Broncos superstar Reece Walsh has found himself in the firing line of footy fans after a lacklustre performance against the Raiders on Saturday night.
Walsh, who is on a contract reportedly over $1 million a season, struggled to make an impact on the game as the Broncos went down 32-22 to the Raiders in Canberra.
As good as the Raiders looked, Walsh had a night he’d like to forget with several missed tackles and costly errors.
Fans took to social media to vent their frustration with the talented 23-year-old.
‘Reece Walsh has to be the most over rated player in the NRL, he’s so useless,’ posted one fan on X.
‘One of the worst Reece Walsh performances I’ve seen. So ordinary,’ wrote another.
The knives were out for Broncos superstar Reece Walsh following an ordinary display against the Raiders on Saturday
The Broncos went down 32-22 to the Raiders at GIO Stadium in Canberra
‘Reece Walsh decision making is killing the Broncos,’ said a third.
‘Reece Walsh’s worst game in a Bronco jersey tonight. Woeful game. Made so many mistakes.’ posted another.
The criticism follows a mixed 2024 NRL season for the young gun, where his brilliance was sometimes overshadowed by his inconsistency.
Meanwhile, Raiders fans in attendance will be brimming with optimism about the young side’s chances this season after claiming one of the biggest scalps in the competition.
Despite a Jesse Arthars hat-trick keeping the score relatively respectable, the home side looked assured against Brisbane’s attacking guns, consigning star fullback Reece Walsh to one of his quietest games in Broncos colours.
‘They jumped into us at the start and we didn’t react hard enough and fast enough,’ Brisbane coach Michael Maguire said post-match.
‘Welcome to playing in the NRL.
‘There was a lot of hype last week. Now how you deal with that, we’ll have to make sure we look after that together.’
After a great start to the comp last week, the Broncos had a night they’d rather forget
Raiders diehards have plenty to cheer about right now
Following the departure of the experienced Elliott Whitehead and Jordan Rapana over the off-season, it was unclear who would step up for the Green Machine.
But coach Ricky Stuart will be more than pleased with the performances of his two new recruits: Nicholson and Savelio Tamale.
It took Nicholson just eight minutes of NRL football to notch his first, shrugging off Broncos enforcer Pat Carrigan en route to the opening try of the game.
The 21-year-old scored his second one minute before the interval, as he follows the likes of Whitehead, John Bateman, Josh Hodgson and current teammate Morgan Smithies on the Super League-to-Canberra pipeline.
Rookie winger Tamale also impressed on his home Raiders debut.
The former Dragon pushed the margin beyond three tries in the second half, beating three defenders to score his maiden NRL try on the left edge.
While Canberra’s recruits made their mark, so did some stalwarts.
After Nicholson’s opener, veteran prop Josh Papalii notched his 65th career try, latching onto Sebastian Kris’ bat-back off a Jamal Fogarty bomb, ensuring he has scored in every NRL season since 2011.
He led a masterful performance from the Raiders’ pack in the absence of captain Joe Tapine, out-muscling some of the finest forwards in the game in the form of Carrigan and Payne Haas.
‘To do that without Joe and Xavier (Savage) … I said to the other boys you’ve got big boots to fill and you’ve got a big job to do, and they did it,’ said Stuart.
Tom Starling continued his impressive form in the Raiders’ No.9 jersey, dislodging the ball from Jordan Riki’s grasp early on with a powerful hit on the larger man.
The diminutive hooker extended his side’s lead after halftime, picking up the crumbs after his dummy-half kick was blocked by a Broncos defender and scampering under the outstretched arms of Selwyn Cobbo to the line.
Corey Horsburgh again showed how much of a loss his absence was for the Raiders last season.
The fiery Queenslander soaked up three defenders before offloading five metres from the tryline to Matt Timoko, who finished with aplomb.
Cobbo gave the Broncos some hope with 15 minutes to go, pulling off a smart one-handed catch and put-down to finish off a Reynolds cross-field kick.
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