Broncos superstar Reece Walsh has vowed to continue searching for the killer play, despite being on the receiving end of extensive criticism for his rocks or diamonds approach
Without their marquee halves pairing in Adam Reynolds and Ezra Mam, Brisbane needed an emphatic response from their livewire fullback to keep their fading top-four hopes alive.
He answered the call and cried to the naysayers that his side’s premiership hopes were far from over, during his side’s 38-28 Battle of Brisbane triumph over the Dolphins.
So dynamic at his best, and displaying a gamut of errors at his worst, Walsh was by far the former, with each of his highlight plays coming as the Broncos’ Redcliffe-based rivals threatened to run away with the contest in the absence of Reynolds and Mam (hamstring injuries).
Crucially, the 22-year-old’s lone mistake came from a moment of Kodi Nikorima quick thinking, as the Dolphins’ five-eighth put his foot into touch to turn a kick-off out on the full.
And while pundits have scrutinised Walsh’s tendency to overplay his hand – having committed 113 errors in 51 Broncos appearances – the man himself refused to go into his shell to appease the sceptics.
“It would be pretty easy for me to shy away and not want to put my hand up, but I feel if I ever did that, it would be a dishonour to myself to let someone else do that, sit back and not chase the game,” Walsh said after his Man of the Match performance.
“I’ve just got to keep working on my process, doing my job, and I’ll take whatever criticism it is if I’m trying to be the best teammate I can.
“I’m just trying to narrow my mindset and do my job for the boys. If I asked Patty [Carrigan] and Payno [Haas] to do their job, what sort of teammate would I be if they needed me to do mine and I didn’t do it?”
By half-time, Walsh already had a try, a try assist, two linebreak assists and 131 running metres, while Ben Hunt pulled the strings in Reynolds’ absence to finish the evening with three try assists.
Walsh’s set-up for a rampant Kotoni Staggs came shortly after Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow opened the scoring, while his own four-pointer – triggered when he unleashed Gehamat Shibasaki – followed Jake Averillo’s moment of individual brilliance.
Coming out of the sheds, Walsh threatened to have his night turned upside-down – sold by a breakaway Trai Fuller, before his unfortunate kick-off led to Jeremy Marshall-King extending the Dolphins’ lead to 14 points.
But while Fuller looked a certainty for a period to be the difference – finishing with 249 metres and seven tackle breaks in his first NRL appearance since rupturing his ACL last year – this was Walsh’s night.
A remarkable 40/20 triggered a procession – four tries in 15 minutes as Deine Mariner, Josiah Karapani, Ben Talty and Staggs all crossed to deliver the victory.
“He’s a freak of a player, he’s just got so much to his game, where if you try and solve it one way, he can figure out how to attack,” Dolphins skipper Isaiya Katoa said of Walsh, who finished with 249 running metres, 13 tackle busts and seven goals.
“That 40/20 changed the game a little bit. When they have a forward pack like that, and we give them a lot of momentum, it’s just hard to turn it around.
“We spoke about trying to turn it around with our defence, and I just don’t think we did that.”
Walsh’s Brisbane teammates Staggs and Pat Carrigan felt he was beginning to understand when to pull the trigger and when to rein it in – a skill he’ll need to bring to the fore with Reynolds and Mam sidelined.
“I spoke to him at the start of the week and just told him ‘keep doing what you’re doing; you don’t need to come up with big plays’,” Staggs said.
“We’ve got 17 players out there who can help you out, and I think tonight showed what kind of player he is. He can do things other players can’t do.”
Carrigan added: “He’s a hard taskmaster on himself, but I think he found that balance tonight.
“I think [his decision-making] is always the growth for him, but in saying that, his mindset is always to take the game on, and that’s why we love him.
“He’s a special player. We just need Reece to be Reece.”
Broncos vs Dolphins: How it unfolded
15th minute – After several six agains, the Dolphins strike first. Isaiya Katoa fires a brilliant cutout pass for Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, whose shift to centre reaps an early try. Jamayne Isaako converts.
20th minute – The Broncos strike back. Reece Walsh gets the set rolling with a strong kick return, and the Dolphins’ defence is caught retreating. Kotoni Staggs takes full advantage, latching onto a Walsh short pass while fending off two tackles to score from 30 metres out. Walsh converts.
27th minute – The teams exchange penalty goals to keep the score locked up.
31st minute – Jake Averillo absolutely burns his opposite number, Gehamat Shibasaki, to slice through and give the Dolphins the lead. Isaako converts.
37th minute – After unleashing Shibasaki from inside his own half, Walsh supports on the inside to score, then converts his own try.
41st minute – Straight from the kick-off, Trai Fuller justifies his shock call-up into the No.1 jumper. He bursts through the defence and throws an ambitious dummy to fool Walsh and score under the posts. Isaako converts.
45th minute – A high tackle from Kotoni Staggs on Connelly Lemuelu gifts Isaako an easy two points to extend the lead.
47th minute – After Walsh’s kick-off goes out on the full, Dolphins hooker Jeremy Marshall-King throws a dummy and slices over at close range. Isaako converts.
52nd minute – Walsh nails a remarkable 40/20 to get Brisbane back on the front foot, with Deine Mariner crossing in the corner to cut the lead down. Walsh nails the sideline conversion.
55th minute – A try of the season contender. Walsh opts to run the ball on last, and unleashes Staggs in the backfield. Staggs finds Tyson Smoothy, whose desperate offload gets to Billy Walters, who then fires a cross-field bomb for an unmarked Josiah Karapani to score. Walsh converts.
60th minute – Brisbane take the front. A brilliant tackle by Jaiyden Hunt forces a Dolphins error, before Ben Hunt’s pinpoint grubber puts Ben Talty over to score. Walsh converts.
66th minute – Kodi Nikorima is placed on report for a crusher tackle on Walsh, but the latter misses the shot at two points.
68th minute – Staggs leaps above the pack on a Hunt bomb to score his second. Walsh converts.
