They could play another 117 years of grand finals, and still not see another performance like it, which we thought we said about Nathan Cleary a couple of years ago.
But here we are.
Somehow, Reece Walsh turned toilet water into wine. The plumber has fixed the most perplexing NRL title drought, putting an entire city on his back and dragging it into NRL immortality.
Rugby league is a sport which continually amazes and thrives in spite of itself. It’s supposed to be a team game where the sum of one’s parts is always better than a cast of individuals, or so that’s what we’re told.
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Walsh TRY-SAVER keeps Broncos alive | 00:40
But occasionally, man can beat the machine. Logic is made to be defied. Under a full moon on a warm Sydney spring night, Walsh did.
The greatest single stretch of form leading into and during an NRL finals series has always been Jarryd Hayne’s electric Eels run in 2009, and that’s with respect to Ben Barba in 2012. Where both failed in not being able to do it for one more week on the night which mattered most, Walsh did.
There are many things which could be said about Walsh, and many have: magician, mischief maker, megastar, a bit mad. But you haven’t been able to call him an NRL premiership winner, until now.
Of the Broncos five tries to beat the Storm in a gripping see-sawing grand final, Walsh had a hand in four of them. His slaloming run to score in the first half, stepping desperate Storm defenders at will and causing the goalposts to rattle furiously as Alec MacDonald crashed into them trying to stop him, was like watching an under-7s kid beating an entire team.
But as scintillating as his attack was, what Walsh should be remembered for is the three defensive plays which ultimately sealed the trilogy of epic Brisbane comebacks during the finals series.
It’s like he had become so sick of watching Cleary step him for the winning try two years ago, he thought, ‘that will never happen again’.
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If Tui Kamakamica had planted the ball down within minutes of the second half re-start after a Cameron Munster grubber, how would the Broncos have come back from a 16-point deficit? But Walsh did just enough to hamper the big Fijian, whose giant fingertips fumbled the ball inches from the ground.
Then with the Broncos up by four in the dying minutes, he did it twice on Ryan Papenhuyzen. Walsh’s mere presence appeared to spook the Storm fullback the first time, flicking a ball back on the inside metres from the try-line after splitting open the defence from a scrum. He should have taken Walsh on, or at least surrendered to a tackle.
In attack, Walsh is a gunslinger. In defence, he gambled on the last one when he guessed Eli Katoa would pass to Papenhuyzen as he bore down on the fullback. Walsh was right, again.
Credit must go to Brisbane coach Michael Maguire, whose side was such a rabble in the middle of the year they had lost six out of seven games and looked doomed to not even make the finals. But in the space of a month, they’ve engineered unforgettable comebacks against the Raiders (14), Panthers (14) and now the Storm (10) to win it all.
The mix between Walsh and Maguire seemed like it had the potential to be oil and water.
When Brisbane’s top brass ruthlessly sacked Kevin Walters 12 months after he was three minutes away from winning a title, they gambled Maguire’s hard edge would get the best out of Walsh. Maguire got the vomit buckets out, and the answer has been there for all to see in the finals.
Coach Michael Maguire and Reece Walsh after The Brisbane Broncos win the NRL Grand Final between the Brisbane Broncos and the Melbourne Storm at Accor Stadium, Sydney. Pictures: Adam HeadSource: News Corp Australia
Walsh & Hughes exchange EPIC solo Tries | 00:37
The last time they crossed paths on a rugby league field, Maguire’s NSW rookie Joseph Suaalii savagely concussed Walsh with a tackle which went horribly wrong in last year’s State of Origin opener.
No one is suggesting Suaalii went out there with the intent to injure Walsh, but there was intent from Maguire’s Blues to rush Walsh at any opportunity to limit his chances. To see the pair embrace moment after full time was a culmination of a year’s work between the two most important people in the club, on their relationship first, and that’s not saying anything less of Payne Haas and co.
As always, there was controversy with Walsh.
So, let’s get to the nub: should Walsh even been on the field for his heroics? Or at least not sat down for 10 minutes for a high shot, leading with the shoulder, on Storm winger Xavier Coates in the first half?
It’s hard to think if this was the final round match of the season, when these teams met as the Broncos surged into the top four, how Walsh would have stayed on the field.
The game can argue all it likes, but the rules are softened later in September (and the first Sunday in October). It made for a better grand final, but is it right? That’s an argument for another day. Just appreciate what Walsh gave us.
Walsh escapes sin bin after high shot | 00:35
The first half was an attacking masterclass from Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy. All four of the Storm’s tries came from the right hand side of the posts, each with a subtle variation which had Brisbane’s defenders second guessing themselves.
It’s no secret teams attacking teams will try to create space in and around an opposing half. They put a target on Ben Hunt.
From Jahrome Hughes wrapping around the back of Katoa to help create space for Nick Meaney’s opener, to Hughes kicking for Katoa behind the line to score, Katoa throwing a cutout to Will Warbrick and then, finally, Hughes stepping back on the inside to catch a meandering Hunt, who has shifted into the middle of the field at hooker.
But Walsh wasn’t wearing purple and, simply, that was the difference.
The Broncos finished with 30-something veteran halves Adam Reynolds (calf) and Ben Hunt (concussion) on the bench. Tyson Smoothy was a pseudo halfback. Tyson Smoothy!
Walsh stepped on stage to accept the most inevitable Clive Churchill Medal since, well, Cleary two years ago.
“I’m lost for words,” he said.
So were we.
He celebrated on full-time alone, his teammates euphorically running in every direction but to the man who carried them to the promised land. Eventually, someone found him, and as always he had the last word.
“Plumber out.”