How on earth could Brisbane bosses lose a kid who was such an overt talent, one who was already in their system on a development contract and dreamed of wearing a Broncos jumper?

The answer is not purely money.

While the Warriors blew Brisbane out of the water with a stunning three-year, $1.3 million deal – the richest contract in NRL history for a teenager yet to play first grade – Walsh says there was another crucial factor.

The Warriors provided clarity ... and certainty.

“I never thought I would leave the Broncos,” Walsh says.

“It was a dream of mine to play NRL for Brisbane. I remember when I was seven years old, I would run around with a Broncos jersey on wishing I could play for the Broncos.

“That’s something I always wanted to do, but then the Warriors came into the picture and they were very clear with the opportunity they could give me.

“I wanted to play first grade, but Kevvie (Broncos coach Kevin Walters) didn’t think I was quite ready.

“There’s nothing against the Broncos for me. They have played a major part in who I am as a player and person, but the Warriors have been great to me and I’m grateful for the opportunity they gave me to play NRL.”

I WANT TO MAKE HER PROUD

THERE IS NOW ANOTHER REASON for Walsh not to fail in the NRL – the birth of his daughter Leila, now two months old.

The NRL has seen a stream of Next Big Things shine like a comet and burn out way too quickly.

Walsh insists he is here to stay, for his daughter, his club and the kid from Nerang steeled by perspective.

“I don’t think anyone wants to be a one-hit wonder,” he says.

“I play footy with confidence and I have the work ethic to succeed. I want to play NRL for 10 years and I’m lucky enough I have good people at the Warriors who can help develop my game.

“I love being a dad, it’s the best feeling in the world. At first, I was a bit scared, but I sat down with some people I trust and they said, ‘You will be OK, you will have support and we will be one phone call away’.

“Becoming a father is the best thing I have done. I want to grow up and have Leila look at her dad and say I’m proud.”