Kangaroos teammates are singing the praises of Reece Walsh in the wake of their Ashes clean sweep, with Isaah Yeo describing the fullback as a ‘great father’ and a ‘pleasure to play with’. The Kangaroos captain also provided a beautiful insight into Walsh’s bond with his daughter Leila, after revealing how the Aussie No.1 has coped with being away from his little girl while on national duty in England.
Walsh made a sad confession about his daughter on the eve of Australia’s 30-8 win over England in the third Test at Headingley. In a heartwarming post on Instagram, the 23-year-old shared a video of him and Leila sitting together in a pile of confetti after Brisbane’s grand final triumph last month.
Kangaroos captain Isaah Yeo (centre) says Reece Walsh has been in constant contact with his daughter Leila back home in Australia after a lovely tribute to his teammate. Pic: ReeceWalsh/Getty
“Miss my baby girl,” he captioned the post, which had an Adele backing track accompanying the clip. It showed that amidst all the fanfare that has accompanied Walsh in England, it’s his No.1 supporter who is never far from his thoughts.
Yeo says after getting to know the Broncos superstar a bit better during the Ashes tour, one thing that’s stood out is Walsh’s authenticity and love for his daughter. And the Kangaroos captain revealed that Walsh has been in regular contact with Leila after paying a wonderful tribute to his Aussie teammate.
“It’s certainly a pleasure to play with him,” Yeo said about Walsh. “But, first and foremost, getting to know him, he’s just an incredible human. A great father, he’s always on the FaceTime to his daughter back home.
“He just cares. So I think that’s a fair rap for a person. I just think he’s really authentic. In behind the scenes, he’s someone who really cares about the group, and I just think he does that really well.”
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Walsh announced himself to England with another incredible display in the opening Ashes Test, with his swan dive first try of the series one of the lasting impressions of the series. He also put an exclamation mark on a memorable tour with the Kangaroos with two late tries in the third Test, including a brilliant individual effort to finish off how he’d started.
“Just the things he can do in a game, that bit of X-factor and class, there’s not many really that have that,” Yeo added. “You need those kind of players in the game, and you just want him to be himself.”
Walsh was upstaged in the third Test by player of the match Harry Grant, with Kangaroos teammate Cameron Munster claiming the Fulton-Reilly award as player of the series. But Walsh will undoubtedly head back home as the fan favourite and the Kangaroos player who left the most lasting impression on England.
Kangaroos fullback Reece Walsh scores a superb final try for Australia in the third Test Ashes victory over England. Pic: Getty
“He’s a special talent, mate. I’m not going to sugarcoat it,” Munster told AAP about the Kangaroos No.1. “He never goes away from his footy, always electric, exciting. You want to have him in your team. He had an up-and-down game but he pretty much won the game for us tonight at the end with those two tries.”
Munster admitted that Walsh ‘broke my heart in the grand final’ after referencing his Clive Churchill Medal-winning performance for the Broncos in last month’s NRL decider against Melbourne. “But he won my heart back tonight!” the Kangaroos five-eighth added.
with AAP