Broncos rally around Reece Walsh following claims fans targeted his young daughter

The Broncos have revealed the intense abuse Reece Walsh endured before his sin-bin drama, as fresh claims emerge about the star fullback’s young daughter being targeted by fans.

Michael Maguire said the Broncos were rallying in support of Reece Walsh following claims he reacted to Canberra fans after they made unsavoury comments about his daughter Leila.

The Broncos are also aware of away supporters at Suncorp Stadium making vile remarks about Walsh’s four-year-old daughter, who is a regular face in the stands at Brisbane home games.

Maguire appealed for rugby league fans to applaud - rather than condemn - one of the code’s true superstars.

“He does cop a lot,” Maguire said.

“Until you see it and see what he goes through, he goes through quite a bit and I do feel for him.

“But that’s the maturity part of Reece. He enjoys family life and he’s got his beautiful young daughter. Reece is building a family environment and at the Broncos we want to make sure we support him and we’re a part of his journey.

Reece Walsh was overcome with emotion at fulltime. Picture: NRL photos

“He has copped a lot, but he is understanding how to manage it.

“A lot of people don’t see the great things he does in the background. Whenever the fans come to training, he finds time for them. He is the last guy on the bus because he is signing autographs with the fans.

“That (abuse) is part of the game. Reece unfortunately has to work his way through that which is unfair on him, but I have seen a lot of growth and maturity in Reece this year.

“The emotions were high there on Sunday but for him to compose himself, he had that little break (in the sin bin), and come out and win the game shows his strength of character.”

Broncos teammate Ben Hunt said Walsh was being sledged by Canberra players from the outset.

“They were going at ‘Walshy’ the whole game, right from the kick-off,” Hunt told 4BC radio.

“They were chirping at him and trying to get under his skin and throwing him off his game.

“It was probably a bit silly from Reece (to clash with Young), but Hudson gets up in his face and is talking trash to him and you feel like you have to do something.

“They were booing him the whole game, the players, the crowd were at him and at him.

“Reece is still young and he is learning how to make good decisions.

“I would say he regrets his decision doing that, but he is a young fella with everyone chirping at him and he just reacted.”

SHOCK WALSH CLAIMS EMERGE

Queensland coach Billy Slater has defended Broncos superstar Reece Walsh amid claims that abusive Raiders fans were making comments about his young daughter after he was sin-binned during Sunday afternoon’s dramatic NRL qualifying final at GIO Stadium.

Walsh’s response to the abuse is expected to be reviewed by the NRL on Monday morning after he appeared to flip the bird to Raiders fans as he made his way up the tunnel following an altercation with Canberra forward Hudson Young.

The pair were marched to the sin-bin as tensions spilled over in a flashpoint during Brisbane’s thrilling 29-28 golden-point extra-time victory.

Slater was stunned at suggestions that Raiders fans were making abusive comments about Walsh’s young daughter — Today Show host Karl Stefanovic made the claims on the Nine Network on Monday morning.

“I know Reece personally and I know how much he cops,’ Slater said.

“To be fair, when you pay your $20 ticket to come into a footy game, it doesn’t give you the right to abuse people.

“I wasn’t aware of that.

“It’s the first time I have heard of that sort of content being delivered towards Reece. Seriously, why would you say stuff like that.

“He wears his heart on his sleeve and it is an emotional game, he loves the game. He probably shouldn’t have done what he did but that’s the way it goes.

“I don’t think there was anything too much in the incidents. Hopefully they still get to play in that preliminary final but those rulings will come down today.”

Walsh played a starring role as the Broncos secured a spot in the preliminary final thanks to a Ben Hunt field goal in golden point extra time.

After helping ice one of the greatest comebacks in history, Walsh revealed the driving force to never give up after his sin bin - the constant jeers from Raiders fans, with the Broncos No.1 ultimately having the last laugh.

“They (Raiders players) were bloody giving it to me all night, so that’s rugby league.

“I love it.

“It might look a certain way, but you know, I love that rough and tough shit, so it’s good.

“I try to enjoy it all.”

Speaking to Fox League, Walsh was jokingly asked if Young had mentioned “anything about the toilet water incident” when the duo came to blows in the second half.

Walsh didn’t skip a beat and replied: “He called me a weak-gutted dog.”

“It was a good battle out there, he’s a top player and I love watching him play,” he continued.

His response was in reference to Canberra coach Ricky Stuart’s now infamous post-match sledge of Canterbury forward Jaeman Salmon back in 2022.

Reece Walsh flips Raiders fans the bird.

While a tongue-in-cheek moment from Walsh, it would have no doubt rubbed some salt in the Raiders’ wounds after the minor premiers went down in an epic battle in front of their home fans at GIO Stadium.

