The Tackle: Watch Roosters expose Broncos fullback Reece Walsh’s major defensive weakness

Reece Walsh’s form has been a talking point to start the season, but he’s failing the great barometer of a fullback’s confidence. FATIMA KDOUH highlights the Broncos star’s horror outing against the Roosters.

Fatima Kdouh reveals her likes and dislikes from Round 6 of the NRL competition, highlighting Brisbane’s off-field concerns and their biggest star’s on-field weakness.

ROUND 6 DISLIKES

WALSH’S WOBBLES

Roosters coach Trent Robinson has not only shown the blueprint to take down Reece Walsh but a glaring deficiency in the Broncos fullback’s game.

Walsh’s issues under the high ball were exposed by the Roosters in an aerial assault.

He struggled to contest the high ball and to position himself under it.

Reece Walsh had a tough night under the high ball against the Roosters. Pic: NRL

Hugo Savala and Sandon Smith peppered him with bombs all game long.

Centre Billy Smith made easy work of Walsh when he snatched the ball from his grasp to open the scoring.

Much has been said about Walsh’s form and a fullback’s steel under the high ball is a great barometer of confidence.

Drop one.

Drop two.

Walsh's high-ball horrorshow.

EELS HIT ROCK BOTTOM

Parramatta is languishing at the bottom of the ladder after losing 50-12 to Canberra in Darwin, which has been an unhappy hunting ground for the club in recent years.

The job doesn’t get any easier for coach Jason Ryles when the Eels play an improved ­Tigers on Easter Monday.

Going on Parramatta’s sluggish performance at TIO Stadium, the Eels need some divine intervention to get a win without Mitchell Moses and hard-working back Zac Lomax.

While star five-eighth Dylan Brown scored a nice solo try, the attack was underwhelming and was not helped by a lack of go forward.

Ryles could have an option to add some spark in attack in youngster Joash Papali’i.

Papali’i was mostly a fullback through the ranks at Canterbury but can slot in at hooker and five-eighth, where he has played the past two weeks in NSW Cup.

It would mean handing back the No.7 jumper to Brown but Papalii showed in the trials he is an attacking threat.

Is Joash Papalii the answer to Parramatta’s playmaking conundrum? Picture: Scott Gardiner/Getty Images

NO LAUGHING MATTER

Brisbane learned the hard way on Friday night that complacency is no laughing matter.

Players also got a rude reminder that as the premier team in Queensland, and an NRL powerhouse, their every move will be scrutinised. Especially, after a loss like last Friday’s against the Roosters.

Footage of the Broncos dressing room showed players “joking around” and laughing before running out on to Suncorp Stadium to face the Roosters side they disposed of in emphatic fashion in Round 1.

Of itself, it is hardly a crime to share pre-game banter with teammates before kick-off.

But when you’re the Broncos and are then out-enthused by your opponent, the accusations will come thick and fast.

Broncos players have come under fire for “joking around” and laughing before their clash with the Roosters.

Four-time premiership winner Cooper Cronk said the footage showed that the Broncos weren’t dialled in.

“Our cameras, up with the team in Suncorp before the game and it doesn’t tell you all the story — but it gets you a little bit of a snippet of the mindset of what the team is about to run out on the field (with),” Cronk said.

“And there was just a little bit of joking around with the Broncos, a little bit of sort of... not truly being dialled in to where you need to be every week in the NRL.”

Coach Michael Maguire was hardly impressed with Friday night’s efforts, and who can blame him?

His side, which is supposed to be a title favourite, was out-enthused and out-muscled in front of 40,000 fans at home.

“Felt they were a bit hungrier than where we were at,” Maguire said after the game.

“They turned up and had a bit more physicality than what I know is in our team. We’ve shown we can do it, but it’s about being able to find that.

“You can’t be complacent.

“Look at the games. Any team (can win) at the moment. We got the Roosters in Round 1 then they beat the four-time premiers.

“If you’re thinking like that, you’re kidding yourself.”

Did the big win against the Roosters in the season opener get to their heads? Were they too confident to the point of complacency?

For a team accused of a rock star mentality, arrogance even, those questions will dog the Broncos until the side redeems itself from crashing out of the finals race last year.

