Broncos coach Kevin Walters has defended superstar youngster Reece Walsh over his feisty encounter with a teen Panthers fan, saying "it's difficult for Walshy" and declaring "people are jealous".
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, a young Panthers fan told Walsh at a fan day at Circular Quay on Thursday that Penrith prop Moses Leota would "take your head off", which prompted the Brisbane fullback to snap back, saying: "I'll take your mum's."
Both the NRL integrity unit and the Broncos are aware of the grand final week incident.
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"It's difficult for Walshy. The amount of people who love him or hate him … We're in a bit of foreign territory here in NSW, so there are people jealous of Reece because of the way he plays, his looks and all those things," Walters said on Triple M radio on Friday.
"That's something he's going to have to get on top of for the rest of his career.
"You can't take the Nerang out of the Nerang boy!"
ARL Commission chairman Peter V'landys also commented on the hostile run-in.
"Look, he's still a very young man and he needs a bit of maturity. There's no doubt about that," V'landys said on 2GB's Wide World of Sports radio.
"He's under a lot of pressure, too. He's got high expectation from everybody.
"Just on the fan day — I was actually there and he got the loudest cheer. He's a rock star in the game.
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"But he's got to do better than that and I'm sure he will.
"In saying that, we don't know the facts, so I don't want to comment any further, other than [saying] I hope he's learned from it."
V'landys has trumpeted Walsh as a marketing dream for the NRL's Las Vegas trip, which will see the first two games of the 2024 season — between the Sea Eagles and Rabbitohs, and Broncos and Roosters — played at Allegiant Stadium.
On Nine's Today on Friday, the ARL Commission boss described the 21-year-old as "the Justin Bieber of rugby league".
"Look, I went to Brisbane last week to watch the game [against the Warriors] live and every time Reece touched the ball everyone stood up," V'landys said on 2GB radio.
"He's got that presence and brilliance and there hasn't been a player like him for a long time that just captures everybody's imagination.
"He can do anything, he can turn a game, he's got acceleration and he's a personality player because he is a good-looking bloke and, as I've called him, [he's] the Justin Bieber of rugby league.
"If everything goes to plan he could be the most brilliant player we've had in a generation."
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