Reece Walsh returns as first Broncos player back to Brisbane training ahead of official NRL pre-season start

While Brisbane’s pre-season hasn’t officially launched, a rejuvenated Reece Walsh has returned to Red Hill and shown the strongest sign yet that he’s ready to fire for the Broncos under Michael Maguire.

A rejuvenated Reece Walsh has returned to Brisbane training two weeks ahead of schedule in the strongest sign yet the Broncos superstar is ready to fire under new coach Michael Maguire.

This masthead can reveal Walsh has held talks with Maguire and is the first Bronco already back at training ahead of Brisbane’s official pre-season launch at Red Hill this Monday.

While some of Brisbane’s big guns are on overseas holidays and aren’t due to return for another fortnight, Walsh has been turning up to Broncos headquarters – of his own volition – to begin the pre-season slog.

It is evidence of Walsh’s commitment to the new Maguire regime following the departure of coach Kevin Walters and his determination to atone for his and Brisbane’s nightmare 2024 season.

Maguire praised Walsh’s attitude, revealing the fullback is back in business in a bid to snap Brisbane’s 19-year premiership drought.

“Reece has already been back a few weeks,” Maguire said.

Reece Walsh was the first Bronco back to training ahead of Brisbane’s official pre-season launch. Picture: Nigel Hallett

“Reece has come back early and I’ve also seen a few others like Payne Haas, Ben Te Kura and Kobe Hetherington.

“It’s great to see. This is the sign of professionalism and this is how we are going to do things at the Broncos if we want to reach the standards of Penrith and Melbourne.”

Aside from Brisbane’s collective struggles to finish 12th last season, Walsh had a personal campaign to forget. He sustained a facial fracture, underwent hand surgery and suffered a sickening concussion after being wiped out by NSW debutant Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii in Origin I.

But ‘Reece Lightning’ is primed to strike again in 2025, with the 22-year-old making a statement to Maguire by taking up personal training sessions well before he was required to return to Red Hill.

Reece Walsh had a challenging 2024 campaign. Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images

Walsh has been seen at Brisbane’s $27 million high-performance centre in recent weeks. The facility largely resembles a ghost town, but Walsh is grinding away in isolation, doing weights in the Broncos gymnasium and solo running sessions on the training paddock.

The Maroons maestro has made a full recovery from hand surgery in August and Maguire backed Walsh to prove his critics wrong next year by recapturing the sizzling form that ignited Brisbane’s charge to the 2023 grand final.

“What I like about Reece is that he loves the game,” Maguire said.

“There’s no doubt Reece is very talented and wants to be one of the greats of the game.

“To do that, you have to turn up consistently over periods of time, year after year, whether it’s Reece or whoever.

“Reece could talk football all day and he wants to get better.”

New Broncos coach Michael Maguire has spoken fondly about Walsh. Picture: Zak Simmonds

A News Corp poll of more than 15,000 readers showed fans believed a “rockstar mentality” was Brisbane’s biggest problem and Walsh was viewed as the poster boy for the Broncos’ losing their way last season.

But for all his charisma and good looks, Walsh, according to Maguire, possesses the drive to become a champion of the sport.

Renowned as a strict disciplinarian who isn’t afraid to challenge players physically and mentally, Maguire is set to put Broncos stars through a punishing pre-season and he believes Walsh will buy into his cultural style.

“We’ve had a great chat, I have no concerns with Reece,” he said.

“I know he has the work ethic to live up to his potential.

“I’m really looking forward to working with him.”

Walsh has agreed terms on a four-year, $4.4 million extension and Broncos skipper Adam Reynolds believes the scar tissue of 2024 will take Brisbane’s flashy fullback to another level next season.

“I believe Reece will be better for what’s happened,” Reynolds said.

“It was a learning curve for a lot of us.

“We went through some tough patches, not a lot of us played a lot of games together because of injury and as a result there was no real consistency there.

“But I see how hard Reece works. We’ll be working extremely hard in the new pre-season to rectify things and get back to where we know we’re capable of being, Reece included.”

Originally published as Reece Walsh returns as first Broncos player back to Brisbane training ahead of official NRL pre-season start