About to begin his second NRL season - and first full campaign - NZ Warriors sensation Reece Walsh has been urged to attack first before his first appearance of 2022.
Debuting for the Warriors last year, after a mid-season move from Brisbane Broncos, Walsh took the NRL by storm, earning the club's Rookie of the Year honours and his first State of Origin call-up with Queensland.
In 16 games, Walsh scored nine tries and set up 11 more, as he experienced playing against grown men every week as a teenager.
But after an end to the season that saw Walsh cop two separate bans for his role in a fracas against Gold Coast Titans, then being caught in possession of cocaine at Surfers Paradise, Walsh missed the Warriors' 2022 season-opening 28-16 defeat to St George Dragons.
On Saturday, Walsh will make his first appearance of his sophomore season, named to start at fullback, as the Warriors hunt their maiden win, coincidentally, against the Titans, the same side they capitulated against to bring last season to an end.
Walsh has just completed his first pre-season with the Warriors and first full pre-season with any side, and Warriors coaching staff are urging him to pick up exactly where he left off in 2021.
"A key message for Reece will be 'think run first', because opposition teams will be, I suppose, a tad nervous, when he's got the ball in his hands," says assistant coach Justin Morgan. "It'll be a run-first mentality for Reece."
Walsh's inexperience showed over the Warriors pre-season, as he struggled to keep up with some of his senior teammates, Morgan explains, before finally finding his feet and earning his spot in the Warriors No.1 jersey.
"Reece most probably didn't come back in great shape pre-Christmas, but he's worked really, really hard to get his body composition right," explains Morgan. "He's worked harder on his fitness.
"We all know the fullback role's a really hard one to play - it's one where you need to be able to concentrate. You organise the defence a lot and provide the extra man in attack so often.
"We've been really pleased with his fitness levels over the last 5-6 weeks. He took a while to find his feet a little bit, but in saying that, he's still a young athlete, so doesn't have too much training age behind him.
"He's made a really good spike over the past 5-6 weeks. He brings lots of energy, and gives us the option of being a left-footed kicker and his speed around the ruck."
And now with the tough pre-season lessons on board, Morgan backs Walsh to go from strength to strength, looming as a key player, if the Warriors are to return to the NRL's top eight for the first time since 2018.
All that comes now is for Walsh to perform on the field.
"That's all about his education as a player and we've seen him evolve with some of those things after the last few months, but in saying that, what Reece brings to the team is excitement and we want him to continue to bring that excitement.
"We feel that he's a better-educated player than he was at the start of last season and hopefully he can put that into practice for us."
Join us from 5pm Saturday for live updates of the Warriors v Titans NRL clash