It’s the burden that comes with wearing a Broncos jumper.

The line between arrogance and confidence is a fine one, just ask the Penrith Panthers.

Unlike Brisbane, the Panthers have four-straight titles to their name.

But like the Panthers, the Broncos are talented and star-studded enough to have the last laugh - only if complacency is replaced with consistency.

BAD KNIGHTS

Newcastle have scored just two tries in over four hours of football, and just 46 points so far in 2025.

The worry for coach Adam O’Brien is the limited options in the spine to make changes ahead another tough test against Cronulla next week.

Against the Tigers on Sunday, there was a lack of communication, poor execution and an inability to get the side’s strike weapons like star fullback Kalyn Ponga and centre Bradman Best into space.

“I don’t think we had any attacking sets in the second half,” Ponga said after the game.

Phoenix Crossland stepped into the No.7 jumper with Jack Cogger out with a finger injury, while Tyson Gamble is sidelined with a back injury and Jackson Hastings is seemingly on the outer.

A fourth straight loss against the Sharks will also undoubtedly turn the blow torch back on O’Brien’s job.

Kalyn Ponga’s attacking weapons are being stymied. Picture: Scott Gardiner/Getty Images

WAR OF WORDS

Another messy contract saga is the last thing the Sea Eagles need following Daly ­Cherry-Evans quitting, especially after two straight losses.

That is the way the pursuit of Jamal Fogarty as Cherry-Evans’ replacement is heading.

Canberra coach Ricky Stuart launched a four-minute, impassioned response to the speculation over Fogarty.

Stuart suggested the Sea Eagles might have breached contracting rules in relation to their interest in the halfback.

“We’ll know early this week whether there have been contract negotiations with Manly or not over the last two or three weeks, which we keep hearing even though you’re not allowed to do it,” Stuart said.

“We sat down with Jamal and told him exactly what we’ve got for him and he was very happy, so I’ll know if there has been prior communication with Manly because I know Jamal is very happy and I want to keep him.”

Seibold said he had not talked to Fogarty despite speculation the club would offer a two-year deal worth $1.2m.

ROUND 6 LIKES

HOT UNDER COLLAR

There’s no better sight in the NRL than two big men locking horns, even when it is handbags at 10 paces.

Tempers threatened to boil over in Darwin between Canberra’s Joe Tapine and Parramatta’s Joe Ofahengaue as the big men went at it in a scrum late in the second half.

There was some push and shove, some head nudging but Tapine said there were also some slapping.

“I got slapped, I slapped him back and he didn’t like it,” Tapine said. “So I said, ‘If you want it, we can have it’.”

Ofahengaue didn’t take up Tapine’s challenge but both will have round 20 circled in the calendar when the two sides go head-to-head again.

Big boy headbutts.

SHOW HIM THE MONEY

Opposition defences can’t shut down Dragons star Christian Tuipulotu, who has scored seven tries in five games, but neither it seems can coach Shane Flanagan.

Tuipulotu rolled out his “show me the money” try celebration after his second four-pointer against the Titans on Friday night, despite Flanagan having banned it.

Not even a hamstring injury could dampen Tuipulotu’s mood as he took his trademark celebration on to the bench. He is in doubt to face Manly.

TEDDY TOPPLES EDWARDS

If Laurie Daley is picking NSW’s game one side on form, not loyalty, then James Tedesco has got to be in the no.1 jumper.

Tedesco was dumped for game one last year before earning a re-call after incumbent Dylan Edwards was ruled out with injury.

Edwards has been limited to just three games due to injury and while the Roosters have only won two games so far this year, Tedesco has played himself back into contention.

The veteran fullback, who delivered a captain’s knock in the Brisbane win, is averaging almost 170 metres per game and is leading the competition in linebreaks and tackle busts for fullbacks in 2025.

But Tedesco isn’t the only no.1 that will test Daley’s selection mantra. Melbourne’s Ryan Papenhuyzen is also putting pressure on Edwards to keep his Blues jumper. He finished Melbourne’s emphatic win over the Warriors with 104 metres, three linebreak assists, three try assist and three tackle busts.

Originally published as The Tackle: Watch Roosters expose Broncos fullback Reece Walsh’s major defensive weakness