Reece Walsh didn’t need to strip down to his budgie smugglers to settle this argument.

Love him or hate him for his rockstar ways.

But what no one can deny any longer is that Walsh is now not just the flashiest star in rugby league — he is officially the best.

As per usual, Walsh’s post-match theatrics stole some of the spotlight when he did his lap of honour in the bare essentials.

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But prior to turning on his strip show, Walsh had already looked after the purists.

It was a Test debut for the ages in which Walsh finished with two of Australia’s four tries and, just as importantly, saved two more.

He was head and shoulder above the rest in man of the match voting.

Factor in what Walsh did over the final month of the NRL season — capped off by his miraculous grand final performance.

It just confirms his current status as the No. 1 player in the game.

Man of the match Australia’s Reece Walsh during a lap of honour.Source: Getty Images

He has not only gone past Nathan Cleary, Cameron Munster and Harry Grant in the argument, he has left them in his wake with his recent form.

Of course, Cleary, Munster and Grant have been doing it for years.

As have Jahrome Hughes and James Tedesco, who are the two others currently in the conversation for the NRL’s best.

But the way Walsh has been tracking in recent months, you can only imagine how much improvement he still has in him.

While this performance wasn’t quite at the level of his grand final heroics, it wasn’t far off.

I rated Walsh a 10 out of 10 in the grand final.

This time I settled for 9 because the overall performance of both teams in the grand final was well above the standard witnessed at Wembley.

Golden Walsh scores 1st in Aussie debut | 00:39

‘FAIR DINKUM EMBARRASSING’

Now to the refereeing.

And what a shame hometown whistle blower Liam Moore allowed England to get away with blatantly slowing down the ruck for the entire game.

What Moore let go was fair dinkum embarrassing at times.

For all those who complain about the lack of consistency when it comes to the set-restart rule in the NRL (of which I’m one), this was a reminder of how bad it used to be when teams were allowed to get away with murder.

At least Australia’s Grant Atkins will be in charge for the second Test.

God help the Poms then.

I reckon the 20-point difference here is likely to at least double if the Kangaroos are allowed to play the style of footy they are accustomed to back home.

Crichton scores double at Wembley | 00:42

‘CONSTANT THREAT’

Best of the rest for the Aussies was Harry Grant, Angus Crichton and Cameron Munster, in that order for mine.

Grant was at his creative best and a constant threat around the ruck.

Crichton scored a double and was a handful playing outside Munster, with the Storm five-eighth having a quiet first half but improving as the match wore on.

As did Nathan Cleary who also nailed five from five conversions, and defended strong as always.

Up front Pat Carrigan and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui got the Kangaroos on the front foot early, while Reuben Cotter did a great job when he came on early to replace the concussed Isaah Yeo.

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Yeo OFF after early concussion scare | 00:30

KEVVIE’S SHOCK CALL

It was interesting to see Kevvie Walters choose Harry Grant over Cameron Munster to lead the team in Yeo’s absence.

It’s in contrast to State of Origin where Billy Slater promoted Munster ahead of Grant to captain Queensland this year following Daly Cherry-Evans’ axing.

Of course, Grant is also the Storm skipper.

Herbie stops Walsh’s Wembley magic show | 00:31

POMS NO LONGER A LEAGUE SUPER POWER

While England tried hard, they just didn’t have the class to match it with the Kangaroos.

And on what we saw first up in this three-Test Ashes series, I reckon the Poms would rank fifth in the world right now behind the Kangaroos, Kiwis, Tongans and Samoans.

George Williams played well in the halves, and Mikey Lewis obviously has some talent.

But you’d also think AJ Brimson must come into the squad at the very least as a bench utility.

Although I can’t see why they wouldn’t start Brimson at fullback for the second Test after what we saw from Jack Welsby.

Not much use having Brimson in England if they’re not going to play him.

While he might not be in Walsh’s class, his speed will at least cause some trouble to a Kangaroos’ defence that rarely looked threatened in this match.