Superstar fullback Reece Walsh says Australia’s forwards have been “disrespected a lot” during the World Cup.
The green and golds competed the pool rounds on Saturday night with a 66-6 win over Cook Islands - the “scoreline of the beast” on Halloween - but opposition captain KL Iro said New Zealand were his tournament favourites.
Kevin Walters’ side plays Tonga in the second semi-final on Sunday in Sydney.
“That’s the thing - I feel like our forward pack’s been disrespected a lot this tournament,” said Walsh, who continues to return to full capacity from a left ankle injury but has pocketed two player-of-the-match awards in the process.
“There’s a lot of talk about the other teams. They’re great players. They’re awesome players, don’t get me wrong.
“But the way that this pack works their arse off for us, they’re the reason why we’re winning these games and the reason why we’re working so hard.
Australian Kangaroos v Cook Islands Aitu - Round 3, 2026
"The passion they play with and the hard work, the kick chase, the small details.
“It’s something that the fans and you guys [media] probably don’t see but we see and that’s one thing I see with these other teams.
“When they’re looking at us, they know the strengths that we bring.
“All credit to them, they’re awesome packs but I love these boys and how hard they work because those little efforts... we appreciate them so much.”
The 24-year-old, who is locked in a selection battle with James Tedesco for the No.1 jersey, described the Australian jersey as “the pinnacle of our game”.
Jacob Preston Try
He spoke about working tireless during September to be fit for selection - not even considering any vacation plans of his own - and paid tribute to Brisbane’s staff for helping him while most of the Broncos players were on holidays.
Having been replaces as goalkicker by Cameron Munster on Saturday night, he conceded: “I was a bit rusty out there.
“A couple of little kicks of the ground and stubbing my foot... it wasn’t ideal but my ankle’s feeling a lot better than what it was.
“The first time I kicked the ball in about 12 weeks was last week so if we can continue to get better... Munners was pretty good at it, I thought.
“They said there was gonna be moments where you’ll get a knock on it and a bit of a niggle but it’s not hurt.
“I was bound to get a bang on it. I didn’t get one I the first game but I got one out there. I feel like it’s a good test of the strength of it. It was a bit sore there at the time.”
Walsh bristled a little when asked to describe the Australians’ form against New Zealand, Fiji and the Kukis - but then made a reference to “hard conversations” internally.
Reece Walsh named player of the match against the Cook Islands
“How many wins?” he said asked in response to the query.
“Yeah, it’s rugby league at the end of the day. It’s never going to be perfect.
“We always strive to be perfect. We always want to be great. Sometimes it’s not that way.
“As long as we keep looking at the tape, getting better at the things we need to get better at, being honest with each other...
“I feel like in that room there’s a lot of honest people and we all want the same thing and we’re not scared to have those hard conversations.
“That’s what being in this environment... the other teams would know it... no-one mucks around, no-one takes the piss.
“Those conversations are going to be had and we’re going to keep having them and strive to be the best footy team we can be.”
- All matches will be broadcast live and exclusive in Australia on Seven and 7plus, on Sky Sport in New Zealand and Digicel in Papua New Guinea.
