Billy Slater addresses Reece Walsh backlash amid surprise take on DCE's future

Yahoo

28-03-2025

Queensland coach Billy Slater has defended the form of Reece Walsh, amid suggestions the incumbent Maroons fullback will be replaced by Kalyn Ponga in this year's State of Origin series. And Slater has floated a shock new candidate to sign Daly Cherry-Evans, following the 36-year-old's decision to leave Manly at the end of the season.
DCE has not yet confirmed whether he will retire, head to play overseas or join a rival NRL club in 2026, but the Roosters have emerged as favourites for his signature after several other clubs dropped out of the race. On Thursday, the Bulldogs, Sharks and Broncos joined the Dragons and Rabbitohs in ruling out a move, and Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf said the club would not approach the veteran about returning to Redcliffe, where he grew up and played junior footy.
League Immortal Andrew Johns was among those to suggest the 36-year-old would remain in Sydney because he wouldn't want to uproot his wife and three daughters, who all go to school on Sydney's northern beaches. The situation has seemingly left the cashed-up Roosters in the box seat to sign DCE and Johns says the Tri Colours and their billionaire chairman Nick Politis have the best contacts to set up the Manly captain for a post-footy career as well.
But speaking on Triple M Breakfast with Marto, Margaux and Dan on Friday morning, Slater suggested the Cowboys would be a good fit after pointing out that Cherry-Evans "spent a lot of his growing up in Mackay", in North Queensland. The Cowboys have not really been mentioned in discussions about DCE's future previously, although Slater admits it's a shame the veteran won't end his career as a one-club player with Manly.
'To be honest I don't think we know all the details so it's really hard to give you an opinion on what's happening without knowing and understanding everything," Slater said. "But yeah, it is sad because you know he's spent 15 years of his life and his whole football career at Manly. He's a premiership player there and he's playing extremely well so it does seem a little bit strange that he's not going to be there next year.
'You know, the Cowboys is another option. He spent a lot of his growing up in Mackay, which is Cowboys country. They're in the market, I would say, for a halfback." And Slater suggested it was too early to say whether DCE would be part of his plans for Origin but admits he'll be watching all of Queensland's candidates closely.
"It's the one thing that I do right now is make sure I'm watching all the Queensland players, the habits they're building and where they're at now compared to where they were at last year," he said. "And you can really tell the players that have had big off-seasons and that are really building into their seasons. I love this time of year because I just enjoy watching footy and in particular, the Queenslanders."
One man Slater might be watching closer than most is incumbent Maroons' No.1 Walsh, who has endured a rollercoaster start to the new season. Walsh was superb in round one but had a shocker in game two, and it led to growing calls for Ponga to take his spot in Origin this year after consecutive man-of-the-match displays to start Newcastle's season.
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Neither player did much to cement their case in round three, with Ponga kept unusually quiet in the Knights' heavy defeat to the Titans. And while Walsh showed flashes of his electric best in Brisbane's tight win over the Cowboys, his performance was once again punctuated by errors and needless passes as the fullback overplayed his hand on numerous occasions.
In a telling endorsement of the fullback though, Slater echoed Brisbane coach Michael Maguire's claims that critics are too quick to point out Walsh's errors and not the key contributions he makes in attack and defence. 'To be honest, you've got to look at the whole game and not just the negative parts," Slater said in response to a question about Walsh's form.
'If you watch Reece's game on the weekend (vs the Cowboys), you know, he kicked a really important 40 -20 to get them back in the hunt because the Cowboys were all over the Broncos. And then he set up a try toward the end of the game. His defence was first class in the opening 20 minutes when they were on their try line. So you've got to look at the whole picture and not just focus on the handful of negative things in someone's game."