Reece Walsh vs Karmichael Hunt

[Mustafur]

Broncos did win a premiership with Hunt as well.

Not as fullback though.

 

[Alec]

Not as fullback though.

He played about 75% of the season at fullback. Its just that he was still only 19 and Hodges had an absolutely unstoppable year in attack where he made breaks at will and the Broncos banked on the insane run of form and the extra experience of pre-injuries Hodges.

Anyway, watching tonight's game, I might be coming around lol. It'll still take a few years of consistency I can't help but feel Walsh is becoming more and more similar to Slater. He's definitely a better passer than Slater, but its his insane speed off the mark going from 0 to 100 like he's in a fast and furious movie that allows him to create space for his outside men. Hunt never had that speed, though his superior ball playing made up for it. So even though Walsh was a bit rusty tonight, if he keeps improving his passing and adds the extra tools Hunt had...well, there's no substitute for pure speed, especially speed off the mark.

 

[Mustafur]

He played about 75% of the season at fullback. Its just that he was still only 19 and Hodges had an absolutely unstoppable year in attack where he made breaks at will and the Broncos banked on the insane run of form and the extra experience of pre-injuries Hodges.

Anyway, watching tonight's game, I might be coming around lol. It'll still take a few years of consistency I can't help but feel Walsh is becoming more and more similar to Slater. He's definitely a better passer than Slater, but its his insane speed off the mark going from 0 to 100 like he's in a fast and furious movie that allows him to create space for his outside men. Hunt never had that speed, though his superior ball playing made up for it. So even though Walsh was a bit rusty tonight, if he keeps improving his passing and adds the extra tools Hunt had...well, there's no substitute for pure speed, especially speed off the mark.

Not to be a Nitpick but he was 20 in 2006 he was born in 86.

Walsh isn't like Slater at the same age, he has all the half skills down already that Slater built up overtime and got much later, Walsh is like a combination of Slater and Locky at this point of his career(Locky being the best half skilled Fullback of the game we have seen).
To compare with KHunt, KHunt is like an inbetween who had more creative skills than Billy did at the same time with about the same running game that's why he was slightly ahead for rep positions at the time(it was definitely a huge waste he left the game when he did he was always a bit ahead of Slater in my view, and could have been at the level to have a statue of his own at Lang).

I think Walsh being in a pretty average Warriors side at the time for his first two years hid a bit how good he actually was because he has exploded on the scene once he came here, with better players around him, it's easy to inflate nostalgia bias but even though I thought before this season Hunt was probably level with Locky's early seasons, Walsh might actually eclipse them at this stage, he just has soo many skills in his pocket you don't expect from a player his age at fullback especially one with no Halves background, he could easily be a 6 or 7 at a rep level(like I think he could play halves at a higher level than Dearden atm), he is a bit raw on those skills but you can see they are clearly there to build on, he also has the best kicking game of anyone under 23 at the moment I would say.

For a Fullback who had no Halves background like Lockyer this is insane and can't be undersold.

 

[Xzei]

Not to be a Nitpick but he was 20 in 2006 he was born in 86.

Nitpick would be pointing out he was born in november so 19 would be correct for 2006 season

 

[Mustafur]

Nitpick would be pointing out he was born in november so 19 would be correct for 2006 season

FMD he was young when he joined lol, thank **** for the no restriction on age back then, making Suaalii look average before he even played.

 

[Xzei]

FMD he was young when he joined lol, thank **** for the no restriction on age back then, making Suaalii look average before he even played.

Will always be a big 'what if' over his career

 

[Slippin Jimmy]

Controversial take but I think Hunt was a little overrated. He was tough, consistent, and by 2008 he was a really crafty playmaker. What he lacked though was a kicking game (outside of his grubber, which was excellent) and the x-factor that Walsh has.

We couldn't win the 2006 comp with Hunt as fullback. We might not even win the 2022 origin series with a young Hunt as fullback. In both of those situations we needed a fullback that was more of a threat than Hunt.

