‘Get out of his way’: Great’s huge Reece Walsh call as shock switch looms after Broncos masterclass

Superstar fullback Reece Walsh is set to follow the path of an all-time Broncos great after he masterminded Brisbane’s upset win over Penrith at CommBank Stadium on Thursday night.

From the opening bell, Walsh was everywhere with the ball in hand and basically played fullback and halfback on the night as Adam Reynolds and Ezra Mam took a back seat.

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Walsh set up all three of Brisbane’s tries with his boot and sublime ball-playing, which was reminiscent of last year’s grand final where he won the Clive Churchill Medal.

He got the Broncos on the board in the sixth minute with a lovely little grubber to Jordan Riki to score.

His pass to Kotoni Staggs in the 23rd minute gave his centre enough space to crash over.

But it was his pinpoint pass to Josiah Karapani in the 69th minute that was the play of the night.

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And after putting him over in the corner, he even lined up and kicked the goal after Reynolds uncharacteristically missed two earlier conversions.

Speaking on the Matty Johns Show after the game, fellow Clive Churchill Medallist Luke Keary said Walsh could follow the path of a Broncos legend.

“It’s almost like he’s playing halfback for them. I reckon he’ll translate into a five-eighth, like Darren Lockyer,” Keary predicted.

“Just get out of his way now. I can see him going for eight weeks.”

Matty Johns went back to Walsh’s State of Origin III performance when he came off the bench and tried to spark the Maroons.

“When you saw him play in Origin III, that’s when you go ‘he’s got a purple patch coming up’,” Johns said.

“He was the chief playmaker (on Thursday night), and when he’s the chief playmaker, they play Bronco ball and they open the game up.”

It wasn’t all Walsh, however.

Four Broncos forwards ran for more than 100m each with Xaiver Willison leading the way with 189m from 22 runs.

It was the first time Payne Haas and Patrick Carrigan had played together in months, and they carried the ball 142m and 115m respectively.

By contrast, only one Penrith forward, Isaiah Papali’I (115m), ran the ball more than 100m.

Bryan Fletcher said the performance showed what a full strength Broncos side was callable of.

“This was probably the best roster they’ve had on the field and from the opening whistle, they had intent when they ran, intent when they tackled and it was the Broncos we saw last year when they were the premiers,” Fletcher said.

“I think they dominated the game.”

The Broncos won 10 of their final 12 games in 2025 to run fourth before going on to win the grand final.

And they’re going to need to win their next seven just to sneak into the finals.

“For them to go deep, he (Walsh) has to have another display like he did tonight. He got his hands on the ball and took control of the game and the side,” Eels great Nathan Hindmarsh said.

“Reynolds took a bit more of a back seat, and Ezra was out on the edges more so it looked like it was his game to run tonight.

“He was everywhere tonight, he was outstanding.”

The Broncos also benefited from Penrith not being at their best.

They played tough, but it wasn’t their smartest game as they went sideline-to-sideline too much in the wet conditions instead of carting the ball through the middle like the Broncos did.

The Panthers also came up with 13 errors to the Broncos’ seven.

Despite the committed performance on Thursday night, Johns thinks the Broncos have too much to do to make the finals.

“Surely it’s a bridge too far,” he said.

“They haven’t been consistent enough, but that Reece Walsh bloke, if he gets going and his confidence starts bleeding through that football side, you could see the way he played in Origin III that this bloke might be about to transform their season.”

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