Cameron Smith proven right as reason for Reece Walsh's State of Origin axing revealed

Cameron Smith dropped a massive clue last week that Reece Walsh wasn’t going to be part of Billy Slater’s Queensland team for State of Origin 1. And the week prior he revealed exactly why.

Walsh was a shock omission from the 20-man Maroons squad that Slater named on Monday morning, losing his spot after he was 18th man for Game 3 last year. Slater went with Kalyn Ponga at fullback, but the fact Walsh didn’t even make the 20-man squad has raised plenty of eyebrows.

With the new six-man bench, many expected Walsh to be part of the wider squad at the very least. But he was completely snubbed in a move that has generated plenty of chat around the NRL world.

Last week when he named his predicted Queensland team, Maroons legend Smith made the telling move to leave Walsh out. Smith was a former assistant coach under Slater, and the pair are still great mates from their Melbourne Storm days.

Smith clearly knew the way Slater was leaning, and two weeks ago he revealed exactly why Walsh would be left out. Speaking on Channel 9, Smith pointed to Walsh’s defence and his management of the defensive line as reasons why Slater wasn’t keen on picking him.

Slater is one of the greatest fullbacks in NRL history, and knows exactly what he wants from his No.1. “Billy might look at positioning,” Smith said at the start of the month on ‘100% Footy’. “I think their (Walsh and Ponga’s) work away from the football. I think they’re both brilliant players in attacking positions and can break games open.

“But it’s the work they do, particularly in defence, to help position their defensive line. That’s what Billy will be looking at the most. That’s what made him the greatest fullback in our game.”

Walsh is one of the game’s best attacking weapons, but the major knock on him throughout his career has been his defence. He improved drastically at the end of last year and arguably became the best player in the comp, but Slater made the telling comment on Monday the 23-year-old “is getting there” and not quite at the level he wants to see.

Speaking on his ‘Kenty Blitz’ podcast, veteran journalist Paul Kent summed up the situation with Walsh and why he wasn’t picked. “Kalyn is playing so well and every minute he’s active, whereas Walsh probably loses concentration a little bit,” he said.

“Queensland don’t do that. Queensland win so many games as underdogs because they don’t let up. You can’t have a situation where someone loses concentration and drifts out of the game for even two tackles.”

Slater has a tendency to pick a hard-worker over a flashy highlight-reel player, and famously snubbed David Fiifta when he was in career-best form. True to that pattern, Slater has stuck with players like Kurt Capewell, Reuben Cotter, Trent Loiero and Lindsay Collins for Game 1.

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