Reece Walsh’s grip on his State of Origin jersey appears to be slipping after an underwhelming display in Saturday night’s shock thumping by Canberra. And Raiders fan favourite Corey Horsburgh has sent another emphatic message to Maroons coach Billy Slater as his push for a recall to the Queensland side gathers steam.
Walsh squandered a glorious chance to respond to rival fullback Kalyn Ponga’s masterclass for Newcastle on Thursday night, that has seen calls grow for the Knights skipper to be picked in the Maroons No.1 jersey ahead of the Brisbane star. The Broncos fullback had a night to forget in the nation’s capital as Ricky Stuart’s Raiders gave the visitors a stark reality check.
Many experts named Brisbane among the favourites to win the premiership this year after their crushing win over the Roosters in round one. But Michael Maguire’s men were sent crashing back to earth by an impressive Raiders side that made it two wins from two to start the new season.
Walsh was well below his best for the majority of the game after coughing up four errors, missing four tackles, and running for just 96 metres. The Broncos fullback is close to unplayable when he’s on song but has a tendency to have these sorts of games every now and then and it will surely be a concern for Maroons coach Slater when it comes to picking a Queensland team to try and win back the Origin shield this year.
The Brisbane No.1 failed to inject himself into the game during a very quiet first half as Canberra’s pack out-muscled and out-enthused the star-studded Broncos middle forwards, led by Payne Haas and Patrick Carrigan. And when Walsh did try to get more involved in the second forty, with his side trailing 16-10 at the break, the Broncos fullback was once again guilty of trying to do too much as errors and ill-discipline came back to bite Brisbane.
Walsh inexplicably dropped one ball close to the tryline after breaking through Canberra’s defence, before throwing a cut-out pass into touch in another poorly executed play. He also put winger Jesse Arthars – whose hat-trick gave Brisbane hope – under unnecessary pressure after taking a kick return and throwing a questionable pass to his teammate, who was subsequently bundled into touch.
Raiders deal Broncos reality check in big win
While Walsh and the Broncos were far from their best, plenty of credit has to go to Stuart and the Raiders, who had heroes all across the park on Saturday night. English import Matty Nicholson enjoyed a fairytale NRL debut after crossing for two tries to banish the disappointment of missing out on playing in the season-opener in Las Vegas.
Canberra’s outside backs Sebastian Kris, Savelio Tamale and Matt Timoko were all strong with their carries from the back and dangerous in attack. Zac Hosking led the way with 39 tackles and was praised by Stuart after showing his versatility by starting on an edge, moving to lock and also playing as a prop during the second half.
Unheralded hooker Tom Starling had another strong showing after his heroics in Vegas and veteran enforcer Josh Papalii stood up in the absence of suspended skipper Joseph Tapine superbly. Papalii equalled Jarrod Croker as the second most-capped Raiders player of all time and even picked up a try to mark the occasion.
Corey Horsburgh stamps claim for Maroons recall
But it was his fellow enforcer Corey Horsburgh who led the way for Canberra’s pack, with another display to strengthen his Origin claims. Raiders coach Stuart predicted that ‘Big Red’ would earn a Maroons recall this year after impressing in pre-season and Queensland mentor Slater must be loving what he’s seeing after the opening two rounds.
Horsburgh showed off his engine after playing the first 57 minutes of the match at prop without a break. He ran hard with the ball, hit hard in defence and added a couple off offloads, including one that led to a Timoko try. It was only when Horsburgh finally came off that Brisbane staged a late fightback with late tries to Selwyn Cobbo and Arthars that ultimately proved too little, too late for Maguire’s men.
