Hyped-up Walsh ready for Origin deep end
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck backs Reece Walsh to perform in State of Origin, if the Warriors teenager gets an unlikely call-up.
The hype surrounding Walsh has gone into overdrive this week in Australia, with suggestions that he is being considered by Queensland, with the Maroons hit by injuries and looking for a way back after a 50-6 defeat in game one.
“He’s a kid, he’s exciting and he’s got a lot in him,” said Tuivasa-Sheck. “We’ve been throwing a lot at him, been testing him and playing him against the best players. I say throw it at him and see what he’s got — if he handles it, he handles it, if not, he will take it as lessons.”
Tuivasa-Sheck said Walsh was capable of delivering on the park, though the off-field noise could be problematic.
“[If] he gets in there, he’ll play the game like it’s a game but probably all the pressure and the hype beforehand is what is too much.”
Walsh had a mixed game on Saturday. He sparkled at times in the first half, before some handling errors in the second, and a late field goal attempt was well wide.
He went close to scoring from a 70-metre bust in the first half, nailed a sideline attempt with his first NRL conversion and produced a couple of strong kicks in general play.
The gale force winds were tough
for fullbacks, and Mitchell Pearce and Jake Clifford tested him with some massive bombs.
“Billy Slater wouldn’t catch all of those out there,” said Warriors coach Nathan Brown. “Some of those kicks that the Knights were putting up, they were high and moving. It was more disappointing that we didn’t put their fullback under the same pressure.”
Walsh’s rise from relative
obscurity has been staggering, something that few players — even the biggest names — have had to deal with in their careers.
“Six weeks ago, no one knew him [and] I believe he had 2000 [Instagram] followers when he first came to us — now he has about 140,000,” said Brown.
“He’s gone from playing nothing [at all] to a star. It’s got to be difficult for any young kid.”