Reece Walsh

The Vodafone Warriors initially announced Reece had been signed for three years from 2022 but the teenager subsequently gained a release from the Brisbane Broncos to join his new club on the Central Coast in April.

An exciting fullback widely regarded as one of the hottest young talents in the game, his signing is a major coup, Vodafone Warriors CEO Cameron George hailing it one of the club's most significant recruitment successes.

He’s yet another product from the famed Keebra Park State High School rugby league nursery which produced his future teammate Ben Murdoch-Masila along with the likes of Benji Marshall and Payne Haas.

The 2019 Queensland State of Origin Under 18s and Australian Schoolboys representative began the year impressing for the Broncos in a trial against Wynnum Manly in February.

A left-footed goal kicker, Walsh slotted six from six attempts and scored a try in the Australian Schoolboys’ 36-20 win over the Junior Kiwis in 2019. He was also a try scorer for Queensland in its 34-12 win over New South Wales in the the 2019 State of Origin under-18 encounter.

He began this season playing for the Norths Devlis in the Intrust Super Cup in Queensland, scoring two tries and kicking six goals in their 40-10 win over the Brisbane Tigers. Among his teammates were former Vodafone Warrior Leivaha Pulu and ex-Vodafone Junior Warriors player of the year Michael Sio.

Walsh joined the Vodafone Warriors at their Terrigal camp on April 12 and lined up six days later for feeder club Redcliffe in the Intrust Super Cup. Playing at standoff, he scored a try and kicked three goals from four attempts in a 28-34 loss to Wynnum Manly.

After just two weeks with the club he was making his NRL debut, not just against any club but against the premiers the Melbourne Storm on Anzac Day. He was anything but perturbed as he lined up at fullback. By the end of the game he had impressed all judges with a debut that ranked among the most eye catching in the game's history, even more so in a losing side as he had a had a hand in three of the team's four tries.

A week later he was used in the halves, imposing himself on the contest with a dazzling display as the Vodafone Warriors beat North Queensland 24-20.

Walsh has Australian Indigenous heritage on his father's side and has Maori heritage through his birth mother, who is from Hastings.