{"id":183280,"date":"2025-10-01T19:55:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T19:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/183280\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T19:55:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T19:55:09","slug":"why-brisbane-broncos-superstar-reece-walsh-will-decide-nrl-grand-final-one-way-or-the-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/183280\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Brisbane Broncos superstar Reece Walsh will decide NRL grand final \u2013 one way or the other"},"content":{"rendered":"

But with the extra responsibility, Reece has thrived and taken his team to another level. He\u2019s willed Brisbane to wins, never more so than against the Raiders in one of the greatest finals games<\/a> you\u2019ll ever see, bringing them back from 16 points down.<\/p>\n

And against the Panthers he laid on the last try when they needed the big play.<\/p>\n

The scary thing is he was actually pretty quiet and well contained by Penrith\u2019s defence in the preliminary final<\/a>. That\u2019s a worry for Melbourne, and maybe Brisbane too, because Walsh will be ready to explode.<\/p>\n

Reece plays like his personality: he\u2019s loud, a risk-taker, an entertainer and an extrovert.<\/p>\n

But his numbers across the past three seasons do show a maturing as well: he has upped his involvement significantly to 41 touches a game, yet is making fewer errors than when he took Brisbane to the grand final in 2023.<\/p>\n

I was stunned when he handed the kicking tee back to Adam Reynolds for the final, crucial goal kick against Penrith \u2013 which of course Reynolds absolutely drained. But again, that shows the extra thought he\u2019s putting into his footy, and how it is paying off.<\/p>\n

How does Reece get even better?<\/p>\n

Pat Carrigan coming back from suspension as a linking 13 in the middle is a big bonus for Reece, because that extra set of ball-playing hands really frees up the Broncos No.1.<\/p>\n

Particularly around halfway where opposition wingers and centres can sit back on their heels anticipating kicks. That\u2019s the half a second Walsh doesn\u2019t even need given he\u2019s so quick and elusive over a short distance.<\/p>\n

Where I\u2019d love to see Reece improve is his support play, especially around Payne Haas. The last thing a defensive line wants to see is Walsh looming up, the later the better, when Payne has hit the line, because he has the skills to get a great offload away.<\/p>\n

\"Steve<\/p>\n

Steve Roach: The authority on late offloads.Credit: Fairfax Media<\/p>\n

Steve Roach\u2019s philosophy on offloading that he\u2019d always tell Tim Brasher \u2013 his fullback for Balmain and NSW \u2013 regarding following him and looking for a late pass was: \u201cDon\u2019t turn up Tuesday, come on Friday.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019d love to see Walsh get his trick shots going around the dummy half and ruck as well, working with Ben Hunt when he goes to hooker and really looking to stretch Melbourne\u2019s markers \u2013 because that\u2019s where the Storm are so good at dominating a contest.<\/p>\n

And how do the Storm stop him?<\/p>\n

Put simply, I don\u2019t think you can stop Reece Walsh for a full 80 minutes. But I have no doubt the Storm will go after Haas and look to get three and four defenders in every tackle on him. Because if you can stop Haas and keep him quiet, you go a long way to locking up Reece Walsh as well.<\/p>\n

The Storm need to sort out their left-side defence as well, where Shawn Blore, Cameron Munster and Jack Howarth work together. The gap between Munster and Howarth has been a worry of late, and was an even bigger concern before Howarth came back from injury.<\/p>\n

Cronulla scored two tries to Sione Katoa down that edge last Friday, and in round 27 \u2013 admittedly when the Storm lost Jahrome Hughes to his broken wrist<\/a> \u2013 Reece Walsh made a beeline for that edge.<\/p>\n

\"Reece<\/p>\n

Reece Walsh\u2019s runs against Melbourne in round 27.Credit: Champion Data<\/p>\n

The heat map of his runs that night at Suncorp Stadium show exactly how often Reece went after Munster and co, and his try in the 41st minute was a deserved reward.<\/p>\n

To beat the Storm you need to move the ball around and play unpredictable footy, which has always been the Broncos\u2019 DNA since they came into the competition in 1988.<\/p>\n

The competing styles in this grand final are so fascinating given the Storm have added flair from their own big guns in the spine to their traditional structure. And the Broncos\u2019 goal-line defence that kept them alive against Penrith<\/a> \u2013 that was all Michael Maguire and the Melbourne roots Craig Bellamy taught him years and years ago.<\/p>\n

If Brisbane\u2019s passes stick, the Broncos can win and win well.<\/p>\n

But if the nerves get to them or the Storm\u2019s defence swarm Brisbane into error, Melbourne will suffocate them out of the contest.<\/p>\n

And when you\u2019ve got a player like Reece Walsh it\u2019s a fine line between the risk and reward of how he approaches the game. You have to accept, like how Sam Walker plays his footy, that sometimes the madness won\u2019t pay off.<\/p>\n

Rugby league is lucky to have Reece Walsh, so come Sunday it\u2019s a case of sitting back and enjoying whatever he brings. It could make for an absolute classic, or a horror movie.<\/p>\n

Top of the props: Payne will be the greatest of all<\/p>\n

Glenn Lazarus is the best front-rower I\u2019ve ever seen. Lazarus won five grand finals at three different clubs and was integral to that success wherever he went.<\/p>\n

He was, and is, a massive human, with a massive motor, agility and skills he shouldn\u2019t have considering how big he was \u2013 and Lazo had 80 minutes in him in plenty of games, too.<\/p>\n

I never thought I\u2019d see another like him, but Payne Haas is on the verge of surpassing Lazarus<\/a> for me. He\u2019s not there yet mind you, but his performance against Penrith, and the numbers Payne produced, were just incredible.<\/p>\n

Haas ran for 182 metres, with around 130 of those coming in the second half, and no other starting Broncos forward could crack triple figures because of all the defence they had to get through.<\/p>\n

Payne still made 46 tackles too, and when Nathan Cleary lined up a last-ditch field goal attempt to save the game, it was Haas again as the first man there applying kick pressure. Just incredible.<\/p>\n

\"Payne<\/p>\n

Payne Haas with Broncos fans on Wednesday.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n

Stefano Utoikamanu called the Broncos out<\/a> and I can\u2019t wait to see how Payne responds come the kick-off. And, just quietly, once again when these two big boys collide for Samoa and Tonga in the Pacific Championships.<\/p>\n

The grand final verdict<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve tipped Melbourne all year and I can\u2019t change now, even with all of Brisbane\u2019s speed and skill.<\/p>\n

Loading<\/p>\n

All season the Storm have had the NRL\u2019s best playmaking spine with big-game experience in Ryan Papenhuyzen, Cameron Munster, Jahrome Hughes and Grant.<\/p>\n

The Broncos have the brilliance to beat them. But I think Melbourne\u2019s precision and consistency wins \u2013 either way, it will be a grand final for the ages.<\/p>\n

Joey\u2019s tip: Storm by four.<\/p>\n

First try-scorer: Will Warbrick.<\/p>\n

Clive Churchill medallist: Harry Grant.<\/p>\n

NRL is Live and Free on Channel 9 & 9Now.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"But with the extra responsibility, Reece has thrived and taken his team to another level. He\u2019s willed Brisbane…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-183280","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}