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NRL stars Reece Walsh and David Fifita have clashed in a heated verbal exchange at a Gold Coast nightclub.
According to the Daily Telegraph, the pair went ‘toe to toe’ at the Pink Monkey Bar and Grill in Burleigh Heads in the early hours of Friday morning, with Walsh evicted after security guards intervened.
“I was at Pink Monkey and saw Dave Fifita and Reece Walsh have a go at each other,” an eyewitness told News Corp.
“Fifita seemed pretty controlled after nearly a minute of heated conversation. Security stepped in. Walsh just backdoored it quick.”
“[They were] “yelling and screaming for about two minutes,” another eyewitness said.
“Not one punch thrown, no fight, no brawl. It was just a full on argument… they were just in each other’s faces.”
Pink Monkey manager Rhys Osborne, however, defended the pair’s conduct, telling the Daily Telegraph Walsh and Fifita were ‘respectful footy players’.
Reece Walsh (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)
“I walked over to them and I said ‘Walshy, you go mate. Fifita, you sit down’ and then they just dispersed.” Osborne said.
“Security walked Walsh out and it was fine. No one grabbed him, no one put hands on him – he walked himself out.
“Walsh just walked out. Fifita stayed sitting down and talking with his mates.
“And I just said to Fifita ‘maybe after he’s gone, you head off too’.
“They are respectful footy players. They do nothing and the limelight is still on them.”
David Fifita (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
It isn’t Walsh’s first case of trouble on the Gold Coast: in October 2021, the then-New Zealand Warriors pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine while in Surfer’s Paradise on an end-of-season trip, earning a two-game suspension and $5000 fine from the NRL and a nine-month good behavour bond from the Warriors.
Fifita has his own history on the glitter strip as well: in December 2020, he was arrested but released without charge after an alleged case of trespassing, where he was reportedly invited into a private home but mistakenly entered the wrong room. He was fined $20,000 for breaching the NRL’s Alcohol Code of Conduct.
In July 2022, Walsh officially signed a three-year deal to return to the Brisbane Broncos, having begun his career as a development player at the club before being lured to the Warriors by the prospect of first-grade action.
Quickly proving one of the NRL’s brightest young fullbacks, the then-18 year old was selected for Queensland for the second State of Origin match in 2021, but missed due to injury.
Fifita struggled with injury after a dominant 2021 in his first year at the Gold Coast Titans after crossing from the Broncos. In 2019, he became the first player born in the 2000s to be selected for State of Origin, suiting up for the Maroons in Game 1 of the series.
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