Brisbane Broncos NRL news: Reece Walsh’s bid to join league’s fastest players revealed

Reece Walsh’s plan to join the list of the NRL’s fastest players has been revealed as he plots to spearhead a premiership push in his first full season as a Bronco.

Reece Walsh.

Star recruit Reece Walsh has outlined his mission to bring a title to the Broncos and revealed he has taken up sprint training in a bid to break Brisbane’s 17-year premiership drought.

Reece Lightning is getting frighteningly faster with Brisbane’s $1.3 million recruit outlining how he has donned “spikes” to blitz NRL opponents this season, with the Dragons the next team in his sights on Saturday night.

Walsh produced a sizzling Broncos debut last Friday night, carving up the Cowboys in a 28-16 victory that underlined why Brisbane’s new fullback is one of the hottest attacking commodities in the code.

The 20-year-old showed blistering pace over the first five metres, setting up three tries and scoring one himself, with Brisbane’s data testing showing Walsh and Deine Mariner are among their fastest players in the full-time squad.

Leaving no stone unturned to be at his peak this season, Walsh worked with Gold Coast-based high-performance coach Brett Mallett to join the likes of Josh Addo-Carr, Jason Saab and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow as NRL speed demons.

The Cowboys were torched by Walsh — and now the Dragons risked being burned at Suncorp Stadium.

“I did stuff on the track in pre-season,” Walsh said.

“I’m not too sure where my speed comes from because my old man is slow.

“I have done a lot of work since I was younger and I even tried to take in some sprint training in the off-season to try something new. I don’t think I’m that fast. I’m nothing like ‘Hammer’ (Tabuai-Fidow) or Jason Saab or the ‘Foxx’ (Addo-Carr) or anyone like that, but I try and go as hard as I can.

“I put some spikes on and did some sprinting.

“It was cool and awesome to see things from a different point of view, how the (sprinting) mechanics work with your body.

“It was different but I enjoyed it. I got out of my comfort zone and tried new things.”

Reece Walsh flies over the line against the Cowboys.

Walsh has vowed to fuel Brisbane’s premiership push.

Underlining Brisbane’s premiership drought, Walsh was just a four-year-old on the Gold Coast and has no memory of the Broncos’ most recent title win in 2006.

Brisbane view the off-season purchase of Walsh as the final piece in their premiership jigsaw and the Queensland Origin hopeful says he won’t be satisfied until he brings the NRL trophy back to Red Hill.

“I want a premiership here,” he said.

“If you want to play in the NRL and just get a couple of wins here and there, then you shouldn’t be playing NRL.

“This group of boys here are hungry to win. They had a good season last year, the back end of it was a bit disappointing (finishing ninth to miss the finals by one win), but they have addressed that and it’s a new year and a new team.

“We want to work hard and win footy games and we want to be playing in September.”

Broncos skipper Adam Reynolds said Walsh had become a dynamic member of Brisbane’s playmaking spine.

“I just have to work out ways to get him into space,” he said.

“My job is pretty simple, I square up the defence and get him clean ball and you see what he can do.

“He is excellent at executing plays and he has speed and toughness going deep into the line, whether it’s throwing a short ball or taking the line on.

“He studies the game, he loves the game, he watches every game on the weekend.

“Reece is always asking questions, he is coming to me with new plays and finding ways we can break down defences.

“It’s not a fluke what he does on the field. He trains hard and puts his best foot forward. He is a reflection of what you see at training.”

Originally published as Brisbane Broncos NRL news: Reece Walsh’s bid to join league’s fastest players revealed