A Reece Walsh masterclass has helped the Brisbane Broncos claim a 14-8 win over Penrith, keeping their faint finals hopes just alive.
With their best players on the park, the Broncos came out firing and survived wet conditions at Parramatta’s CommBank Stadium to snap an eight-game losing streak.
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Walsh was the hero, taking over as chief playmaker from Adam Reynolds, who looked hobbled, while Ben Hunt wasn’t at his best.
Brisbane’s attack faltered on the last tackles of attacking sets and Reynolds appeared injured, missing two conversion attempts — Walsh took the lead playmaking role to set up Josiah Karapani in the corner for the matchwinning try.
“That last play from Brisbane sums up where Adam Reynolds is at,” Cooper Cronk said on Kayo Sports after a poor set of six.
“Poor pass and then the last play option, he was standing right there and Reece Walsh stepped right it. Adam Reynolds is not 100 per cent fit tonight.
“That was a pretty poor set. Clunky with Ben Hunt bouncing one way, no real forward momentum, the passing and execution didn’t hit the mark. Brisbane has the field position but unless it’s Reece Walsh they don’t look like breaking through Penrith.
Cronk added: “Ben Hunt is overplaying his hand.
“Just give Reece Walsh the ball. He is pumped up. He is a rock star Reece Walsh.”
Voss said: “It hasn’t looked slick with Ben Hunt on.”
“It looked like it was his game to run tonight,” Nathan Hindmarsh said on the Matty Johns Show.
“If you’re a Brisbane Broncos fan you’re probably wondering where this has been all year,” Bryan Fletcher said.
“They had intent when they ran and tackled. It was the Broncos we saw last year that were premiers. They dominated the game.”
Michael Ennis said: “Reece Walsh came to win.”
Ezra Mam also took a back seat as Walsh called the shots in attack as the main playmaker.
“He was the chief playmaker and they played Broncos ball,” Matty Johns said.
Three-time premiership winner Luke Keary said: “It’s almost like he’s playing halfback for them. I reckon he’ll transition to a five-eighth like Darren Lockyer, up in the front line.
“Just get out of his way now. I can see him going for eight weeks. This is perfect for Madge (coach Michael Maguire).”
The Broncos handed Penrith just their fourth loss of the season to show they can match it with the premiership favourites, but Brisbane may have left their run too late in the season.
Even with the win over Penrith, the Broncos are still three wins outside the top eight and would need to go on an unbeaten run to end the reason to have any chance of sneaking into finals.
“If you asked me, ‘Would you bet on them making finals’, I’d say no,” Johns said.
“They haven’t been consistent enough. But that Reece Walsh bloke. If he gets going and his confidence starts bleeding through that football side. You could see in Origin Game 3, this bloke is about to transform their season.”
Nathan Cleary faces a nervous wait after he was put on report for a lifting tackle on Ezra Mam.
Originally published as Reece Walsh takes over from ‘poor’ teammates, Broncos dream of impossible