The thing about Wallace was that he was exactly the player Brisbane needed. In 07, all we needed was a well-rounded halfback who could compete and Wallace had that in spades. I still remember his Broncos debut. It was a beautiful afternoon at Suncorp Stadium and everybody was excited to see the return of Darren Lockyer who was slated to make his return off the bench. Wallace at that time was just an unknown quantity at that time but in the space of just one half, it was clear he had a spot in our side. Good long kicks, nice sharp plays around the ruck - with Stagg as his main offsider, it was amazing to see such an inexperienced player lead such a famous club with such confidence.
Of course, Brisbane couldn't keep him a secret for too long and even though he was still developing, the Blues decided to throw him straight into the deep end. In fairness, Wallace played well on debut but he was eventually exposed and that really seemed to impact on him. He never really improved from that point on. For mine, he just went through phases of being in either 'good not great' form or being down right bad, never quite fulfilling his potential.
Mind you, I don't think the departures of Hunt and Ennis helped matters either. Their replacements, Hoffman & McCullough, while handy players in their own right, didn't suit his style of play and Wallace couldn't adapt or lift his game. Instead, he stagnated, went through the motions and over time his form decayed to the point where complacency became a big issue.
Still, Wal constantly put his body on the line for us and out of all the players always seemed to be the one trying till the very end and barking instructions. The guy gave his all and represented our club proudly, the problem is, neither party suited the other.