Billy Slater's Bold Origin Call: Why Reece Walsh Missed Out

Billy Slater took a major risk when he handed a 20-year-old Reece Walsh his State of Origin in 2023.

That year, Walsh and his team of baby Broncos soared within minutes of a premiership, pipped only by an otherworldly performance by Nathan Cleary.

The following season, the team was bad enough to warrant coach Kevin Walters copping the axe five days before the first anniversary of that game.

Another year later, Walsh became perhaps the only man to put on a better grand final outing than Cleary as he powered Brisbane to a stunning premiership.

He followed it up by blitzing England in the Ashes as we saw a confident Walsh in full flight become the best player in rugby league … for a time.

Considering the way it ended up, it may seem odd that Walsh was overlooked for State of Origin in 2025.

He missed the start of the series with a knee injury, but by the time Kalyn Ponga was unavailable for Game III, Walsh was back on board for Brisbane.

Still, Slater turned to Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow for the decider, in a move that was ultimately proven correct by the stunning 24-12 victory in Sydney but was equally understandable even without the benefit of hindsight.

Check out the full teams for this year's men's Origin series opener.

Walsh was injury-plagued and error-ridden through the first two-thirds of the 2025 regular season.

The Broncos had struggled to a 5-7 win-loss record before Walsh returned from his busted PCL, and things started to turn around with a five-game winning streak. They had won three straight when Walsh was named 18th man for the decider.

With the benefit of hindsight, we now know he was at the start of a generational run — carrying the Broncos into the top four and through three stunning finals victories, ending in that glorious grand final performance — but up to that point, he had been a classic rocks or diamonds prospect.

It's been another mixed bag for Walsh and Brisbane to start 2026, and again, it has cost him an Origin spot.

Walsh has played eight games in Brisbane's 5-6 start to the season, and his 19 errors have him tied for the second most in the league.

That statistic is often an over-simplification, and, while it's true that fullbacks and wingers are over-represented in errors due to aerial contests and audacious try-scoring attempts, it backs up what any regular Walsh viewer can tell you.

Walsh, while brilliant, at times looks like his brain and various parts of his body are moving at different speeds.

He is so capable of doing anything on a footy field, it frequently seems as if he's torn between trying to do it all at once.

It means the opposition often has no idea what he's about to do, but his teammates can seem just as unsure what's going to happen next, and the result can be exceptional or abysmal.

So great is Walsh's influence that his teams tend to rise and fall with him, so it's no coincidence that since his return to the Broncos in 2023, they have gone to two grand finals, winning one, but also finished 12th.

In Origin, possession and field position are more important than ever as the best players will almost always punish your mistakes.

Queensland's famous victory in last year's decider was built on flawless execution and a 100 per cent completion rate for all but the final few minutes.

This year, with the rock-solid Tom Dearden injured, Slater has turned to Sam Walker as halfback alongside Cameron Munster in the halves.

With the similarly improvisational Harry Grant at hooker, adding Walsh at fullback would have made this team unstable plutonium — capable of turning into an almighty weapon, but just as likely to blow up in your face.

But even the biggest, most NSW-loving, Walsh-hating fan would surely be terrified to see Walsh on a six-man bench for Queensland, and the terror would only rise if he grabbed an interchange card with the scores tied in the 65th minute.

Slater was hailed as a prophet when he picked winger Selwyn Cobbo on the bench in the 2024 series opener, and Walsh was belted out of the game in the opening minutes by Joseph Suaalii.

What was then a risky move, naming a pure outside back as an interchange option, is now the norm with six-player benches the standard in the NRL.

Only four of the six players can be used, but being able to pick a playmaker or back as a potential substitute still gives coaches more cover in the event one of those specialist positions is injured, or if you just need a little extra spark in a desperate hunt for points late in the game.

So, while Ponga or Tabuai-Fidow being preferred in the number one jersey may make sense, it does leave the question open as to why the electric and game-changing Walsh missed out altogether.

As ever, Slater's response when asked about Walsh's omission was pretty opaque and left us to speculate exactly what he means.

"We've seen Reece play at this level, and he was one of the most influential players in the Queensland team in that series in 2023, so we know what he's capable of, [and] he knows what he's capable of," he said.

"I've got a great relationship with Reece, and I've got a lot of time for him. I love the way he plays his footy. He's getting there."

Presumably, Slater's messaging in his conversations with Walsh is clearer, but what remains baffling is the players Slater chose to fill those extra slots on the bench.

Ezra Mam and Gehamat Shibasaki both received votes of confidence from Slater during last year's series — Mam when Slater named him 18th man immediately after his return from a ban for bringing the game into disrepute, and Shibasaki when he picked him at centre for the decider only a dozen or so games after he was playing rugby union in Japan.

But, like Walsh, neither player has been at their best to start the year with the Broncos, and both are limited in the positions they can play — Mam is a five-eighth through and through, while Shibasaki is big enough to play in the forwards but is almost exclusively a centre.

Looking at the make-up of the top 17, neither Mam nor Shibasaki would likely get on the park unless something goes wrong for Queensland.

But Slater and Walsh know as well as anyone how wrong things can go in Origin.

The Maroons will be hoping that once again their coach's bold calls will be right when the teams hit the park in Sydney on May 27.