Broncos coach Kevin Walters has called on the NRL to do more to protect star fullback Reece Walsh and says a four-match ban for Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i isn’t enough of a deterrent to stop other players from going after his best player.
Walsh was knocked out of the State of Origin opener inside the first eight minutes when the Blues rookie jammed out of the line and whacked him high and late.
Sua’ali’i was sent off and suspended for four matches, but Walters says that while the incident was policed well on the field, he wants the NRL to come down harder on offenders after Walsh suffered his second serious injury this season.
The flashy fullback suffered a facial fracture in the grand final rematch earlier in the year when Taylan May raced out of the line and clashed heads with the speedster, with the Panthers centre avoiding a ban for the tackle gone wrong.
‘That’s the second time that it’s happened, and four weeks, for me, is not enough,’ a fired-up Walters said.
‘Four weeks for ironing out a bloke the way that he did is not enough.
‘The NRL have got to protect him, that’s who’s got to protect him, and be harder on the suspensions.’
Walsh will miss Brisbane’s next two NRL games after he showed category 1 concussion symptoms on Wednesday night.
Walters confirmed his other Origin representatives would be right to face the Sharks, but stopped short of accusing the Blues of deliberately going after Walsh, who was also tackled late by Liam Martin when he put up an early kick.
‘It’s not right for me to try and feel what their plan was, but I saw what their actions were and that was the first block play of the game. You make your own mind up,’ he said.
‘Teams have been targeting the better players for a long time, but I’m just not in agreeance with the suspension.
‘A four-week ban is not going to deter another player from coming out next time Reece plays and trying to take his head out again.’
Tristan Sailor will replace Walsh at fullback for Brisbane on Saturday at Suncorp Stadium after recovering from an ankle injury earlier than expected.
Brisbane fell agonisingly short of a drought-breaking premiership 2023 after Walters’ side surrendered the biggest lead in grand final history.
While in the UK last week on a working holiday, Walters decided to pick the brain of his old friend Postecoglou who has won over many critics with his fearless style of play.
‘He’s been very successful in his early days at Tottenham so it was just nice to link back up with him again and just have a good conversation about not only footy, but just life in general,’ Walters told 9News Queensland.
‘He’s a great fella and obviously a very good coach as well.
‘When I was at the Storm working there as an assistant and he was coaching the [Melbourne] Victory and they were quite successful there.
‘We were just re-linking old friendships.’
Walters doesn’t think the Broncos need to make any huge changes after their heartbreaking 2023 grand final loss.
‘We just want to get better as a club and certainly myself as a coach as well.
‘If I can get better that means the club will get better and our players will keep improving, which is what we need to do.’
Postecoglou’s Spurs snatched a late draw at the Etihad in enthralling clash with Manchester City over the weekend.
Dejan Kulusevski’s late header earned Spurs a point from a thrilling match in which they trailed 2-1 at the interval.
Postecoglou told Sky Sports: ‘It was an entertaining game. We were lucky to be in it at half-time to be fair, City could have blown us away during that period, similar to us last week against Aston Villa.
‘We hung in there second half a lot better, a lot more control, a lot more belief in the team, and we get our reward for that which is great for the lads.’
Asked about what he had said to his team at the break, Postecoglou said: ‘There’s probably only three words I could actually say.
‘It’s not easy – I’m always mindful that on the touchline, everything looks very simple, but out there when you’re facing an unbelievable football team, it’s difficult.
‘It was just a message to them that, whatever happens, I’ll take responsibility for, particularly if it doesn’t go well, but go out there and just believe in ourselves, and I think they did that second half.’
The single league point pulled Spurs to within a point of the Premier League’s top four and ending their run of three consecutive defeats.
Next up for Spurs is a London derby against West Ham before hosting Eddie Howe’s high-flying Newcastle at the weekend.