NRL 2024: Reece Walsh needs to learn to find balance between risk and reward as main man at Brisbane Broncos

Reece Walsh is rugby league’s most celebrated excitement machine and a face of the game, but a former greats says he still has to find a balance between risk and reward in high octane games.

Reece Walsh and the Broncos got carved up by the Roosters. NRL Imagery

Reece Walsh and his “trigger happy’’ teammates are under fire amid fears the superstar fullback is feeling the pressure of being the Broncos Magic Man.

Broncos coach Kevin Walters admitted his concern the Broncos were snatching at success and overplaying their hands after the 40-18 loss to the Roosters at Suncorp Stadium on Friday.

And Immortal Andrew Johns and Billy Slater, the Queensland coach and a mentor of Walsh’s, have reinforced the theme and the challenge for Walsh to maintain the balance between risk and reward in his high octane game.

“They were going all out attack and Reece made a lot of errors,’’ Johns said of the Roosters game on Channel 9.

“It is such a fine line with Reece. That’s his mentality. But he made some bad errors. That puts so much pressure on the forwards and takes their petrol away.

“You have to let him play that way but he has to know when to hold em and fold em.’’

Reece Walsh needs to find the balance between risk and reward in his game according to Andrew Johns. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

Slater may see some of himself in a young Walsh as, early in his career, he was also an entertainer extraordinaire who occasionally went too far.

“When you are an exciting player (like Walsh) there is a pressure to always create that excitement,’’ Slater said.

“He is 21 years old. He is still learning how to manage that part of his game.

“There was a couple of tries he was involved in so you cannot take all of that away from him.

“They were absolutely trying to win the game so early. They are going to have to learn how to build pressure and they are going to have to do it without (injured) Adam Reynolds.’’

Walters is likely to call for more patience and pressure in this week’s match against Parramatta.

“It’s not just Reece, I won’t pin it all on him, but the whole group over the last month,’’ Walters said.

Kevin Walters will be wanting more patience from Reece Walsh and the Broncos in round 10. Picture: NRL Imagery

“We have come up with little errors where they aren’t forced errors, they are unforced errors and that’s what’s been hurting us. We got kick happy (against the Roosters), I don’t know why, it wasn’t part of the plan, but it happened. I don’t think we will be kick happy for the rest of the year.

“We kept wanting to pull the trigger on different things. It’s all learning. Although we have some great talent, we are a young side and we are still learning the NRL. It’s tough. And if you don’t continually do the things well, you get exposed and we got exposed.’’

Walsh, Ezra Mam and Pat Carrigan are likely to assume greater responsibility for the next three months as skipper Reynolds recovers from a torn bicep.

“We’ll find out what we are made of,’’ Carrigan said.

“We have to keep on keeping on, it’s next man up, we have a lot of depth at our club and I’m confident whoever plays there will do a job for us.’’

Originally published as NRL 2024: Reece Walsh needs to learn to find balance between risk and reward as main man at Brisbane Broncos