Walsh loving life in the fast lane
STAR recruit Reece Walsh has outlined his mission to bring a title to the Broncos and revealed he has taken up sprint training in a bid to break Brisbane’s 17-year premiership drought.
Brisbane’s $1.3m recruit outlined how he has donned “spikes” to blitz NRL opponents this season, with the Dragons the next team in his sights on Saturday night.
Reece Lightning produced a sizzling Broncos debut last Friday night, carving up the Cowboys in a 28-16 victory that underlined why Brisbane’s new fullback is one of the hottest attacking commodities in the code.
The 20-year-old showed blistering pace over the first 5m, setting up three tries and scoring one himself, with Brisbane’s data showing Walsh and Deine Mariner are among the fastest players in their full-time squad.
Leaving no stone unturned to be at his peak this season, Walsh worked with Gold Coast-based high-performance coach Brett Mallett to join the likes of Josh Addo-Carr, Jason Saab and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow as NRL speed demons.
The Cowboys were torched by Walsh – and now the Dragons risk being burned at Suncorp Stadium.
“I did stuff on the track in pre-season,” Walsh said.
“I don’t think I’m that fast … but I try and go as hard as I can. I put some spikes on and did some sprinting.
“It was cool and awesome to see things from a different point of view, how the (sprinting) mechanics work with your body. It was different but I enjoyed it. I got out of my comfort zone and tried new things.”
Underlining Brisbane’s premiership drought, Walsh was just a four-year-old on the Gold Coast and has no memory of the Broncos’ most recent title win in 2006.
Brisbane view the off-season purchase of Walsh as the final piece in their premiership jigsaw and the Queensland Origin hopeful says he won’t be satisfied until he brings the NRL trophy back to Red Hill.
“I want a premiership here,” he said. “If you want to play in the NRL and just get a couple of wins here and there, then you shouldn’t be playing NRL.
“This group of boys here are hungry to win. They had a good season last year, the back end of it was a bit disappointing but they have addressed that and it’s a new year and a new team.”
Broncos skipper Adam Reynolds said Walsh had become a dynamic member of Brisbane’s playmaking spine.
“I just have to work out ways to get him into space,” he said.
“My job is pretty simple, I square up the defence and get him clean ball and you see what he can do.”