Brutal Reece Walsh truth laid bare amid Broncos halves crisis
An injury disaster has left the Broncos’ season hanging by a thread as the 2023 grand finalists’ latest predicament was further exposed.
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The Brisbane Broncos’ tumble down the NRL ladder has continued after losing a second grand final replay 14-6 to the Penrith Panthers in an arm-wrestle of a game in Brisbane.
While it was another chance for the Broncos to get revenge after the Nathan Cleary-inspired comeback snatched last year’s decider, it was getting towards a must-win game for Brisbane after dropping out of the top eight last week.
But once again, Penrith — the NRL’s best defensive team — showed what they could do, restricting the Broncos to a solitary try as they crashed to a fifth straight loss.
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The match also doubled as a return for Reece Walsh to the Broncos’ line up and the popular fullback didn’t disappoint.
Scoring his side’s only try with a brilliant solo effort, Walsh also had a line break assist, six breaks (beaten only by opposite No. 1 Dylan Edwards) and 179m in 16 runs to top the chart for the Broncos.
He also kicked for 421m, seemingly taking over when young halfback Jock Madden left the field with a hamstring injury just three minutes into the second half.
The injury has plunged the Broncos halves crisis even deeper after losing Adam Reynolds earlier in the year with Walsh needing to taking over.
Broncos coach Kevin Walters conceded the club would need to look “outside the top 30” players to fill all the gaps, with Origin and injury dramas conspiring against the side.
Post-match, Paul Vautin said the Broncos looked better when Walsh had his hands on the ball.
“The worrying thing for Brisbane is the lack of points, averaging 13 the last three weeks in their losses, only six tonight and they did not look like scoring too many more,” Vautin said.
“But it seems now if Reece Walsh is not doing something, making breaks for the Broncos, that nothing is happening. Ezra Mam was quiet tonight.”
Brad Fittler interjected, saying: “When Jock Madden went off, Reece had to pretty much do everything. He started to have to do all the thinking as well.”
Vautin joked: “You cannot deal with all that … unless you’re Johnathan Thurston or Brad Fittler.”
Walsh had a piece of magic in the first half, sprinting through a gap and then outpacing Edwards to give his side a 6-4 lead at halftime.
Watch in the video player above.
On Fox Sports, Greg Alexander called his electric try “a typical Reece Walsh try”.
It had been a long time coming for Walsh, who last played for the Broncos in round 12 after his Origin 1 concussion, while his only other game in that time was Origin 2 in Melbourne.
But he’ll likely be selected in the Maroons team in Game 3 and leave the Broncos with an inexperienced halves duo.
In the middle of a slide with the Broncos believed to need six wins from their last eight games to make the finals, assuming 13 wins are required to make the post-season, it’s the last thing the team needs as it looks to turn its season around.
It could at least be a welcome respite from the hype around Walsh, who has been attracting crowds of kids to Broncos training sessions.
Corey Parker said Brisbane had gone mad for the fullback.
“You cannot escape what is going on around Reece Walsh — he is front and back page most days,” Parker said.
“But for me, it was the way he approached the game in the physicality. He went in defensively — they would have spoken about being physical all week and he led that today.”
Alexander added any talk of a Walsh hangover lingering from his heavy Origin 1 hit had been “put out of his mind today”.
Originally published as Brutal Reece Walsh truth laid bare amid Broncos halves crisis
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