Kimlo
International Captain
Senior Staff
- Apr 26, 2008
- 34,571
- 35,512
Source: ABC
By Jon Healy at Lang Park Posted Fri 5 May 2023 at 10:25pm
When Billy Slater was playing — be it for Melbourne, Queensland or Australia — he was surrounded by good options. Lurk off Cooper Cronk or Cameron Smith's shoulder? Make an incisive run? Pass to Greg Inglis? Grubber to Israel Folau. Offload to Josh Addo-Carr? There were no wrong answers.
He faces a similar lack of dilemma now as Maroons coach. Pick Reece Walsh or Kalyn Ponga? Ponga is the incumbent and the last time he played in a game of consequence, something he rarely gets to do for the Knights, he put on a masterclass. His greatest State of Origin performance and one of the all-time greats led Queensland to a victory in the 2022 decider, but it's all been downhill since then.
Kalyn Ponga's Knights form is far from his legendary performance in State of Origin III last year. Repeated injuries, concussions, a position switch, Newcastle doing Newcastle things. Not a recipe for success.
But fit again and back in his preferred position? No-one would be surprised if he aimed up and, as Knights teammate Dane Gagai so often has, shines when put alongside players of his own calibre.
Reece Walsh, though. You know? He showed flashes in his two seasons with the Warriors, but since returning home to the Brisbane number one jersey in the off-season, it's hard to say any back has been more impressive.
That continued in the Broncos' 32-6 thumping of Manly under the bright lights of Magic Round. And Slater was there, at ground level, watching closely.
Walsh outshone his opposite number, former Dally M winner Tom Trbojevic, so completely that to say it was a duel at all would be an insult to the memories of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.
All this despite depositing the contents of his guts into a wheelie bin before kick-off as he struggled with sickness. And it showed with two early handling errors in the game, but eventually he hit his stride.
He busted out of 11 tackles, went through the line once, sent Selwyn Cobbo over for two first-half tries and diffused a number of surface and aerial raids, despite his relatively diminutive status when compared to the rangy outside backs around him.
Selwyn Cobbo and Reece Walsh are a devastating combination at the back for Brisbane and will be for Queensland one day, but will it be this year? Since his expedited first-grade debut for the Warriors as an 18-year-old, Walsh has never looked overawed or out of place on an NRL field.
He had to play fullback, wing, in the halves and off the bench in his first two seasons and, while the wins didn't exactly flow freely, the Warriors' struggles could never be put on his shoulders. In 2023, his performances have shown what he can do behind a class side in stride, and it's exactly as devastating as even the most hyperbolic headline from any parochial tabloid mustered as he was coming up through the ranks.
There's no reason to think he couldn't do as Tom Dearden did last year and play up to the call-up if it comes. He would also have a strong connection with the other players from the table-topping Broncos in Queensland camp.
The connection at the back with Cobbo is strong, and he's very familiar with the voice and patterns of Pat Carrigan. There's no reason not to pick him. Except Ponga.
Slater and any number of Origin coaches before him have shown that staying loyal to incumbents is rarely a bad idea, and neither the head knocks nor Newcastle's poor form are Ponga's fault.
After the Game III performance last year, axeing him would be a tough call, but one no-one would blame him for. At first. No-one has a greater gap in vision than a Maroons fan before and after an Origin game.
Picking Walsh would be completely understandable, until he puts forward anything less than a world-class performance in Game I in Adelaide. Once again for Slater there's no wrong answer. For now.
By Jon Healy at Lang Park Posted Fri 5 May 2023 at 10:25pm
When Billy Slater was playing — be it for Melbourne, Queensland or Australia — he was surrounded by good options. Lurk off Cooper Cronk or Cameron Smith's shoulder? Make an incisive run? Pass to Greg Inglis? Grubber to Israel Folau. Offload to Josh Addo-Carr? There were no wrong answers.
He faces a similar lack of dilemma now as Maroons coach. Pick Reece Walsh or Kalyn Ponga? Ponga is the incumbent and the last time he played in a game of consequence, something he rarely gets to do for the Knights, he put on a masterclass. His greatest State of Origin performance and one of the all-time greats led Queensland to a victory in the 2022 decider, but it's all been downhill since then.
Kalyn Ponga's Knights form is far from his legendary performance in State of Origin III last year. Repeated injuries, concussions, a position switch, Newcastle doing Newcastle things. Not a recipe for success.
But fit again and back in his preferred position? No-one would be surprised if he aimed up and, as Knights teammate Dane Gagai so often has, shines when put alongside players of his own calibre.
Reece Walsh, though. You know? He showed flashes in his two seasons with the Warriors, but since returning home to the Brisbane number one jersey in the off-season, it's hard to say any back has been more impressive.
That continued in the Broncos' 32-6 thumping of Manly under the bright lights of Magic Round. And Slater was there, at ground level, watching closely.
Walsh outshone his opposite number, former Dally M winner Tom Trbojevic, so completely that to say it was a duel at all would be an insult to the memories of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.
All this despite depositing the contents of his guts into a wheelie bin before kick-off as he struggled with sickness. And it showed with two early handling errors in the game, but eventually he hit his stride.
He busted out of 11 tackles, went through the line once, sent Selwyn Cobbo over for two first-half tries and diffused a number of surface and aerial raids, despite his relatively diminutive status when compared to the rangy outside backs around him.
Selwyn Cobbo and Reece Walsh are a devastating combination at the back for Brisbane and will be for Queensland one day, but will it be this year? Since his expedited first-grade debut for the Warriors as an 18-year-old, Walsh has never looked overawed or out of place on an NRL field.
He had to play fullback, wing, in the halves and off the bench in his first two seasons and, while the wins didn't exactly flow freely, the Warriors' struggles could never be put on his shoulders. In 2023, his performances have shown what he can do behind a class side in stride, and it's exactly as devastating as even the most hyperbolic headline from any parochial tabloid mustered as he was coming up through the ranks.
There's no reason to think he couldn't do as Tom Dearden did last year and play up to the call-up if it comes. He would also have a strong connection with the other players from the table-topping Broncos in Queensland camp.
The connection at the back with Cobbo is strong, and he's very familiar with the voice and patterns of Pat Carrigan. There's no reason not to pick him. Except Ponga.
Slater and any number of Origin coaches before him have shown that staying loyal to incumbents is rarely a bad idea, and neither the head knocks nor Newcastle's poor form are Ponga's fault.
After the Game III performance last year, axeing him would be a tough call, but one no-one would blame him for. At first. No-one has a greater gap in vision than a Maroons fan before and after an Origin game.
Picking Walsh would be completely understandable, until he puts forward anything less than a world-class performance in Game I in Adelaide. Once again for Slater there's no wrong answer. For now.