I'm not saying you'd always pick Walsh over Hunt if you were picking a team. There are definitely situations where you want a reliable fullback who will nail the 2nd man play every time and is robust enough to take tough carries out of yardage. But overall if you had to make a decision on signing one of them to a long term deal at this age it would be Walsh for me.

 

[McHunt]

If you could sign a 21yr old Walsh or Hunt on a longterm contract,
for the same amount of money, which one would you take?

I was a massive Karmichael fan - still am - but Reece is more electric and as exciting as any footballer I've ever seen. No slight on Hunt, but I'm picking Walsh.

 

[1910]

Not as fullback though.

13/17 games in 2006 were at fullback. Hodges only played seven games at fullback.

 

[Mr Fourex]

Will always be a big 'what if' over his career

Its the thing that stops the love for Kunt from me.
He threw away what could be argued as the best years of his RL life (and in turn, the MOST valuable years for Brisbane) by chasing kick & giggle and Rugby Yawnion dreams.........

A huge disappointment for mine......

 

[Big Del]

FMD he was young when he joined lol, thank **** for the no restriction on age back then, making Suaalii look average before he even played.

Saw him play the pre season trial at Redcliffe as a 17 year old .

 

[Sproj]

13/17 games in 2006 were at fullback. Hodges only played seven games at fullback.

And what a seven games they were. He was freakishly good. Hayne-like run at fullback but perhaps even better...and without the post-career baggage.

 

[Mustafur]

Honestly Walsh is better when I think about, he is the reason we are where we are, his pace and creative ability creates the tries that win us games consistently, not even the Nosalgia bias of Khunt being soo complete at that age can hide how good Walsh is playing, half of his actual try assists are hidden because he isn't the last passer to the try scorer, I don't think the game has ever seen such a player skilled like him at his age in the history of Rugby league.

To top it all off I also think Walsh is a far superior kicker, he is the best player let alone half when it comes to kicking of anyone under the age of Cleary..

If he stays at our club he will have a statue at Lang Park, I will call it now.

and yes there is lots of problems with his game regarding fullback defence and errors, but he is worth soo many tries a game due to how good he is in attack it makes it all redundant consistently, he outdoes rugby league logic it's like he is 2005 Benji at his best every game.

 

[whykickamoocow]

Answer to original question. Walsh he’s not far off Hunt at same age but has so much more potential.

Walsh is Slater and Locker’s love child. It’s scary how good he can become.

As for the best fullback debate etc

Slater was brilliant and had the best career as a fullback I’ve seen. But his best game wasn’t better than Lockyer’s best in the #1.

I hate the Slater changed the way fullbacks play blah blah blah because of his ball playing.

Slater changed his game because Hunt was keeping him out of rep teams because of his superior ball playing.

More importantly Lockyer had already won 3 premierships as a ball playing fullback & switched to 5/8 before anyone had even heard of Slater.

If I had my choice at signing any of those 4 at 21 to be my long term fullback my priority would be Locky.

 

[Johnny92]

I'd probably go Walsh.
If you were to put a 21 year old Reece Walsh into 2006 he's probably tearing teams apart more then he is now and close to the best player in the world.
Where as if you put a 21 year old K hunt into todays competition he's doing the same things as most other fullback are doing now, he would still be a top line fullback just I don't think he'd be as much as an X factor as Reece is in todays competition.

 

[Loch Ness Monster]

Just going by talent, I think I'd go with Hunt. He was insanely good so early, he was only a year older in his last season than Walsh is now, and already had multiple great years. He lacked some pace but his ball playing was amazing.

Are you kidding me Hunt was that young when he defected!?
Jesus Christ what could have been.
I guess he did debut at 17 so it honestly felt like he had a massive career with Brisbane.
He was so safe, so consistent, rarely took the wrong option, all class.

 

[Scorchie]

Its the thing that stops the love for Kunt from me.
He threw away what could be argued as the best years of his RL life (and in turn, the MOST valuable years for Brisbane) by chasing kick & giggle and Rugby Yawnion dreams.........

A huge disappointment for mine......

I’m sure his millions of dollars earns was worth it! Sad for us, good for him!