Reece Walsh's fall from grace laid bare as Brisbane Broncos fullback completely ignored

Just 12 short months after Mal Meninga was seriously considering picking Reece Walsh in his Kangaroos squad, the Broncos fullback has fallen so far down the pecking order that he was nowhere near the selection conversation this year. Meninga named an overhauled Kangaroos squad for the Pacific Championships on Monday, with veterans James Tedesco, Daly Cherry-Evans and Jake Trbojevic all axed.

The new squad is a changing of the guard of sorts, with one eye on avenging Australia's loss to New Zealand in last year's final, and the other on the 2026 World Cup. Dylan Edwards is the new fullback after unseating Tedesco from the NSW role in State of Origin this year, while fellow No.1s Tom Trbojevic and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow are also in the squad.

In a bitter new blow for Walsh, the Broncos fullback was never seriously in contention and has fallen so far down the pecking order that his name wasn't even brought up when Meninga was discussing his squad on Monday. The 22-year-old was on top of the world at the end of 2023 having played a blinding Origin series for Queensland and helping the Broncos make it all the way to the grand final.

Meninga admitted last year he was considering picking Walsh in his Kangaroos squad as a bench utility, who could come onto the field and play a 'lock' role in the middle of the park. He eventually decided against it, but it showed Walsh's standing in the game that he was close to Test selection.

But fast forward 12 months and there are a number of players who have jumped him the queue. Tabuai-Fidow and Trbojevic have been picked to play in the centres, but with Edwards it marks three first-choice fullbacks in the Kangaroos squad ahead of Walsh.

Meninga is big on State of Origin being a shootout for Kangaroos selection, which would seemingly put Maroons No.1 Walsh right behind Blues custodian Edwards. But in reality, Walsh is nowhere near where he was in 2023.

Reece Walsh way down on fullback pecking order

Kalyn Ponga has jumped him in the queue and was much closer to being selected in the Test squad, although Meninga ended up overlooking him. And some could even argue that Scott Drinkwater has overtaken Walsh after an outstanding season for the Cowboys.

Drinkwater and Trbojevic both finished in the top-5 of Dally M voting, while Tedesco was second and Edwards sixth. The three fullbacks in the running to win fullback of the year were Edwards, Tedesco and Tabuai-Fidow, and the same trio were voted best No.1s of the year by their fellow peers in the Rugby League Players' Association awards.

It must be said that Walsh endured an injury-plagued season and only played 14 games for the Broncos. But Trbojevic (18), Edwards (17), Tabuai Fidow (16) and Ponga (15) didn't play many more.

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Is Reece Walsh still Queensland's best Origin fullback?

Questions will now be asked about whether Billy Slater still considers Walsh the best option to play fullback for the Maroons. The 22-year-old was brilliant in 2023 while Ponga was out, but fell back to earth in 2024 after being knocked out in Game 1 and failing to fire for the rest of the series.

If Ponga is fit and firing come Origin time in 2025, Slater will have a tricky decision over who plays at the back for the Maroons. Many would argue Ponga is Queensland's best option, and plenty would have Tabuai-Fidow over Walsh as well.