Reece Walsh‘s frailties in defence – particularly under the high ball – were once again exposed by the Panthers on Friday night in a worrying NRL loss for the Broncos at home. And it was Thomas Jenkins who terrorised him all night after Ivan Cleary sensationally axed premiership winner Izack Tago.
Cleary made the genius call to drop Tago back to the bench and promote Jenkins to the wing, pushing Paul Alamoti into the centres. Tago was unused off the bench amid whispers the Panthers could be looking to use him in a swap with Parramatta for Zac Lomax.
Reece Walsh was found out in defence as the Panthers blitzed the Broncos. Image: Getty/Channel 9
Cleary’s bold call paid off almost immediately, after Jenkins applied enough pressure on Walsh to make the Broncos fullback spill a bomb that resulted in a try for Casey McLean. Jenkins scored his first try on the stroke of half-time when he made Walsh miss a tricky one-on-one tackle.
And he sealed the 26-0 win when he intercepted a Walsh pass to race away and score. Jenkins had a whopping eight tackle-breaks as well as a try-assist and offload to go with his two tries. He completely vindicated Cleary’s call to start him after he was axed for Alamoti in last year’s finals series.
Dylan Edwards shines as Reece Walsh kept quiet
As for Walsh, the superstar fullback had an unhappy night and was completely outplayed by Dylan Edwards – the man he usurped for the Kangaroos starting spot in the Ashes. Edwards had a try, seven tackle-breaks and 260 running metres as he looked to recapture his best form after a disappointing 2025 season.
Walsh only ran for 84 metres and was well contained by Penrith’s immense defence. Worryingly, his fumble at the back for McLean’s try was identical to a mistake he made in the World Club Challenge that led to Hull KR’s first try.
He then seemed to shy away from trying to catch contested kicks for the remainder of the game, including one he refused to go near that bounced back to the Panthers. Walsh is usually a rocks or diamonds player, and in the second half of 2025 it was predominantly diamonds.
Reece Walsh had troubles under the high ball as the Broncos lost to the Panthers. Image: AAP
But on Friday night he made three errors and a key missed tackle, and was once again found lacking in defence. “We put so much pressure on ourselves,” Broncos coach Michael Maguire said after the game. “They came here and applied pressure and we didn’t build any.”
Edwards said about outpointing Walsh: “No point to prove, I just want to play decent footy and be consistent for this team. The guys in this team work really hard and I don’t want to be the one that lets them down.
“I finished the year sub-par and lost a bit of passion throughout last year as well, so I wanted to have a good pre-season and play well this year. A lot of us have a fair body of work behind us this pre-season, so that steels you and hardens you. It doesn’t guarantee a good year by any means, but it gives you a chance.”