Channel 9 host spills the beans on Reece Walsh exchange that occurred off camera
Allana Ferguson has lifted the lid on a conversation she had with Reece Walsh off camera that goes to the mindset of the Brisbane Broncos fullback and how frustrated he's been with his performances. Walsh had one of the worst games of his NRL career in Round 2, making four errors and missing four tackles as the Broncos went down to the Raiders.
Brisbane put 50 points on the Roosters in the opening round, but even then Walsh wasn't at his best. There was a telling moment in the first half of that game when Walsh made a break and completely butchered a try by not passing to a teammate.
Instead of drawing fullback James Tedesco and passing to one of a number of teammates in support, the 22-year-old tried to run around his opposite number. He eventually tried to pass after realising his mistake, but Tedesco managed to knock the ball down and prevent the try.
Speaking on the 'Immortal Behaviour' podcast with Andrew Johns on Thursday, Channel 9 star Ferguson revealed she spoke to Walsh about that incident before he went on-air for a post-game interview that night. Ferguson ribbed Walsh about not passing and joked that she was going to mention it during the interview.
But tellingly, the young fullback begged her not to bring it up and was very embarrassed about his mistake. "We were speaking to Reece off-air before he came onto the panel," she revealed. "I gave him a little bit of stick and was like 'I'm going to bring it up'. He was like 'don't bring it up' and was filthy about it.
"It wasn't necessarily because he didn't want to have a laugh. But you could see how frustrated he was despite doing a lot of good things that game. To see how filthy he was after that, I feel like that says a lot."
Johns said he could see how frustrated Walsh was in the loss to the Raiders, and pressure is mounting on the young fullback on a number of fronts. The 22-year-old is desperate to get the Broncos off to a good start in 2025 after they missed the finals last year, and he knows he'll have to lift his game to prevent Kalyn Ponga taking his Queensland No.1 jersey.
Ponga has made a blinding start to the season and would almost be first player picked if Maroons coach Billy Slater was selecting his team right now. "It will come. He just needs to pull it back a little bit and not try to go the big play every time," Johns said about Walsh. "Especially in Origin, you can't chase the big play. You have to let the big play come to you."
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A glaring weakness in Walsh's game has always been the mistakes he makes, which usually come about from trying too hard or rushing. His teammates have backed him to respond with a big game against the Cowboys on Friday night.
"Reecey is very hard on himself," winger Jesse Arthars said this week. "He holds himself to a high standard. When we are at training, in meetings and inside the club he is always looking at what he can work on. I am sure he will be pushing to play one of his better games. I fully back him."
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