Reece Walsh dominated Latrell Mitchell in their one-on-one battle to underline his status as arguably the best fullback in the NRL and spearhead Brisbane’s 28-18 win over South Sydney at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.
Walsh scored a scintillating solo try and then put the finishing touches on a team effort as the Broncos opened their account for the season in a clash between two first-up Las Vegas losers.
The Rabbitohs are now 0-2 and chasing their tails heading into next Friday’s showdown with their bitter rivals, Sydney Roosters.
But Thursday night was all about Walsh.
No.1 in fullback race?
In a league of extraordinary fullbacks, Walsh has the potential to be the best.
If he maintains this form, he will be one of the favourites for the Dally M Medal and the winner of last year’s top individual award, Kalyn Ponga, will have no chance of reclaiming the Queensland No.1 jersey from Walsh.
Mitchell, James Tedesco, Dylan Edwards, Tom Trbojevic and Ryan Papenhuyzen are also in the mix when the debate turns to which fullback is No.1 in the NRL but based on last year’s breakout season and this performance to slice and dice the Bunnies, it’s hard to say Walsh is not the best going around at the moment.
And he’s still only 21.
Reece Walsh. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
“In games like this where it’s pretty tight and you’re struggling a bit, it’s important you have players in your team that can do that, just pull something out. It was a good individual performance from him,” coach Kevin Walters said with a heavy dose of understatement.
“We were a long way off where we need to be. There were some things to like but as a team we’re just not quite nailing it yet.”
Brisbane’s only concern came when captain Adam Reynolds received treatment late in the match for a knee problem but he was allowed to play on despite his left leg being heavily strapped after carrying the injury back from the US from their opening-round loss to the Roosters.
“The plan is to get a scan in the morning,” he said. “It’s not too serious.”
Walsh cures the Vegas hangover
In their first match back on home soil, both teams started the match like bleary-eyed gamblers crawling out of Las Vegas fumbling for their wallets.
Neither side was crisp in attack and the clunky nature of play led to a scoreless first 15 minutes.
Reynolds kick-started the Brisbane attacking machine into gear when he kicked near the sideline and Alex Johnston was bundled over it by Kotoni Staggs.
The Rabbitohs tried to challenge the call, arguing the kick-chase was onside, but the decision stood and on the next set, Reynolds again tormented his former teammate on the wing.
Brisbane’s skipper slid in a grubber behind Johnston and he was not quick enough to get back to the ball before opposing winger Deine Mariner set sail for the Steeden.
When it comes to sniffing out tries, he’s quite the hunter, Mariner.
Walsh tore the South Sydney middle defence apart in the 25th minute when he sprinted clear of four tiring forwards and slipped out of Latrell Mitchell’s tackle to touch down under the posts in a superb solo effort.
Souths were on the ropes on the half-hour mark when Reynolds cleaned up the crumbs after Mitchell couldn’t secure a hopeful Staggs grubber and was collared by Cody Walker and Damien Cook.
Referee Gerard Sutton quite rightly raised 10 fingers to signal a sin bin after Reynolds was rag-dolled after the initial tackle but he got the wrong Rabbit with Cook getting marched even though Walker was the one who roughed up his former halves partner with a professional foul.
Reynolds raised a few eyebrows by electing to take the two points on offer via a penalty goal and the depleted Bunnies managed to scrape their way to half-time without conceding any further damage on the scoreboard.
Brisbane started the second half in sloppy fashion when Jesse Arthars fumbled a bomb with Siliva Havili scrambling over the stripe soon after.
Despite being outplayed for 40 of the 45 elapsed minutes, Souths somehow drew level when Havili sent Davvy Moale over from close range.
The back-to-back body blows sparked Brisbane out of their slumber and Arthars this time showed top-rate handling by juggling a tip-on from Selwn Cobbo to touch down in the corner for a 16-12 lead.
Walsh set up the play by launching a short-side raid while the South Sydney defence was focused on Brisbane’s main playmakers Reynolds and Ezra Mam lined out to the open side.
Cobbo looked good at centre in just his second match in his new position after an off-season switch from the wing and he doesn’t seem to have a problem shuffling the ball wide which can be a concern when players move one in off the flank.
Mam was solid in his first match since the controversial Vegas incident when Roosters prop Spencer Leniu racially abused him by calling him a monkey, which ultimately led to an eight-game ban for the Samoan internationa.
But he didn’t need to play a starring role with Reynolds directing the team around the park and Walsh adding touches of class from the back seemingly at will.
The 16-12 lead became a 10-point advantage in the 64th minute when Walsh made the defence backpedal before shifting the ball wide to Cobbo, who got outside his defender to release Arthars down the left wing.
As the defence converged, he rushed a left-foot chip kick over the top which just evaded Mitchell’s lunge and bounced up perfectly for Walsh to collect it on the fly.
“Everything that has happened good tonight for Brisbane has happened around this whizz-kid,” premiership-winning hooker Michael Ennis said with trademark enthusiasm and not what you would call correct use of the English language.
“Brisbane’s little superstar just takes the game again by the scruff of the neck.”
Souths, who were without injured forward Jai Arrow and suspended marque recruit Jack Wighton, were committed to the task even if their handling continually let them down.
