NEWS Reece Walsh's Magic Round performance proves once again he's ready for State of Origin

[Swordfish]

I would prefer Walsh to not play Origin this year however, I would be ok with the below:

Let Ponga get picked for Adelaide game. He plays shit while QLD wins it.

Whilst this is happening, Walsh to kill it for us the next 4-5 weeks which brings us to our byes.

Ponga gets dropped for Game 2 @ Suncorp & enters Walsh who kills it and QLD goes on to win the Series.

Walsh gets picked for game 3 in SHITney and irrespective of the result, Walsh to have a blinder.

By the time Origin noise has settled, Walsh would be pumping on the back of Origin experience & confidence by which time, we enter backend of season which is the most vital.

If all the above works out, we’ll get our long waited Premiership this year & Walsh to play a major role.

 

[Big Del]

In my opinion, that isn't because Ponga is in bad form, it's because he is being played terribly out of position. He should be their fullback and nothing else. It's one of those annoying "he has ball-playing skills so let's play him at five-eighth" ideas that dumb coaches get when they can't develop or attract a genuine half.

Well ,,, actually Gamble and Hastings were doing good when I watched them .

 

[Morkel]

Well ,,, actually Gamble and Hastings were doing good when I watched them .

Just makes the coach dumber IMO. Was there a reason they gave as to why they were moving Ponga to #6? because all things being as they are, I can't think of a good one. Especially given his concussion history, forcing him to make an extra 10 - 15 tackles every game is borderline negligence.

 

[Kimlo]

Normally I want as little of our players to be selected as possible but Walsh getting coached by Slater for 3 games would be great for the Broncos.

 

[Wolfie]

Normally I want as little of our players to be selected as possible but Walsh getting coached by Slater for 3 games would be great for the Broncos.

I think its the defensive side of the game Billy will help Reece with. His attack needs very little work, just needs a bit more calmness from Walsh but his defence isnt the best yet.

 

[john1420]

Walsh is awesome and I love him, but Queensland can never trot out the "pick and stick" line ever again if you drop the guy that was man of the match in the most recent origin game.

Of course they can

Ponga is not playing well, and is now playing weekly NRL in a different position, and to me that negates the pick and stick

 

[Volvo Driver]

Of course he's ready. He's the form fullback in the comp, with daylight second

Talking about QLD fullbacks, right? Because as good as Walsh has been this year I'm taking Latrell 9 times out of 10.

 

[Organix]

This could work out well for us in that Walsh goes to origin camp as potential cover for Ponga, but doesn't play (potentially get injured). Then he could learn from Slater And the Pong and back up for us looking to prove a point. He doesn't seem to lose enthusiasm, so it might be motivation for him even

 

[Mustafur]

Talking about QLD fullbacks, right? Because as good as Walsh has been this year I'm taking Latrell 9 times out of 10.

Sorry but what?

Have you been watching Souths games this year?

Latrell has gone missing for most of them, granted he has played well in the last few but his involvement has been questionable in many of their games, Walsh has had only a few games where he wasn't excellent.

In terms of form he is the number 1 fullback in the comp.

 

[Mustafur]

Well ,,, actually Gamble and Hastings were doing good when I watched them .

They were, that halves combo had very good chemistry because they are both big talkers, when Ponga came in Hastings performances have also dropped a bit and Ponga has been a turnstile in defence.

 

[BooKhaki]

Sorry but what?

Have you been watching Souths games this year?

Latrell has gone missing for most of them, granted he has played well in the last few but his involvement has been questionable in many of their games, Walsh has had only a few games where he wasn't excellent.

In terms of form he is the number 1 fullback in the comp.

Going missing like Walsh has several times? Mitchell has been extremely effective this year, and if you compare the 2 stats I think they would show that.

You'll find the most creative players will often go missing, if that's a big factor for you, then Edwards is your #1 fullback.

 

[Mustafur]

Going missing like Walsh has several times? Mitchell has been extremely effective this year, and if you compare the 2 stats I think they would show that.

