Broncos legends divided as Steve Renouf criticises Reece Walsh over 'disrespectful' act

Broncos great Steve Renouf has called out Reece Walsh's "disrespectful" behaviour towards his teammate Corey Oates in their 46-18 loss to the Titans last weekend. Last year's grand finalists have lost eight of their past nine games with repeated handling errors and a lack of cohesion and connection a constant of their 2024 season.

Walsh, who has made 27 errors in just 13 NRL games this year, has largely seen his flashes of brilliance overshadowed by his costly errors in 2024. And the star fullback's frustrations with both his performance and that of his teammates have clearly started to get the better of him, as evidenced when he cracked it at the veteran winger despite the error being as much his fault as anyone.

As the game hung in the balance at 28-18 on Saturday with 14 minutes to play, the Broncos blew a costly chance to reduce the deficit. On the attack from the scrum, Walsh drifted to the left and threw a hospital pass to Oates who dropped the ball as he was crunched by Titans back Phil Sami. Walsh immediately went to the veteran winger and gave him a massive spray, an act that didn't sit well with Renouf.

"He can't be publicly spraying the most senior member of the team. Corey can say stuff as well, and I don't know exactly what was said, but it is disrespectful," Renouf told AAP. "I don't like players blowing up at their teammates because you are a team.

"You don't do it in public anyway. Never do it on the field. You have that conversation later in the sheds. Everyone knows the game plan but no one is perfect."

Last year Walsh was suspended for his verbal run-in with referee Chris Butler. However, the fullback got off relatively lightly after the judiciary found most of the abuse and foul language was directed at lock Pat Carrigan. Brisbane captain Adam Reynolds said at the time "whether it was to the referee, Patty or anyone in the team the language was unacceptable". And with yet another spray at a senior member of the team, Renouf has called on Kevin Walters to pull him into line.

"They (the coaching staff) are responsible for him. Wayne Bennett would have certainly taken stock," Renouf said. "Has Kevvie said something to him? I think he should. It is not up to us ex-players to do it because the coaching staff should have it under control."

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Chris Walker believes Reece Walsh is trying too hard

Former Broncos winger Chris Walker said Walsh and Oates had since made up and the spray was just a product of a competitive spirit and wasn't anything malicious. "Unfortunately for Reece, the Broncos are sitting down the bottom of the table and there is a lot of frustration in that team that boiled over on the weekend, but I don't have a problem with it," Walker told AAP.

"Reece is over-trying because he is such a competitor and wants to win. You can't be perfect at 22. I have seen Daly Cherry-Evans give people sprays. I know he is an older statesman but when is it right? When is it wrong? How old do you have to be to dish out a spray? How old does the person being sprayed have to be?

"I look at Reece and he will make a mistake and it is because he is trying something. He's got to this position because he has backed himself. Wayne Bennett always told me to back myself. That's what Reece does. Sometimes it comes off and sometimes it doesn't."

with AAP