Johnston’s night to forget continued in the 74th minute when he fumbled a put-down in the in-goal area as he tried to reach around Mariner to score a try that could have given Souths a chance to steal victory.
But a couple of minutes later it was Mariner who got over the line when he chipped over Johnston, sped around him and regathered to seal the triumph.
Mitchell showed a glimpse of his star power with the final play of the match to break free near halfway and turn Walsh inside out on the way to the line to cut the final deficit to 10.
Demetriou fumes at ‘horror show’
Pressure is mounting on coach Jason Demetriou to turn the team around on the back of last year’s campaign petering out to miss the finals.
With basic errors lowlighted by giving up a scrum against the feed, he was far from impressed with his side’s attention to detail.
“It was a horror show of really little things that kept putting pressure on ourselves,” he said.
“It’s concentration. One (error) generally leads to two, two leads to three. Because we’re not concentrating, fatigue is setting in. Individuals have got to own their roles.”
He was happy with his team’s defensive resolve apart from conceding three tries from kicks on play five.
“Schoolboy errors – if we tidy them up, we’ve got a very, very, very good footy side.”
Slammin_Sam
Roar Rookie
They are definitely leaving their run late for May premiers title....
andyfnq
Roar Rookie
Every week when someone's team is able to pressure Nathan Cleary, that team's supporters will realise why it's a good rule
andyfnq
Roar Rookie
Special footballer but not a special fullback
Hoy
Roar Guru
Yep... I couldn't figure out why Walsh kept backing off...
Maxtruck
Roar Rookie
Been a Broncos fan since 1988 when we touched up the Silver tails 44/10 But I would sign Latrell Mitchell at the Broncs in a heartbeat, he is some special footballer.
Nat
Roar Guru
It's taken a while but that technique is the reason he's been on the cusp for a while. The fact he grew into a 6.3", 100kg line runner certainly helps.
Nat
Roar Guru
What's more concerning is Mitchell had no one to pass to and Reece was still backing away.
Nat
Roar Guru
You know when Shaq Mitchell is in your starting 13 the cap is in a huge mess.
steveng
Roar Rookie
That’s been going on for ages with the Bunnies of "able to keep in touch" and especially since R12 last year but they always get beaten. Nah, the Bunnies are a spent force if they keep playing like they are, as the sooner they realize what the gap to the opposition is and what it takes to beat them (not so much last night with the Bronx, as they got off easy) but in the next R3 against the Chooks (who will put their best side in) then R8 against the Storm and R9 against the Panthers as then they will see that they are no match if they keep having a half pie attitude and play their games in spurts like they have done for at least 1.5 seasons as it doesn’t work. Very disappointing effort last year from R12 and so far in 2024, as and last night and if the Bunnies would have kept possession and had a better completion rate they would have beaten the Bronx who weren’t that crash hot and to all the Bronx fans, I wouldn’t be jumping up and down and doing any backward somersault or spreading eagle and jumping like a goose when scoring a try like that clown Reece Walsh does :laughing: there is plenty of the 2024 season to go and no side has ever won the comp in R2 :laughing:
Short Memory
Roar Rookie
they were able to keep in touch with the Broncos until late in the game Courtesy of Broncos bombing a couple of absolute sitters. Hetherington's was so bad it almost looked deliberate!
Short Memory
Roar Rookie
Yep. I've always hated the wall of players hanging around the play the ball forcing the kick pressure defender to run around them. Glad to see it being rubbed out. Ditto for downtown chasers.
Short Memory
Roar Rookie
Quaker?
Short Memory
Roar Rookie
Pushover try guaranteed :laughing:
criag
Roar Rookie
Souths go from looking unstoppable to comical very quickly. The upside, even after a mistake-riddled performance, is that they were able to keep in touch with the Broncos until late in the game. They also have some good players to come back. If JD can get them playing like they did for the first minutes of the 2nd half more frequently...
andyfnq
Roar Rookie
fair enough, but the answer is don't allow yourself to be in front
andyfnq
Roar Rookie
I'll get a good look when they play the Storm :thumbup: Who knows, maybe they'll surprise us both :happy:
Noel
Roar Rookie
Played centre or FB in QCup. Until Walsh exploded, I always expected him to be the long term FB. I'm glad he's coming good on the centres. He could be a less grubby Hodges.
SSTID
Roar Rookie
In my experience in work, life and rugby league there is never one single causation for any particular problem. You can ask 100 people and get 150 reasons and some will be close to the mark and others way off, mine included. But ultimately I have now realised that their window of opportunity has closed for the foreseeable future. They can still be a competitive side on their day, but not a serious contender over the next few years. It is now a case of starting to weed out the players that are not performing and blood the existing good young players they wish to keep - all of which takes years. Pre-season I didn't buy into the hype and I thought they would finish 6 to 8. But after last week I took that back to 8 to 10. After last night I think 10 will be closer to the mark and that is only because there are still a lot of other teams that will be in a worst position in terms of attack, defence, talent and player roster.
The Barry
Roar Guru
No offence but I think it was more poor play and stone cold mistakes from Souths than how well the Broncos allowed them to play. They were just bad for large chunks of the game Broncos weren’t hugely impressive themselves particularly early. Minor concern how easily they let Souths back into the game after half time…
The Barry
Roar Guru
Man, Piakura can hit. Couple of clean as a whistle, up under the ball tackles. Pleasure to watch…