'I'm going to help you win the comp': Walsh fulfils Broncos promise

Reece Walsh phoned Broncos captain Adam Reynolds three years ago from Mad Monday celebrations with the Warriors and declared: “I’m going to come back and help you win a comp”.

After delivering on his promise in a match-winning performance regarded as one of the greatest in grand final history, Walsh paid tribute to Reynolds and coach Michael Maguire, who steered South Sydney to their first premiership in 43-years in 2014.

“I remember when Reyno first came to the club, he invited me over … and I asked to have a look at his (premiership) ring,” Walsh said.

“I was just a young kid coming back to Brissy, and I am just so honoured and grateful to be a part of this team.”

Reynolds and Maguire have now combined to help end a 19-year premiership drought for the Broncos, although Reynolds (calf) and fellow playmaker Ben Hunt (concussion) failed to finish the match.

Enter Walsh, who said the brutal pre-season army camps and relentless goal-line defence practice that Maguire insisted on had been worth the effort.

“From day one, I was dodging Madge’s calls (because) I was too scared to talk to him,” Walsh said. “But we have been in the trenches together, we were running through the bush together as a team, and the culture we have built, the belief ...

“No-one gave us a chance, the only ones who believed were in the room and us players. Our backs were against the wall, and we could have shied away but we went towards those moments.

“It has been 19-years and we have just etched our names in history.”

Given that Walsh was only four years old when the NRL premiership trophy last resided in Brisbane in 2006, it is unlikely even he yet fully understands the enormity of returning Australia’s biggest sporting club to the top.

The 2025 Clive Churchill Medallist - as undisputed player-of-the-match - scored a try, laid on three of Brisbane’s other four tries, made 14 tackle busts and produced three try-saving tackles in the 26-22 win.

It was the latest in a series of match winning performances by Walsh in recent weeks as the Broncos have come from behind to down the Raiders, Panthers and Storm in consecutive finals.

Walsh, who is a doting father to five-year-old Leila, revealed that the turning point in his form occurred while he was sidelined with a PCL injury for six weeks mid-season.

After his return, he began dominating games and the superstar fullback is now set to wear the Kangaroos No.1 jersey in the upcoming Ashes series.

“When I got injured I got away from the game, away from the boys, and that was from Madge telling me, ‘when I am at home, be at home and enjoy those moments’,” he said.

“I think at the start of the year I was so heavily invested in footy, which is obviously a good thing but sometimes it gets a little bit too much.

“You’re sitting up at night watching film at home and my little one is there playing, and I’m on my phone looking at clips.

“To be honest I felt like it got a little bit too much for me. When I got that injury I reset, I let myself be the footy player at work.

“When I was at home I just enjoyed being dad, being a son to my old man. We got on the tools together, we were enjoying those moments.

“When I came back I sort of had the mentality of when I am in the building work hard, when I am out enjoy my time... that was probably it.”