- Broncos star was taken out cold in the sixth minute
- Sua’ali’i was immediately given marching orders
- Blues are struggling to keep up with Queensland with 12 men
He may be one of the biggest superstars in the NRL, but Reece Walsh is a dad first who was on full display in heartwarming scenes in State of Origin I on Wednesday night.
Sydney Roosters star and Wallabies signing Joseph Sua’ali’i was sent off early in Wednesday night’s Origin match at Accor Stadium for a horror tackle on the Maroons fullback.
In scary scenes, Walsh remained incapacitated on the field for several minutes before he was able to stagger off the field, assisted by trainers.
His daughter Leila watched from the stands and was said to have been terrified to see her father in such a state.
Joseph Sua’ali’i’s strike that knocked out Reece Walsh and saw the Blues winger sent off by referee Ashley Klein
Walsh jumped the fence to find his daughter and gave her a big hug to let her know she was okay
But in heartwarming scenes, Walsh made it his priority to find Leila and give her a huge hug, letting her know everything was okay.
The incident happened in the sixth minute of the match and play continued with Walsh lying unconscious on the turf until referee Ashley Klein finally stopped play.
He refused to let the Roosters winger protest his innocence and sent him straight to the shed to become the sixth Blues player in history to be sent off in an Origin match.
Walsh suffered a Category 1 head injury on the pitch, so although he later passed his head injury assessment, he was not allowed to return for the remainder of the match.
Walsh is being cared for by a Queensland trainer after being knocked out cold in Origin I
Joseph Sua’ali’i was sent off by referee Ashley Klein for the nasty high tackle on Walsh
It was officially the shortest State of Origin debut in history, with Sua’ali’i sent off after just 7 minutes and 25 seconds. That also made it the first broadcast in Origin history.
When Channel Nine crossed over to Queensland coach Billy Slater and asked for his reaction to the goal on Walsh, he shouted, his face like thunder: “You probably don’t want to know that.”
“Hindsight is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?” Slater then said when asked whether he should carry Selwyn Cobbo onto the bench to replace Walsh in the backline.
‘He is a quality player and he plays in that position regularly, just like Hammer.
“Nothing changes for us,” he said when asked what NSW with just 12 men meant to Queensland.
“We just want to get going, get our game going. These kinds of things can happen.’
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