Reece Walsh wiped from Origin Game 1 as Broncos make announcement

Broncos fullback Reece Walsh has all-but been ruled out of State of Origin Game 1 with the Broncos announcing big news on Sunday.

Reece Walsh has all-but been wiped out of State of Origin Game 1 after the Broncos announced on Sunday the star fullback has suffered a serious knee injury.

The livewire No. 1 had a nightmare in Brisbane’s loss to the Warriors in Auckland on Saturday with his kick-off failure gifting Luke Metcalf a chance to win the game with a 50m penalty goal attempt in the opening minute of Golden Point extra-time.

Walsh was smashed by Kurt Capewell in the opening play of the game and it was clear something was wrong when he pulled up lame chasing a kick on the ensuing set.

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While clearly hampered, Walsh managed to see out the 81 minutes, but did so with a heavily strapped knee and periods spent on the wing which restricted him to 50m gained.

The Broncos on Sunday confirmed the worst with medical assessments revealing Walsh has suffered a PCL injury in his knee.

Reece Walsh did not enjoy his trip to Auckland. Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images.

The club added Walsh will have scans on Tuesday when the team returns from New Zealand and it is expected he will be out of action for 4-6 weeks.

That time frame means he is highly unlikely to feature in State of Origin Game 1 at Suncorp Stadium on May 28.

Leading sports injury analyst Brian Seeney, who operates the popular ‘NRL Physio’ account on X, posted it was good news for Broncos fans “with PCL ruptures rarely requiring surgery”.

Despite the serious injury, Walsh still had an impact on the game at times and scored the try that tied up the scores in the 73rd minute.

While there is still more than five weeks remaining before the Origin series opener, Maroons coach Billy Slater will have to announce his team more than a week ahead of the game.

Slater has also previously been firm in only selecting players that are able to train for the full week leading up to Origin games.

The added nail in Walsh’s Origin coffin is that the mercurial gamebreaker has also been hot and cold this season and may have missed selection on form alone.

Slater has plenty of concerns on his hands already with star hooker Harry Grant also managing a hamstring injury that saw him withdrawn from the Storm’s Good Friday loss to the Dolphins.

As always with Walsh, there was a mixed response to the injury news.

“Reece Walsh injury is a massive blow. 4-6 weeks. He needs to be on the paddock to get his mojo back. Season going from bad to worse. Speedy recovery Reece,” was one comment on X.

“(Kalyn) Ponga was always the fullback for Queensland in most of Queenslanders eyes I think,” wrote another.

“His courage yesterday was unbelievable. He will be back better than ever,” wrote a third.

“Hope he’s okay, but frankly broncos needed to shake things up either way,” stated a fourth.

Originally published as Reece Walsh wiped from Origin Game 1 as Broncos make announcement