- Reece Walsh suffered a nasty head collision on Thursday
- The incident occurred just five minutes into the match
- A scan will be made on Friday morning
The Brisbane Broncos have had a terrible night at the office after losing star fullback Reece Walsh to a thrashing at the hands of NRL champions Penrith.
Walsh stood up to Latrell Mitchell in last week’s win over South Sydney but was forced off after just five minutes following a nasty headbutt with Panthers star Taylan May.
As a result, a huge gash appeared on the left side of his face and it took twenty minutes for medical staff to stitch it up.
He prepared to return to the playing field but returned into the tunnel after complaining of problems with his eyesight. The Broncos have confirmed he will appear for scans on Friday morning.
Nathan Cleary inflicted further pain on Brisbane by producing a masterclass to lead the Panthers to a 34-12 demolition job in the grand final rematch.
Reece Walsh suffered a nasty injury on Thursday evening
The Broncos star was on the receiving end of a heavy collision with Taylan May
Six months after stealing the NRL premiership from Brisbane with the best individual 20 minutes in grand finals history, Cleary was at it again on Thursday evening.
The Penrith half had four tries in hand, including a spellbinding assist from Izack Tago before half-time, to end any hopes the Broncos had at the BlueBet Stadium.
And with Walsh, Payne Haas and Adam Reynolds all missing, Cleary was able to pick the Broncos apart with ease.
He repeatedly targeted Brendan Piakura, with Brisbane forced to play the second rower at left center while Selwyn Cobbo came in at fullback.
It was on that edge that Cleary found space for the Panthers’ first try, as he flicked a ball to winger Sunia Turuva to knock him over.
Center Tago was the next man to benefit, with his first effort coming from a long cut ball from Cleary after Jarome Luai had changed the point of attack.
Then came the game of the evening just before halftime.
With Brisbane already on the ropes down 16-2, Cleary skipped across the field and had Brisbane on the back foot with a double-pump dummy and another show-and-go.
That created the space for Tago to walk into a gaping hole and put the match beyond doubt.
Cleary’s night was still not over and he got involved after the break as he moved across the pitch to create numbers before Luai and May brought over Brian To’o.
At that point, Cleary had been involved in six tries in the space of 60 minutes of football against the Broncos, dating back to last year’s Grand Final.
It took 20 minutes for medics to sew up a gash on the left side of his face
What was also clear was that while Brisbane didn’t want to talk about last year’s grand final this week, Penrith clearly learned from it.
They rushed forward and reduced time and space from Brisbane’s edges after Ezra Mam and Walsh did all the damage in the 2023 decider.
It was in this way that Walsh was injured, with May called off for a collision with the Broncos full-back early in the game.
Penrith protested the penalty but referee Gerard Sutton ruled that May had a duty of care to deflect the tackle and avoid the head clash.
Brisbane grabbed the penalty goal to lead 2–0, but their next points didn’t come until the game was over in the second half.
Penrith are flying again, while Brisbane now have one win from three games to start the season and are at risk of Walsh joining Reynolds and Haas on the sidelines.