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Reece Walsh is not the first 20-year-old rising NRL star to get too big for his boots and spoiler alert, he won’t be the last.
It’s what happens now which will define whether he fulfils his enormous potential or, worst-case scenario, ends up as another cautionary tale of rugby league prodigies who can’t get out of their own way.
Walsh thoroughly deserved his three-match ban for his unacceptable “what the f— do you mean, c—?” foul-mouthed abuse of referee Chris Butler in last Sunday’s 18-12 loss to the Titans.
It should have been longer, particularly given it was his fourth charge this year alone.
Last year, Marcelo Montoya was banned four weeks for using a homophobic slur against an opponent so Walsh can count himself lucky that despite his poor recent judiciary record, his ban is one game less.
There is no questioning his talent but the warning signs have been building for several months and Brisbane should have nipped it in the bud earlier.
Reece Walsh. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
The first smoke signal came from inside the wonderfully named Pink Monkey Bar and Grill in Burleigh Heads during the Broncos’ new year training break when Walsh was given his marching orders by security staff before a heated altercation with none other than David Fifita.
That’s the same David Fifita who tried to get Walsh off the contrary conduct charge at the judiciary during the week but the Maroons teammates were rebuked by NRL counsel Patrick Knowles who asserted they had given remarkably similar versions of events that were “demonstrably untrue” and “frankly incredulous” after getting their stories straight before the hearing.
Fifita was also a mate from high school and Walsh claimed media coverage about the monkeying around at the Pink Monkey was much ado about nothing.
However, he also added that after a two-year stint in a bubble with the nomadic Warriors during the pandemic, he needed to get used to being a high-profile player in the Brisbane fishbowl where Broncos players stand out more than a non-XXXX beer at the Caxton Hotel.
“This is what comes with playing for the Broncos, we have to uphold standards and make sure we’re always doing the right thing,” he said in a Sun-Herald interview a month after the Fifita brouhaha.
Walsh’s return to the Broncos this season could not have gone better on the field.
His blinding pace off the mark has given Brisbane the point of difference in attack they sorely lacked last year when opposing teams knew if they targeted captain Adam Reynolds at halfback, they’d shut down potential threats.
Walsh has raced in four tries but set up 16 more from the Broncos backfield while racking up 10 line breaks from his 14 appearances.
There’s been some bluff and bluster on the way like his “This is our house” post-try celebration after scoring against the Dolphins at Suncorp Stadium.
Nothing wrong with that. Professional sportspeople need to have a certain level, usually high, level of arrogance to make it.
There are few wallflowers in the NRL.
But the judiciary charges have quickly piled up – a shoulder charge in Round 11 followed by two more in Origin II when he headbutted Jarome Luai in their last-minute dust-up and for dangerous contact on the NSW five-eighth.
Those two had history from a few weeks beforehand when Luai accused Walsh of pulling his hair and then later said he disappeared when it looked like punches could be thrown afterwards. “I knew it was him too because he ran away,” Luai said.
Walsh admitted after his Origin II carry-on when he waved goodbye to Luai when he was the first one banished by the referee that he wasn’t proud of his behaviour and needed to pull his head in.
But those words proved empty when he returned to the same venue four days later and argued several refereeing decisions before Butler warned Reynolds after his expletive-filled rant in the second half that he was going to be sent off if he did it again.
Reece Walsh. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Butler was too lenient. The best thing that could have happened to Walsh would have been a stint in the sin bin on the first, second or even third time he mouthed off during his running battle with the man holding the whistle.
He’s now received his comeuppance courtesy of the judiciary and it’s now up to him to shed that ugly side of his game which has tarnished his stellar season.
Walsh has three weeks to think about it and you would hope the sight of AJ Brimson or Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow running out in his No.1 jersey for Origin III will provide an extra jolt to the system.
Never give a sucker an even break when it comes to representative selections.
Kerrod Walters played five Origins for Queensland in 1989-90 and had nailed down the Australian jersey ahead of Benny Elias.
He was sent off for throwing a punch in a club game, copped a two-week ban which ruled him out of Origin and opened the door for his brother Steve to take both rep jerseys.
Kerrod’s twin brother Kevin, at his Friday media conference before Saturday’s return bout with the Dolphins, said the Broncos had spoken to Walsh about his ref spray and the coach was confident it would not happen again
“It’s all done and dusted now,” he said. “It’s been handled the right way and Reece has owned up to his misdemeanours and we’re getting on with life.
“It’s not a huge problem for Reece – he’s obviously very passionate about his game. We’ve dealt with it, we’ll deal with it in-house as well. We’ll get some support around Reece, like we spoke about, and he’s got some time on the sideline which we’ll accept and we’ll get on with things.”
Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett talks to his players during training. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett said Walsh’s ban was “absolutely” justified.
“The referee has got to be protected and the game does them a great disservice when we don’t,” he said at his Friday media conference prior to their derby clash with the Broncos at the Gabba. “To the game’s credit they have always stood up for referees, whether I’ve been a coach or player. So they should.
“Sometimes people learn and sometimes they never learn. That’s to be seen what he learns out of it.”
Walsh is one of the most, if not the most, naturally talented prospects in the NRL. It would be a shame for that to go to waste.
The term “he’s just a kid” is thrown around way too much in NRL circles to explain away bad behaviour of adult males, sometimes those who are closer to 30 than their teenage years.
Walsh is only 20 so he’s nowhere near the finished product as a person or as a player so he has plenty of time to learn from this mistake and not only reclaim his Queensland jersey but succeed James Tedesco as Australia’s next long-term fullback if he lets his football do the talking.