{"id":713025,"date":"2026-06-03T17:29:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T17:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/713025\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T17:29:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T17:29:26","slug":"state-of-origin-2026-brisbane-broncos-reece-walsh-addresses-queensland-maroons-coach-billy-slaters-shock-selection-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/713025\/","title":{"rendered":"State of Origin 2026: Brisbane Broncos\u2019 Reece Walsh addresses Queensland Maroons coach Billy Slater\u2019s shock selection call"},"content":{"rendered":"

Superstar Broncos<\/a> fullback Reece Walsh<\/a> admits it was \u201cdisappointing\u201d to be snubbed at the selection table for State of Origin<\/a> I but says he hadn\u2019t been living up to Queensland\u2019s standards.<\/p>\n

Asked if he believed he could make an impact off the six-man bench in game two on June 17, he said he was purely focused on helping the Broncos revive their floundering title defence.<\/p>\n

\"Reece<\/p>\n

Reece Walsh.\u00a0NRL Imagery<\/p>\n

Walsh spoke publicly on Wednesday for the first time since Maroons coach Billy Slater\u2019s shock decision to not name last year\u2019s Clive Churchill Medallist in the squad for game one<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was disappointing, mate. Obviously [as a] young Queenslander all you want to do is go and play for Queensland. To not be named and get that call was disappointing,\u201d Walsh told reporters at Broncos headquarters.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I know the standards it takes to play for Queensland and I\u2019m a realist and I\u2019m honest with myself, and I probably haven\u2019t been living up to those standards that it takes to wear that Queensland jersey. I feel like that\u2019s what makes it so great; once you put that jersey on you know what it takes to get back there. And like I said, I\u2019m a realist, mate, and I understand that I haven\u2019t been upholding those standards.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about putting in the hard work here at training, relaying that back onto the field, and if I can keep working hard in those areas that I need to I\u2019m sure it\u2019ll turn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Slater will see how round 14 of the NRL season pans out before finalising his squad for game two.<\/p>\n

Brisbane playmaker Ezra Mam has been axed for the Broncos\u2019 clash with the Titans on Saturday night, but whether Slater cuts him from his six-man bench for game two remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

Asked if he could do some damage off the bench at the MCG, Walsh laughed: \u201cOh, I\u2019d have a crack in the middle, mate.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he said he was entirely focused on kick-starting Brisbane\u2019s faltering season after a 5-7 start that has them languishing in 11th on the ladder.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, look, honestly, I\u2019m just worried about playing for the Broncos and getting our season back on track,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019d be nice to be in that arena and be amongst the Queenslanders and do that.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut my full focus right now is playing good footy for the Broncos and working really hard here in this building, and whatever comes, comes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grant Anderson, who will line up in the centres on Saturday night after recovering from a knee injury, shed light on how Mam had responded to his axing.<\/p>\n

\u201cEzra\u2019s a professional; he\u2019ll put the team first no matter what,\u201d Anderson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Madge made that call, he\u2019s for it, and Ezra put his head down today at training and did his thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if he gets another opportunity, I\u2019d dare say it\u2019d be \u2013 I wouldn\u2019t want to be that side on the other end of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tom Duffy will take Mam\u2019s spot at five-eighth and partner Adam Reynolds in the halves.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time he [Duffy] has stepped in this year, he\u2019s done a job,\u201d Anderson said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Superstar Broncos fullback Reece Walsh admits it was \u201cdisappointing\u201d to be snubbed at the selection table for State…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":713026,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-713025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713025","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=713025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/713026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=713025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=713025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=713025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}