Walsh rises from sick bed
At a glance
Reece Walsh has revealed he spent two nights in hospital with a swollen liver ahead of Saturday’s NRL game against the Dragons in Sydney.
The Warriors fullback felt he wasn’t his usual self in the 24-18 defeat and admitted he was struggling in the second half.
‘‘I felt I lacked a bit of energy and it was a tough one,’’ Walsh said.
‘‘I was in hospital for two nights at the start of the week and it definitely felt like that took a toll on my body.
‘‘I feel like it’s something I’ve got to get through, probably a mental thing.
‘‘My liver was a bit swollen, it had some fluid around it,’’ he added.
‘‘It was an infection they said, so I was in hospital on Saturday and Sunday, got out Monday morning.’’
Although Walsh had a number of days to try to recover from his liver issue, and he’s not someone who looks for excuses, he said the illness did impact him.
‘‘I lost 4kgs and you could see out there I was cramping for about 30 minutes in the second half, I just couldn’t find my legs,’’ he said.
‘‘But it’s a mental thing I guess, I’ve just got to push through things like that.’’
Saturday’s loss continued the Warriors’ slide down the ladder and they’ve won just one of their last six games.
However, it was a better performance from the Warriors and if it wasn’t for a couple of poor defensive lapses, they would have won.
‘‘We looked good in patches I felt, but we didn’t get the result in the end which hurts and I missed a couple of kicks,’’ Walsh said.
‘‘As I said, we looked good in patches and there are some things we can clean up.’’
With the Warriors falling further down the ladder, they need to go on a charge to get back into top eight contention and it would be best for them if that starts by winning this Saturday’s game against the Knights.
‘‘We’re at the point of the season where we need to start winning games otherwise we’re not going to make the eight,’’ Walsh said.
‘‘Look, we’re not far away. It’s little lapses we’re having in our game that are hurting us. But there are a lot of positives to take
At Jubilee Stadium, Sydney: Dragons 24 (Zac Lomax 2, Cody Ramsay, Michael Molo tries; Lomax 4 goals) Warriors 18 (Viliame Vailea 2, Shaun Johnson, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak tries; Reece Walsh goal). HT: 12-14.
‘‘I lost 4kgs and you could see out there I was cramping for about 30 minutes in the second half.’’ Reece Walsh
out of this game. We should be proud of the boys’ efforts. We’ve got to keep training hard, working hard and those things will click.’’
Meanwhile, Walsh said he was stunned by Matt Lodge’s sudden departure from the club on Friday.
Lodge sought a release from his contract and the Warriors did not stand in his way.
‘‘It was a massive shock to us,’’ he said. ‘‘Personally, I didn’t see it coming and Lodgy going is a massive loss to us.
‘‘But I guess that’s footy sometimes and we’ve just got to move on and keep worrying about week to week.
‘‘Lodgy is an awesome bloke and he’s going to be missed around the club. It’s unfortunate, but we can’t dwell on it.’’