The Covid-enforced bootcamp at Nerang that turned Reece Walsh into a ready-made Maroon
REECE Walsh’s incredible rise from scrawny Coast starlet to Queensland’s next State of Origin fullback was built just a stone’s throw away from the field he honed his prodigious talent.
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REECE Walsh’s incredible rise from scrawny Coast starlet to Queensland’s next State of Origin fullback was built in a shoebox gym just a stone’s throw away from the field he honed his prodigious playmaking talent.
Ahead of Walsh’s remarkable State of Origin debut on Sunday, coming just 63 days after his maiden NRL start, former Nerang Roosters president James Fitzgerald has shared details of the Covid-enforced mid-year bootcamp that paved the way for the 18-year-old’s rapid rise.
“Reece has obviously been known not only through our club but all through the Gold Coast as a really big talent but I don’t think anyone thought he would make State of Origin at 18,” a proud Fitzgerald said.
“He’s a natural talent but he’s had to put in a lot of hard work to nurture that talent.”
Fitzgerald detailed multiple occasions where he would arrive at the Roosters field to complete various admin or housekeeping duties to find Walsh running laps or taking kicks from the sideline by himself.
“Obviously I don’t know what he’s doing now at the Warriors, but he would always be down at Glennon Park at Nerang working on his fitness, his kicking, and trying to build himself up with weights and stuff like that,” Fitzgerald recalled.
“I saw it plenty of times because I used to go down there with my young fella. He wanted to practice his kicking and quite often Reece would already be down there, and still there until after we left.”
Fitzgerald would even hand Walsh the keys to the small gym at the gridiron club nearby so he could build himself into the ready-made footballer the Warriors and the rest of the football world have come to appreciate in just a few short months.
“Last year during the Covid lockdown when it was a bit hard (to find gym weights) well, we as a club don’t have a gym but I had a key for the gridiron one so I just let him use that,” Fitzgerald said.
“Gridiron didn’t know about that, though I guess they do now.
“In the end he went and sourced weights from all sorts of odd places because you couldn’t buy them anywhere. He just kept doing all his preparation work at home, even outside of the stuff the Broncos were putting him through.
“When he was done he gave all the weights to my young fella … taught him to kick goals and answered all his questions.
“He’s a credit not only to himself but to his parents and the club.”
Southport-born Walsh quickly became a known commodity in Coast footy circles for his incredible blend of speed, playmaking ability and precision kicking that powered the Roosters to a trio of junior premierships and he into Queensland and Australian representative sides.
He will become the third Roosters product, after Matt Rogers and Payne Haas, to play State of Origin – and first for Queensland.
Fitzgerald spent more than a decade at the Roosters, watching Walsh’s rise from a “cheeky little four-year-old” to consistent matchwinner.
“Even when he was younger he was chipping and chasing, as a six-year-old. He always had that something special about him, though that’s easy to say now in hindsight I suppose,” Fitzgerald said.
“There’s so many memories all the way through his junior years that it’s hard to highlight just one.”
But there was one defining match, Fitzgerald recalled, which will pique the interest of Queensland fans desperate for a ballplayer to rival the Blues’ bevy of brilliant outside backs.
An Under-14s grand final against the previously untouchable Helensvale Hornets, who were on the cusp of a rare premiership three-peat with only Walsh and the Roosters in their way.
After years of playing second fiddle to the Hornets, Walsh powered Nerang to victory – sparking the Roosters’ own run of three-straight grand final victories before he left the club for the Broncos and, not long after, the NRL.
“He was untouchable. He did whatever he wanted and it worked a treat,” Fitzgerald said.
“He turned on a performance unlike any I’ve seen. Running, passing, goalkicking; no one could touch him.”
The Origin stage may be bigger and the competition much more fierce but if there’s one thing of which Fitzgerald is certain, it’s that Walsh is ready for the challenge.
“Every time he’s been asked to step up and perform at a higher level he’s done it. Ever since he was a teenager, whether it be through SEQ programs on the Gold Coast to playing for Queensland, every time he’s shone,” Fitzgerald said.
“Nothing has been too daunting for him and to be honest, I’m a Blues supporter, and I hope he gets man of the match in a losing side.”
‘Reece will thrive’: Origin tick of approval from former mentor
REECE Walsh’s former Keebra Park mentor says the stage is set for the Queensland State of Origin bolter to “show the world” his talent.
With Kalyn Ponga and AJ Brimson both unavailable through injury and Valentine Holmes uninspiring at fullback in Origin I, Maroons coach Paul Green has thrown the number one jersey to seven-gamer Walsh with the series on the line in Brisbane.
Just 63 days after making his NRL debut for the Warriors against Melbourne on Anzac Day, Walsh will start for the Maroons in a do-or-die clash on the game’s biggest stage.
He will become the youngest player to debut for Queensland since Ben Ikin in 1995, when he runs out in the number one at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday aged 18 years and 357 days.
Keebra Park SHS head of rugby league Glen Campbell said he was momentarily shocked but soon assured of Walsh’s selection when the Maroons team was named on Monday morning.
“You could have blown me over with a feather when I heard the news … (but) Reece is a big game player, he won’t die wondering,” Campbell said.
“He’ll be out to show his wares because that’s the personality of Reece. His belief in himself is immense.
“He got his shot with the Warriors and I know he’ll do the same in Origin.”
Opposed to an all-star New South Wales contingent of outside backs that tore the Maroons to shreds in Game 1, Walsh’s debut in the Origin cauldron will be a veritable trial by fire.
Campbell says Walsh is tailor-made for the big stage and expects him to thrive.
“My belief is Reece will thrive. The bigger the game the better I usually got from him (at Keebra),” Campbell said.
“Reece just loves to play football. He’s a footballer who just wants to play. He doesn’t like anyone getting over the top of him and I know he’ll be thinking ‘here’s my chance to really show the world what I can do’.
“The Queensland selectors obviously think he can have an impact and stand up.
“I wish him all the best.”
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