Reece Walsh went missing on the big stage once again in Origin disaster

He may be the face of the league, but Reece Walsh was nowhere to be found when it mattered as he deserted his state in its time of need.

Reece Walsh went AWOL when Queensland needed him most. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

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Reece Walsh has just endured a joyless squib of an Origin series that not even a bracelet groupie or Dally M judge could rate a success.

And while such a talent is destined to tap dance on our teeth again sooner rather than later, familiar questions have resurfaced about his AWOL behaviour under bright lights and high stakes.

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For all his confidence, Walsh will be doing plenty of navel gazing again after Wednesday night’s loss, if he can see past his herniated ribs.

If you missed it, the Maroon resembled a Christmas tree in the Denver snow at full-time with injuries to his ribs, hips and thighs leaving him bedecked in enough ice to make an Esky jealous.

And while there is no figurative threat to Walsh’s status as the face of the game, this again proves there is a literal one.

The fullback’s limp returns in showpiece games can be linked back to the growing attention his body is receiving and we’re not talking about that from tweenies and cougars.

Despite heroic efforts to inject himself in to the contest, Walsh was bashed purple by a hive of Blues big men across the series, demonstrating again he can be thwarted by opponents with larger calorie deficits.

Walsh was battered by the Blues. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Walsh had ice bags all over his body after the contest. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

Whether getting knocked out in game one, shut down in game two or rib checked in game three, the fullback’s effervescence was snuffed out at every turn by Blue muscle and standover tactics.

And while some of NSW’s methods flirted with the boundaries of good taste - and were helped by poor mismanagement, as you’ll read below - it was a blueprint for NSW that quelled his magic beautifully.

Yes, nobody likes to see a rainbow lorikeet getting run over by a convoy of freight liners.

But Walsh has to find a way to rise above it, because this is the kinda animus he’ll be fed while ever he remains a 45kg menace.

Furthering this theory was the debut of Dylan Edwards, a mature aged thicket of sinew who drastically outshone his Maroon contemporary with an unsexy game plan that stood up under duress.

Sure, Edwards who won’t win any Cleo Bachelor of the Year awards, but he showed that regardless of inexperience, there’s no substitute in Origin for size and a receding hairline.

Edwards carved the Maroons up. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

Walsh had little to no impact in the decider. Picture: NRL Photos

As such, Walsh’s homework is to identify a similar method of dealing with getting pulped at every turn.

And unless he can return next season as a 28 year old bald man, it means he needs to get wise, thicc or quick. So he better oil-up and start serving ice cream on his mashed potato.

Daly Cherry-Evans agreed, admitting in the post-match presser that “I feel like his series this year, as (his) second year in (Origin), is where you have to figure out different ways to beat an opposition.”

In saying this, Walsh’s forgettable 2024 series cannot be blamed entirely on himself and his high school rig.

In fact, if you try hard enough, you can actually blame most of it on Billy Slater.

It’s ghoulish to think after the demolition job of game one that the series would conclude with the coach’s reputation hanging as precariously as Bradman Best’s top lip.

Both men deserve heat after that one. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

But his boneheaded decisions seemed to accelerate in frequency as the series lengthened, culminating in misappropriating his bench at Suncorp on Wednesday when the game was teetering.

While Slater can’t be blamed for the Sua’ali’i warhead nor concussion protocols, his decision to rush Walsh back for game two amid whispers over his health - and with a plethora of gilded replacements available - was also a dereliction of duty.

But witnessing Kalyn Ponga gathering moss on the bench while Walsh shuffled around the paddock with grand-scale osteoporosis in game three should’ve been enough to see Slater banished from the field with Haumole Olakau’atu.

Sadly for Walsh, Origin means not only dealing with being a target, but sometimes also a coach who thinks a bench utility is a Hilux with a middle seat.

- Dane Eldridge is a warped cynic yearning for the glory days of rugby league, a time when the sponges were magic and the Mondays were mad. He’s never strapped on a boot in his life, and as such, should be taken with a grain of salt.

Originally published as Reece Walsh went missing on the big stage once again in Origin disaster