What is Wrong With Reece Walsh?

What’s wrong with Reece Walsh? This question has been asked repeatedly as the rounds have progressed to start the 2025 NRL season, now with Walsh facing 4-6 weeks on the sidelines with a knee injury many people are questioning what exactly has gone wrong with his start to the season? Today I’ll attempt to answer that question. 

I want to start by saying my only bad blood towards Walsh is that he’s lost me 250k in NRL fantasy. I am a Wahs fan but I truly don’t have any hatred directed towards him. To me, I’ve always seen him as a leading talent in the NRL and one of the stars and future stars of the game. I understand why he is a polarising figure, but in my view most people started hating him, a. Because he was good, b. Because they were insecure in their own masculinity, or c. They are from NSW. 

So what is wrong? Well a common idea is that Walsh’s form drop traces back to Joseph Sua’ali’i’s ugly high shot on him in game one of Origin last year. I do think this had an effect on him, but not as much as people have made it seem. The main issue in my eyes was Walsh did not play a game between Origin I and Origin II last year. Asking a guy who just got knocked out cold to run out in Australia’s most iconic sporting venue against a team facing a must win situation at the highest level of the sport is a tough ask, and I think it was too much for Billy Slater to ask of Walsh. I am absolutely sure he felt he could handle it, but at the end of the day he was still a 21 year old kid and I think the trial by fire he got against a fired up NSW team was not the right place for him to return to playing. However, the stretch that Walsh proceeded to go on after Origin II was up there with some of the best footy he has played in his short career so far. Over his last five games of the season (which is all he played after Origin II due to injuries) he averaged 164 metres, 17 carries, five tackle breaks and 178 kick metres. Alongside these stats he had five line breaks, nine line break assists, four try assists, a 40/20, two forced dropouts and five tries. I’m well aware that stats do not always paint the full picture, but in comparison to his current statistics, it’s clear he was playing at a much higher level than he is now. 

So if Walsh’s form slump does not link back to the shot by Sua’ali’i, then what is the answer to why he has struggled so much to start the season? My answer is a mix between his halves and coaching. The Broncos attack, despite all the talent, is extremely bland, particularly Walsh’s role. Walsh is almost strictly used out the back of block shape, with either half as the ball player. This is probably the most common shape used by all teams in league, but what makes the Broncos so bland is Walsh almost never is used outside of this. A lot of other top fullbacks such as Dylan Edwards, James Tedesco and Kalyn Ponga operate a lot around the ruck area, particularly early in sets and combine with their hooker, but Walsh this season is rarely seen doing this. Instead it is actually the Broncos wingers and centres who tend to find themselves in these spots, particularly Selwyn Cobbo and Kotoni Staggs. At his best Walsh is threatening around the ruck, but for some reason Madge Maguire and the Broncos halves are preferring having Walsh lurking out the back. Below are all examples of the Broncos setting up in the block shape, these three examples are all from the first half of the Warriors game.

This shape is not working currently though for the Broncos, which is no fault of Walsh. The reason for this is Adam Reynolds and Ben Hunt not drawing enough attention when they have the ball. Both Reynolds and Hunt are traditional halfbacks, and having two of them in the halves means there is little to no consistent running threat. This results in defences being able to hyper focus on Walsh and track him to shut him down as soon as the ball leaves the halves hands.

In the second half, for the Broncos second try the block shape worked. This is because Reynolds had another line runner on his inside shoulder in Carrigan, Reynolds ball fakes back inside which holds up the defensive line long enough for Walsh to have the tiniest moment with the ball which leads to him throwing a cut out ball to Arthars who then scored in the corner. By holding up the ball and faking inside Reynolds does two things, stops the defensive line from drifting and takes the ball just a little bit deeper into the line which forces Metcalf to turn in slightly and leaves Capewell flatfooted on his heels. Due to this, Capewell is no more than half a second late at shooting out of the line on Walsh which gives him the window to throw the try assist.

Compare this scene to in the first half when the same play was ran, and Leiataua managed to force Walsh to throw a bad and rushed pass which led to Pompey driving Staggs back 20 metres. In that case Reynolds failed to engage the line or hold the defence with an inside runner so Leiataua could rush out of the line before Reynolds had even released the ball. Genuinely there is little more than a second between it but it is what makes the difference between Walsh simply tipping it on and actually throwing the pass he wants to throw.

The solution? I’m not totally sure. Ezra Mam returning will help. His running threat brings a totally different apsect to the Broncos halves and attack as a whole. Him and Walsh have an established connection that has been proven to work in 2023, hopefully his return can help bring Walsh back into the form that had him a lock for Origin in 2023. I’d also look to bring Walsh into first receiver more often. Once Ben Hunt moved to hooker at the end of the Warriors game Walsh was more prominent in that role and I think that is the key. He simply has not been involved enough to start this season and Maguire as well as the halves have to take accountability for that. Walsh is one of the most potent attacking weapons in the comp but they have been unable to unlock his potential.

So overall to answer the original question, I do not think there is anything wrong with Reece Walsh. I think he is suffering from being in a Broncos side that is yet to hit their full stride and figure out exactly what they are trying to achieve on the field. The next four or so weeks without him are a perfect opportunity for the Broncos to establish an attacking plan that Walsh can then be integrated into when he returns from his knee injury. I fully expect Walsh to find his top form again before the end of 2025.