Brisbane Broncos coach Michael Maguire brushed off talk that Reece Walsh was carrying an injury after Saturday’s 28-23 loss to the Titans, saying the fullback was not playing hurt even as questions hung over two moments that made viewers look twice.
The concern came after Walsh was beaten easily by Phillip Sami for a solo try in the 38th minute, then found himself late to the contest when Keano Kini scored the match-winning try in the 77th minute with a chip and regather. Those incidents turned a close defeat into a public fitness check on one of Brisbane’s most watched players, and Maguire was asked straight after the match whether the superstar fullback had been limited.
“No, not really,” Maguire said first, before giving the same answer again when asked a second time in the press conference. “Nup.” The coach, whose side has now suffered a fifth straight defeat, said the Broncos were “bloody trying” and insisted the effort was there even if the result was not. “We had two tries in the first half bounce away and I can’t fault the effort the players are putting in,” he said.
That response fit the broader message Maguire has been selling since a heavy loss to St George Illawarra last week, when he praised the group for responding well in training. He again backed individuals who stood up on the night, singling out Preston Riki and saying he performed really well, but the scoreline still left Brisbane with another loss that did little to settle the mood around the team.
The friction for the Broncos is that the coach’s denial did not fully match what the eye test suggested in two key passages of play. Walsh did not look free in one moment and was beaten to another, and even if Maguire is right that there was no injury, the next match will quickly show whether the fullback can shake off the scrutiny as Brisbane tries to stop the slide.
