Reece Walsh savaged after Origin no-show: ‘He did more in game one’

Rugby league fans have labelled Reece Walsh as the “most overrated player of his generation” after an Origin disappearing act.

Reece Walsh is under fire after he was left battered, bruised and brutally exposed during Queensland’s horror State of Origin Game 2 loss on Wednesday night.

The mercurial fullback had a nightmare as Queensland fell apart with 34 points conceded in the first half.

Channel 9 commentators, including Andrew Johns and Cameron Smith, noted several times when Walsh was out of position in the defensive line or had been unable to organise the Maroons’ line during the Blues’ first half bombardment.

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On a tough night at the office, Walsh’s most embarrassing moment came when he was rag-dolled by Latrell Mitchell in the second half.

The Blues did little to hide their game plan of going after the Broncos No. 1 with NSW players seen repeatedly going over the top with tackles and kick-chase pressure. It clearly worked.

Walsh was blunted by a Maroons forward pack that went nowhere and the fact that halves Daly Cherry-Evans and Tom Dearden were unable to get the team out of their own end of the field.

Reece Walsh monstered by Latrell Mitchell. Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images.

But it was clearly the extra attention he was given by NSW enforcers that rattled him the most.

In the space of 10 minutes that will haunt him, Walsh was seen pulling out of an attempt to mark a downfield bomb from Mitchell Moses and the kick instead bounced over the sideline just metres in front of the corner post.

“That should have been Reece Walsh’s every day of the week,” Smith said on Channel 9.

Minutes later he kicked the ball out on the full after a Zac Lomax try.

His biggest blunder was a failure to organise the Maroons’ defensive line where a simple left edge grubber from Moses allowed Brian To’o to score in the 27th minute.

Johns and Smith were scathing of Walsh’s mistake.

“That was too easy,” Johns said of Moses’ clever kick behind the Maroons’ defensive line.

“He obviously sees Reece Walsh over on the left side. He sprints to the other side, brings the defence up and gets it (the kick) in behind. That was too easy.”

Reece Walsh was nowhere near it. Photo: Channel 9.

Smith said: “It was way too easy. It was good recognition from Moses to spot Walsh way out on that left hand side of the Maroons.

“He was way out of position. Particularly for a play-the-ball that had taken so long. They had time to get set, the defensive line.

“Usually, if the fullback is out of position where he was, that right side for Queensland is aware that there’s no fullback and there was no one covering in behind.”

Walsh was hardly the only Queenslander making fatal mistakes, but his poor performance was a hot topic after the game.

Both coaches were asked about Walsh’s performance but chose not to speak specifically about the 21-year-old.

“It’s a hard game to play, it’s even harder when you’re tired,” Maroons boss Billy Slater said. “It was nearly 70-30 possession in that first half and the scoreline reflected that. Any individuals, it’s going to be hard for them.”

Jarome Luai was up or the fight. Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images.

NSW coach Michael Maguire said his team’s kicking game “isolates individuals and takes away the qualities of what they are”.

The Daily Telegraph’s Michael Carayannis and Brent Read summed it up, half-heartedly raising the question of whether injured Knights star Kalyn Ponga could be rushed into the team for Game 3.

Ponga is not expected to be back until Round 22.

“Any chance Kalyn Ponga will be fit and available? Sadly, probably not. Every Queensland jersey should be up for grabs after their display at the MCG,” Read and Carayannis wrote.

Fans were particularly brutal of Walsh.

“Reece Walsh is the most overrated player of his ,” one fan tweeted. “Apply even an ounce of pressure and he evaporates.”

“Reece Walsh probably did more in game 1 tbh,” added another.

The Sydney Morning Herald’s Billie Eder said Walsh looked like a “deer in the headlights” and was playing “inside a Blues pinball machine”.

“It appeared that the knockout blow from Joseph Suaalii in game one had rocked Walsh more than he’d let on, and the lingering effects were present in every part of his game,” Eder wrote.

“He was reluctant to be part of the attacking line, slow to cover in defence and his kicking was sloppy.”

Walsh‘s name will be in the headlines in the next few weeks as Slater fights off pressure to make changes to his team for the decider at Suncorp Stadium on July 17.

Originally published as Reece Walsh savaged after Origin no-show: ‘He did more in game one’