Walsh was sinbinnd for lashing out at Hudson Young, with what appeared to be a head-butting motion and could also face a charge from the match review committee on Monday.

Young was also marched for instigating the incident.

Asked if he believed he could be suspended for nudging his head into the face of Young, who was also sin-binned in a drama-charged final, Walsh said: “I hope not.

“I’ll let them (the NRL) deal with that side of it.”

Walsh made headlines in the lead-up to Round 27 when a social media video of him drinking out of a toilet bowl, which had been newly installed during a home renovation, was leaked.

Walsh has taken the incident in his stride, just like he did Sunday’s sin-binning.

What first looked like a costly turning point against Brisbane after Walsh’s brain-snap, actually worked in the Broncos’ favour.

Reece Walsh's headbutt

Walsh returned to the field with a vengeance and single-handedly turned the game on its head, dismantling Canberra’s right edge defence.

“Oh mate, geez I had to come out with something because getting set for 10 (minutes) in a final, I am disappointed in myself. So I’m glad the choccies went our way,” Walsh said.

“I’m going to be begging Madge to give us a couple of days (off), because geez he has been getting into us mate.”

REASON FOR YOUNG SIN BIN REVEALED

- David Riccio, Martin Gabor

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has lifted the lid on why star forward Hudson Young was sin-binned during yesterday’s epic golden-point final loss to the Broncos in Canberra.

Trailing 18-12 in the 53rd minute, Broncos star Reece Walsh was lucky to avoid being sent off after he appeared to head-butt Young, which resulted in the pair being sin-binned.

Referee Ashley Klein took action on Young first by sending him for a 10-minute spell for being the instigator.

The Raiders are fuming as to the reason Klein gave to sin-binning Young.

“When our captain Joe (Tapine) asked the referee why Hudson got 10-minutes, referee Ashley Klein told him, ‘’He stirred him up,’’ Stuart said.

“So that’s the rule now, if a player “stirs” the opposition up, you’re going to be sin binned.

“Hudson did nothing outside the laws of the game and is on the end of that (Walsh head butt).

“There’s no rule that says you can’t get under the skin of your opposition.

“To say we were stunned is an understatement.’’

Following the game, Stuart suggested the officials were “100 per cent wrong” to not send Broncos fullback Reece Walsh off for what appeared to be a clear cut headbutt on Hudson Young, with the minor premiers now bracing for a short turnaround after a heartbreaking loss in extra-time.

Stuart didn’t want to take away from the game of the year even though the Raiders thought they’d won it twice, with Walsh tearing them apart on Sunday with a try, two assists and a couple of 40/20s in a freakish display.

“It doesn’t matter what I think about it,” he said after the game.

“They’ve set a precedent now. You’re allowed to headbutt.

“If Joe (Canberra captain Joe Tapine) or Hudson had have used their head on Reece Walsh, what do you think would have happened to them?

“Let’s not make it about that. It was a wonderful game of football between two very good footy teams with some outstanding footballers out there.

“There was an unbelievable spectacle for rugby league. They (the officials) got it 100 per cent wrong, but we shouldn’t make it about that because it was an unbelievable promotion of the game itself.”

The fact Young got sent to the sin bin for simply celebrating a mistake was perhaps even more farcical than the call to allow Walsh to come back on the field, with Tapine at a loss to explain how his side was penalised.

“The ref said he got in his face,” he recalled.

Hudson Young was marched for ‘inciting’ Reece Walsh. Picture: NRL photos,

“I said ‘you’re allowed to celebrate a play because we just got a good play’. I said ‘if I was to celebrate a good play and someone punched me, am I in the wrong for celebrating?’

“I don’t know how they got the penalty.”

The minor premiers thought they’d earned the week off when Jamal Fogarty scored what appeared to be the winning try the set before Ben Hunt’s field goal, only for the Bunker to spot a knock on.

Stuart didn’t want to comment on the decision, with the veteran coach now tasked with picking his side up mentally and physically ahead of a showdown with the Sharks on Saturday where the visitors will have an extra day of rest.

“That’s my job. I’ve got to pick me up and I’ve got to pick them, and we spoke about that,” he said.

“If you’re not hurting right now then you shouldn’t be doing the job. We’ll dust ourselves off and go again.

“We’ve got to be professional enough to have a day off tomorrow and then we’ll get going again.

“We’ll keep our same schedule but we certainly won’t be doing a lot of work this week. If you need to be doing a lot of work at this time of year then you’re probably doing something wrong.”

Originally published as Broncos rally around Reece Walsh following claims fans targeted his young daughter