{"id":804819,"date":"2026-07-16T22:11:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T22:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/804819\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T22:11:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T22:11:13","slug":"nrl-fans-fume-over-reece-walsh-moment-after-panthers-dudded-in-shock-loss-to-broncos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/804819\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL fans fume over Reece Walsh moment after Panthers &#8216;dudded&#8217; in shock loss to Broncos"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a data-ylk=\"slk:NRL;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;cpos:1;pos:1;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/au.news.yahoo.com\/sport\/nrl\/\" class=\"link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NRL<\/a> fans are questioning whether <a data-ylk=\"slk:Reece Walsh;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;cpos:2;pos:1;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;outcm:mb_qualified_link;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/au.news.yahoo.com\/corey-parker-urges-brisbane-broncos-to-make-vital-switch-ahead-of-must-win-panthers-game-025953642.html\" class=\"link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Reece Walsh<\/a> got away with a forward pass on the play immediately before the Broncos scored the match-winning try against the Panthers. Walsh returned to his brilliant best on Thursday night as <a data-ylk=\"slk:Brisbane kept their season alive;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;cpos:3;pos:1;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;outcm:mb_qualified_link;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/au.news.yahoo.com\/mixed-news-for-the-brisbane-broncos-as-origin-stars-return-set-to-hand-penrith-panthers-a-boost-041735064.html\" class=\"link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Brisbane kept their season alive<\/a> with a 14-12 upset win over Penrith.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Walsh had three try assists, six tackle breaks and a clutch conversion from the sideline to win the game for the Broncos in Parramatta. But fans were left fuming over a controversial moment in the lead-up to the match-winning try for Josiah Karapani.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Reece Walsh in action for the Broncos against Panthers.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"517\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/https:\/\/d29szjachogqwa.cloudfront.net\/images\/user-uploaded\/reece-walsh-nrl_9468.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Many thought Reece Walsh and the Broncos got away with a forward pass at a crucial moment. Image: Getty\/Channel 9<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Walsh&#8217;s pass to Xavier Willison appeared to be forward on the preceding play, but it was missed by the officials. Walsh then got the ball from dummy-half and went down the short side before producing a sublime pass for Karapani to score in the corner.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The commentators didn&#8217;t mention Walsh&#8217;s pass to Willison, but it was a huge talking point on social media as fans claimed the Panthers were dudded. One person wrote: &#8220;Playing the wrong sport, the ball&#8217;s meant to be passed backwards last time I checked.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Another commented: &#8220;Another forward pass.&#8221; While a third added: &#8220;The pass before that Broncos try was more forward than the one that was called back for Penrith.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Reece Walsh's controversial pass to Xavier Willison.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"517\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/https:\/\/d29szjachogqwa.cloudfront.net\/images\/user-uploaded\/reece-walsh-pass_6312.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Reece Walsh appeared to throw the ball forward to Xavier Willison. Image: Channel 9<\/p>\n<p>Michael Maguire proud of Broncos bounce-back<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Broncos then held on for the final 10 minutes to deny Penrith and snap an eight-game losing streak. With seven rounds remaining they&#8217;re six points adrift of the top eight (before the rest of the round&#8217;s games).<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;When you get your players out there then they all complement each other,&#8221; Broncos coach Michael Maguire said after his side got Pat Carrigan, Adam Reynolds and Ezra Mam back from injuries. &#8220;Reece got on the back of what was going on in the front row, and there were a lot of special efforts right throughout the team, and people like Reece can come up with a performance like that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Broncos and Panthers players.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/https:\/\/d29szjachogqwa.cloudfront.net\/images\/2026-07\/28fc38a0-5932-4397-a389-6db745c8555a.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The Broncos scored a shock win over the Panthers to keep their finals hopes alive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">It was only Penrith&#8217;s fourth loss of the year and opens the door for the Warriors to reduce the gap at the top of the ladder to two points. &#8220;I came here knowing it was going to be a high-quality game,&#8221; Panthers coach Ivan Cleary said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I just can&#8217;t remember a game where I felt like we just ran out of time. Reece Walsh was unbelievable tonight and came up with a try that I don&#8217;t know if many people could stop that one (but) I thought our defence was outstanding.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"\" aria-description=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"size-full object-cover\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/https:\/\/cf-images.us-east-1.prod.boltdns.net\/v1\/jit\/6415665815001\/cd3642a6-e315-4549-ad18-bb8fc7e431.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NRL fans are questioning whether Reece Walsh got away with a forward pass on the play immediately before&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":804820,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,64273,125330,761,762,158,13391,85,61418,5991,22313],"class_list":["post-804819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-forward-pass","tag-josiah-karapani","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-reece-walsh","tag-sports","tag-the-broncos","tag-the-panthers","tag-xavier-willison"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804819","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=804819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/804820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=804819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=804819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=804819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}