{"id":964217,"date":"2026-11-14T13:40:12","date_gmt":"2026-11-14T13:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/964217\/"},"modified":"2026-11-14T13:40:12","modified_gmt":"2026-11-14T13:40:12","slug":"rugby-league-world-cup-munster-the-one-walters-most-wants-to-watch-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/964217\/","title":{"rendered":"Rugby League World Cup: Munster the one Walters most wants to watch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reece Walsh might bring the \u201cX-factor\u201d, but Kangaroos coach Kevin Walters says his star fullback will need the help of his teammates if he\u2019s to play a decisive role in Sunday night\u2019s Rugby League World Cup final at Suncorp Stadium.<\/p>\n

The battle between Walsh and his New Zealand counterpart Kalyn Ponga will prove crucial to the outcome of the decider.<\/p>\n

However, Walters stressed there was more to the Kangaroos than just Walsh.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not so much just Reece,\u201d Walters said on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see what everyone else is seeing, and yeah, he\u2019s got that X-factor, and but that can\u2019t come to light unless everyone else is doing their job. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just not Reece, it\u2019s the whole group. They all contribute to each other and help each other be the players that they are.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a group that includes five-eighth Cameron Munster, who was among the Kangaroos\u2019 top performers in their 44-12 semi-final win over Samoa.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to watch Cameron play more than anything,\u201d Walters said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love what he\u2019s done the last few weeks, and I\u2019m looking forward to watching him. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s had some big moments in games over his career, and he\u2019s still doing it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very happy to see that. I\u2019m an Australian, so I want to go to watch Cameron Munster do his stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walters said the Kangaroos had an embarrassment of riches in the halves, and was happy to have Roosters halfback Sam Walker at his disposal off the bench after again preferring North Queensland star Tom Dearden in the No.7 jersey.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve made some tough calls,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d happily play Sam as well. I\u2019ve just got to come with one body there, and Tommy was the man to get the nod, and he grabbed his chance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve still got Sam on the bench, so if we need some flair or something (else) is required in the game, we\u2019ve got him parked there.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good luxury to have.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a bench that\u2019s also set to again include Pat Carrigan despite the Broncos forward having been named in the starting pack.<\/p>\n

Carrigan had also been named in Australia\u2019s 13 against Samoa last week, only for Walters to make a late switch by replacing him in the starting pack with Dragons-bound Keaon Koloamatangi.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt worked well last week, so that\u2019s more than likely going to be the case (in the final),\u201d Walters said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m confident with this group (of forwards), and back them against anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published as Kevin Walters warns star fullback Reece Walsh cannot win Rugby League World Cup final alone<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reece Walsh might bring the \u201cX-factor\u201d, but Kangaroos coach Kevin Walters says his star fullback will need the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":964218,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[531615,531622,528501,524484,531628,531626,531612,531633,172855,377860,531627,64,63,651,278347,3200,4567,531613,379391,401898,531616,393646,1852,379545,447751,531636,531614,531621,520491,377197,531630,3195,477646,3194,13307,761,762,43961,35062,531632,158,443075,26598,94,465095,13391,531635,267036,528911,64935,4478,5993,46907,531629,531617,531618,85,531634,40050,8825,531624,387848,384381,61418,376840,531619,247976,74713,395523,406583,11637,395157,378658,466840,475067,386766,175806,426731,531625,531623,531620,402268,531631,389513,413294,25093,174373,113709,22333,113761,153386],"class_list":["post-964217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-s-13","tag-s-biggest-weapon","tag-s-rugby-league-world-cup-final","tag-s-world-cup-final","tag-a-bench","tag-a-decisive-role","tag-a-good-luxury","tag-a-late-switch","tag-a-group","tag-an-australian","tag-an-embarrassment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-brisbane","tag-brisbane-qld","tag-cameron","tag-cameron-munster","tag-dragons-bound-keaon-koloamatangi","tag-each-other","tag-everyone-else","tag-five-eighth-cameron-munster","tag-forwards","tag-games","tag-his-career","tag-his-chance","tag-his-disposal","tag-his-new-zealand-counterpart-kalyn-ponga","tag-his-star-fullback","tag-his-stuff","tag-his-teammates","tag-just-walsh","tag-kangaroos","tag-kangaroos-coach-kevin-walters","tag-kevin-walters","tag-last-week","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-newswire-sport","tag-night","tag-north-queensland-star-tom-dearden","tag-nrl","tag-one-body","tag-pat-carrigan","tag-qld","tag-reece","tag-reece-walsh","tag-riches","tag-roosters-halfback","tag-rugby-league-world-cup-final","tag-sam","tag-sam-walker","tag-samoa","tag-saturday","tag-some-big-moments","tag-some-flair-or-something","tag-some-tough-calls","tag-sports","tag-star-fullback-reece-walsh","tag-suncorp-stadium","tag-sunday","tag-that-x-factor","tag-the-battle","tag-the-bench","tag-the-broncos","tag-the-case","tag-the-decider-however","tag-the-final","tag-the-game","tag-the-halves","tag-the-help","tag-the-kangaroos","tag-the-last-few-weeks","tag-the-man","tag-the-no-7-jersey","tag-the-nod","tag-the-outcome","tag-the-players","tag-the-star-fullback","tag-the-starting-pack","tag-the-starting-pack-carrigan","tag-the-whole-group","tag-the-x-factor","tag-their-44-12-semi-final-win","tag-their-job","tag-this-group","tag-tommy","tag-top-performers","tag-walsh","tag-walters","tag-world-cup-final","tag-x-factor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/964217","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=964217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/964217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/964218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=964217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=964217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=964217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}