Corey Parker delivers ugly $5m Reece Walsh truth as Queensland star on the outer

Reece Walsh appears to have possibly played himself out of a Queensland Origin jersey after a horror show against the Raiders.

Queensland legend Corey Parker has delivered Broncos star Reece Walsh a hard truth after the fullback put in a performance to forget in Brisbane’s 32-22 loss to Canberra on Saturday night.

Walsh finished the contest with a stat line that called into question his contract which is worth more than $1 million a season.

Against the Raiders, Walsh missed four tackles, had four errors and only ran for just 104 metres.

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The Brisbane fullback was a total passenger in the first half of the match before trying to inject himself into the game in the second half, but if anything it only made things worse.

With his side down 16-10 at the break, early in the second half, the Broncos star tried to pull off a miracle pass which badly backfired and from there he simply tried to do too much instead of getting in the grind and doing the hard yards.

Walsh also inexplicably dropped the ball close to the try line after breaking through Canberra’s defence, a costly blunder that could have marked a turning point in the match.

The 22-year-old also threw a wild cut-out pass over the sideline before putting Jesse Arthars into touch with a hospital ball after a kick return, in what could only be described as a horror show from the fullback.

But most concerningly for Michael Maguire and Broncos fans, Walsh’s shocker is hardly an abnormality.

Reece Walsh has come under fire. Image: Getty/News Corp

His flashes of brilliance are time and time again overshadowed by costly errors and defensive lapses.

And on Monday, Parker said Walsh simply must become more consistent if he is to live up to his hefty price tag.

“Reece Walsh, a lot of errors,” Parker said on SENQ on Monday morning discussing his Round 2 performance.

“And my question is do we put more focus on Reece (and his performances) because of the greatness we see or the pay packet he gets?

“Because at 22 you’ve got to accept some errors along the way. But Reece’s best game and worst games are so far apart. He’s got to close that gap and build consistency and greatness.

Reece Walsh had a stinker against Canberra on Saturday. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

“ … When you’re on a big contract people want success. They don’t want this process of it’s going to take time, they want it now and straight away.”

Parker’s SEN co-host, cricket great Ian Healy, added that Walsh’s greatness has barely been witnessed since the 2023 NRL season.

But even if Walsh does string some solid performances together, it may be too late to save his Queensland jersey as Billy Slater looks to reclaim the Origin shield in 2025.

On the weekend NRL great Darren Lockyer sang the praises of Tom Trbojevic, Ryan Papenhuyzen and James Tedesco, stating they are some of the best fullbacks in the NRL.

But when it came to Walsh, he echoed that he isn’t consistent enough to be viewed as one of the game’s elite No. 1’s.

“(Walsh) has the potential to join that list but he needs to build the consistency that has been a feature of the game’s older fullbacks,” he wrote in a column for Code Sports.

Darren Lockyer (pictured) believes Reece Walsh isn’t one of the top fullbacks in the NRL. Picture, John Gass

Those words also came before his error-riddled game against Canberra and with Lockyer a Queensland Origin selector it hints that in the Origin arena, Walsh could be on the outer.

Last year Walsh was knocked out of the State of Origin Game I in the opening exchanges, while in Game III he failed to step up as the Blues took home the Shield.

Meanwhile, Kalyn Ponga was a lone bright spark in Game III off the bench, while in the NRL he led the Knights to back-to-back playoff appearances.

And so far in 2025, Ponga has arguably been the best player in the competition as he helped the Knights to a 2-0 start and seems to have a tight hold on the Maroons’ No. 1 jersey.

Originally published as Corey Parker delivers ugly $5m Reece Walsh truth as Queensland star on the outer