NEWS Walsh to be Madge's No.1 man after new Broncos deal

The Brisbane Broncos have locked in fullback Reece Walsh on a four-year contract extension to the end of the 2029 season.

At his best, the 22-year-old is one of the most exciting players in the NRL and will form a key role in Head Coach Michael Maguire's team over the coming years.

The Queenslander has already made 74 NRL appearances since making his debut for the Warriors in 2021, notching 34 tries and 57 try assists.

The Nerang Roosters product had a disrupted 2024 season playing 14 games but still managed 14 tries, 13 line breaks, 8 try assists and 62 tackle breaks in running for 154 metres per game.

With a Maroons State Of Origin debut already under his belt, Walsh has already begun his own preparations for 2025 as he locks in on a huge season for the Broncos.

It’s a special place here at the Broncos and I’m definitely happy to be staying here at the club with all my mates – it’s a good day. I’ve wanted to play for the Broncos since I was a little kid, so I’m just really excited to be here and looking forward to getting into preseason and Round 1.

“I want to be someone who works hard, someone who brings success, someone who helps bring Premierships to this great club, but first of all I’ve got to be a good person off the field, a caring dad, a good role model and I’ve got to work hard on my footy.

“I’ve had a few conversations with Madge and hard work is one thing he touches on a lot – I can’t wait to be around the boys again and get stuck into it together.

“As a player you want to win and being a part of the Broncos that is expected, it’s a massive club with amazing members and fans, and amazing people working at the club as well as all our families, so you’re playing for more than just yourself.

“We didn’t have the best year last year and we are all looking forward to getting back in and working really hard for each other and getting the Broncos back to where the club deserves to be.”

Broncos CEO Dave Donaghy said:

It's terrific news that Reece has re-committed to our club - he’s certainly proven himself to be an exciting player with plenty of potential.

“We’re proud of how Reece has grown from our Broncos Academy program up into our NRL roster and the State of Origin arena as well.

“Reece would have been in high demand, but he has now locked down his long-term future and he’ll play an important role in the team.”

NRL.com

 

[Gaz]

His signing may well help persuade others undecided to do likewise.

 

[Bucking Beads]

His signing may well help persuade others undecided to do likewise.

Hope so. Would love to keep all of our out of contract players. Mozer, Willson, Staggs in particular.

 

[Gaz]

Hope so. Would love to keep all of our out of contract players. Mozer, Willson, Staggs in particular.

No Selwyn?

 

[Bucking Beads]

No Selwyn?

He wouldn't be my priority but I can see why the club and others would prioritize him.

 

[BroncsFan]

He wouldn't be my priority but I can see why the club and others would prioritize him.

I feel like Staggs is more of a flight risk than Cobbo.

Last time Staggs was off contract he was talking with a lot of Sydney clubs, but no one was will to stump up for his valuation of near $800k (from memory, but likely inflated from journos). From memory broncos ended up being the highest offer, but there's every chance he would've gone to Eels if they offered more than us.

This time around we probably need Staggs to take a similar amount as his current contract to retain others and to be honest I don't think he's improved his game all that much compared to where he was last time around.

He's more experienced and more of a leader, but his attack is getting contained, his defensive reads are still mostly rocks than diamonds and he's not been great at setting up his outside man. His workrate has improved, but we need way more from him given where the current game is at.

If anything he had more promise and was probably our best player when he last re-signed, but he got the ACL injury and seems to have stagnated since.

 

[MagicMan87]

I feel like Staggs is more of a flight risk than Cobbo.

Last time Staggs was off contract he was talking with a lot of Sydney clubs, but no one was will to stump up for his valuation of near $800k (from memory, but likely inflated from journos). From memory broncos ended up being the highest offer, but there's every chance he would've gone to Eels if they offered more than us.

This time around we probably need Staggs to take a similar amount as his current contract to retain others and to be honest I don't think he's improved his game all that much compared to where he was last time around.

He's more experienced and more of a leader, but his attack is getting contained, his defensive reads are still mostly rocks than diamonds and he's not been great at setting up his outside man.

If anything he had more promise and was probably our best player at that time, but he got the ACL injury and seems to have stagnated since.

Knights offered him more last time he was off and he actually agreed to join them and they where set to announce it but he changed his mind at the last second and re signed at Broncos instead.

 

[BroncsFan]

Knights offered him more last time he was off and he actually agreed to join them and they where set to announce it but he changed his mind at the last second and re signed at Broncos instead.

Really... I thought it was parra for some reason lol... knew he was very close to signing elsewhere though and thought it was a higher contract from broncos in the end due to talk of being a 5/8 coming into the equation.

 

[Bucking Beads]

I feel like Staggs is more of a flight risk than Cobbo.

Last time Staggs was off contract he was talking with a lot of Sydney clubs, but no one was will to stump up for his valuation of near $800k (from memory, but likely inflated from journos). From memory broncos ended up being the highest offer, but there's every chance he would've gone to Eels if they offered more than us.

This time around we probably need Staggs to take a similar amount as his current contract to retain others and to be honest I don't think he's improved his game all that much compared to where he was last time around.

He's more experienced and more of a leader, but his attack is getting contained, his defensive reads are still mostly rocks than diamonds and he's not been great at setting up his outside man. His workrate has improved, but we need way more from him given where the current game is at.

If anything he had more promise and was probably our best player when he last re-signed, but he got the ACL injury and seems to have stagnated since.

Staggs way more of a flight risk but more important to us as a young team IMO.

 

[Foordy]

Really... I thought it was parra for some reason lol... knew he was very close to signing elsewhere though and thought it was a higher contract from broncos in the end due to talk of being a 5/8 coming into the equation.

I believe Parra did put an offer to him at some stage last time. I'm not sure if he rejected it or the pulled it though

 

[Mustafur]

If we lost Walsh under Madge I would be calling for his head before game 1, he is critical to our team and any coach worth their Salt would know this.