You'll find the most creative players will often go missing, if that's a big factor for you, then Edwards is your #1 fullback.

Walsh hasn't been missing like Latrell has in some games, often not there for edge plays something Walsh never really misses on, Souths have had alot more opportunities for the fullback to get involved in how they have played this year.

Edwards is obviously a bad comparison, he doesn't create like Mitchell and Walsh probably more similar to Tedesco, he is like having a Roaming centre who does plenty of tough runs etc, considering what he doesn't really do at fullback he has to make it up with what he does do.

 

[LittleDavey]

Going missing like Walsh has several times? Mitchell has been extremely effective this year, and if you compare the 2 stats I think they would show that.

You'll find the most creative players will often go missing, if that's a big factor for you, then Edwards is your #1 fullback.

They're closer than I thought tbf, considering Souths have also had a bye:

Tries: Mitchell 8 to Walsh 4
Try Assists: Mitchell 8 to Walsh 13
Run Mts: Mitchell 1025 to Walsh 1149
Line Breaks: Mitchell 2 to Walsh 8
Tackle Breaks: Mitchell 55 to Walsh 48
Offloads: Both on 10
Kick Metres: Mitchell 386 to Walsh 459
Tackles: Mitchell 30 to Walsh 32
Missed: Mitchell 3 to Walsh 14
Errors: Mitchell 8 to Walsh 19
Penalties Mitchell 5 to Walsh 2

If Walsh cleans up his errors and missed tackles there's nothing really between them.

 

[Mustafur]

They're closer than I thought tbf, considering Souths have also had a bye:

Tries: Mitchell 8 to Walsh 4
Try Assists: Mitchell 8 to Walsh 13
Run Mts: Mitchell 1025 to Walsh 1149
Line Breaks: Mitchell 2 to Walsh 8
Tackle Breaks: Mitchell 55 to Walsh 48
Offloads: Both on 10
Kick Metres: Mitchell 386 to Walsh 459
Tackles: Mitchell 30 to Walsh 32
Missed: Mitchell 3 to Walsh 14
Errors: Mitchell 8 to Walsh 19
Penalties Mitchell 5 to Walsh 2

If Walsh cleans up his errors and missed tackles there's nothing really between them.

I would say the errors come out of the extra involvements he has had, they both tend to go for the flashy plays.

Souths are full of line breaks though as their edge has been lethal this year, Walker, Mitchell, Illias and Tass are high on the list for LB assists.

For us it's mostly Walsh and Reyno half the time.

If Walsh was in that Souths team with how they play they wouldn't lose a game.

 

[McHunt]

So here we are arguing over Walsh vs Mitchell. Latrell who has played 10 games for Australia and 7 for NSW. And wondering whether Reece is ready for Origin.

 

[BroncsFan]

This could work out well for us in that Walsh goes to origin camp as potential cover for Ponga, but doesn't play (potentially get injured). Then he could learn from Slater And the Pong and back up for us looking to prove a point. He doesn't seem to lose enthusiasm, so it might be motivation for him even

I think he's $1.01 to go into the camp... he'd be starting to firm as 18th man as well... which is not good for us

 

[BooKhaki]

So here we are arguing over Walsh vs Mitchell. Latrell who has played 10 games for Australia and 7 for NSW. And wondering whether Reece is ready for Origin.

I don't think it's a logical argument. Latrell is clearly a better player, and has proven it over an extended period. It really comes down to how you want to pick a side. When picking Origin teams I want to pick proven performers, and there are plenty of people who see a handful of good games and catapult people straight in.

 

[theshed]

Of course he's ready. He's the form fullback in the comp, with daylight second - number 3 on the Dally M leaderboard, largely responsible for our transformation this year from a barely top 8 to a genuine premiership contender. He's more ready than Selwyn Cobbo or Xavier Coates were on debut. Albeit in a more critical position.

The question isn't whether he's "ready," it whether there's anyone better. There's a solid argument for Ponga, based purely on form we haven't even glimpsed since his last Origin, along with Hammer who's done everything right more recently.

I know who the crowd wants to see.

Number 2 on the dally m