Reece Walsh has been back training at Brisbane Broncos headquarters, two weeks before players were due to return at the start of November. New coach Michael Maguire will officially kick off his reign next week when all players and staff return for the start of pre-season, but Walsh has already been training by himself for the last two weeks.
It shows the 22-year-old is keen to make a good impression on Maguire and atone for a disappointing season in 2024. Walsh’s year was plagued by injuries, and he wasn’t able to recapture the stunning form that helped the Broncos go all the way to the grand final in 2023.
But by returning to pre-season training early, he’s showed that Maguire’s message about working hard and changing the culture at the club has gotten through. “Reece has already been back a few weeks,” Maguire told the Courier Mail.
“Reece has come back early and I’ve also seen a few others like Payne Haas, Ben Te Kura and Kobe Hetherington. It’s great to see. This is the sign of professionalism and this is how we are going to do things at the Broncos if we want to reach the standards of Penrith and Melbourne.”
Walsh has been spotted at Broncos headquarters a number of times in recent weeks, training by himself. It comes after a tumultuous end-of-season trip to Bali in which he was at the centre of an NRL investigation after a person’s phone was broken while trying to take a photo with him. A photo also emerged of Walsh in a medical facility receiving treatment after a mishap while surfing.
Michael Maguire keen to work with Reece Walsh at Broncos
Speaking earlier this month, Maguire said he’s keen to work with Walsh and knows he can get the best out of him. “When you talk about standards and wanting to go the extra yard, Reece can really go the extra yard,” Maguire said. “Everyone can see what he’s capable of doing. I’ve always seen with my players … if you can improve as a player, you get hungry for more success, because it’s actually good fun when you improve.
“What I like to do is get to know the players. Whether that’s firm or not, it doesn’t really worry me. I have seen young players through the connections I’ve had with them as people, that’s the first thing I care about. If they go out and train extremely hard, they excel and all of a sudden, before you know it, the first graders are winning competitions and playing at Origin level.
“I have been able to expand that over many a player. I really like to know and get to know a player and if that’s me being called hard because I want them to succeed, it doesn’t hurt me.”
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