{"id":89054,"date":"2021-06-22T03:33:51","date_gmt":"2021-06-22T03:33:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=89054"},"modified":"2021-06-22T07:58:05","modified_gmt":"2021-06-22T07:58:05","slug":"walsh-hasnt-spoken-to-gould-over-origin-furore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=89054","title":{"rendered":"Walsh 'hasn't spoken' to Gould over Origin furore"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rookie Queensland fullback Reece Walsh<\/a> says he hasn't spoken to Phil Gould<\/a> yet after the legendary coach described his Origin selection as "disgraceful".<\/p>\n

Speaking after Walsh – who turns 19 next month – was named as Queensland's youngest debutant in 26 years<\/a>, Gould, a consultant to the Warriors, hit out at the decision.<\/a><\/p>\n

"We wish him well. No one at the Warriors club was denying him the opportunity if it came for him. Everyone was just worried about his well-being and whether or not it was the right thing to bring him into a team, particularly this Queensland team at the moment," Gould said on Nine's 100% Footy<\/em>.<\/p>\n

"To bring him into a team that was beaten 50-6 in Game One I think is a disgraceful decision by the Queensland selectors. To be asking an 18-year-old to come in and solve this problem is not fair on the kid."<\/p>\n

Asked if he'd spoken to Gould since his selection, Walsh, who's played just seven NRL games for the Warriors, batted away the question like a seasoned veteran.<\/p>\n

"Nah I haven't spoken to him. I haven't really heard or seen too much about that," he said.<\/p>\n

"I feel like everyone's going to have their opinion. It is what it is."<\/p>\n

Walsh says he's up to the task of competing on the game's biggest stage.<\/p>\n

"That's what you have to do as a footballer," he explained.<\/p>\n

"You can't go out there thinking you're not ready or you have to hold back, because you're playing for your mates, your state and your family. You don't want to go out there half-hearted."<\/p>\n

\"Reece<\/p>\n

The 18-year-old named Queensland great Billy Slater<\/a> as his idol, and said the opportunity to spend time with the former Maroons fullback in camp is something he won't forget.<\/p>\n

"You couldn't go past Billy Slater, he's the best and you look up to him and aspire to be half the player he is," Walsh said.<\/p>\n

"His elusiveness, and the way he carried himself on the field.<\/p>\n

"I spoke with Billy yesterday afternoon and ran through a couple of things. It's pretty crazy, (he's) someone I looked up to, to sit there and have a little chat with him is pretty special."<\/p>\n

The Queensland defence leaked 50 points in Origin One, just the second time in history the Blues have reached the half-century mark.<\/p>\n

As fullback, a big part of Walsh's role will be to organise the defence that was made to look second rate just a fortnight ago.<\/p>\n

\"Billy<\/p>\n

"That's my job, I'll go out there and do my job to the best of my ability," he said.<\/p>\n

"There'll be a couple of high balls coming, lucky I've got a week to really nail it down and get it right for Sunday.<\/p>\n

Walsh added that despite his limited first grade experience, he's not afraid to order his more credentialed teammates around the park.<\/p>\n

"I feel like it's a big part of my game and I'm still getting used to it, but that's something I bring and something I can definitely keep working on," he said.<\/p>\n

"It's a strong part of my game, but I've still got a lot of work to do."<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/em><\/strong> clicking here!<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rookie Queensland fullback Reece Walsh says he hasn't spoken to Phil Gould yet after the legendary coach described his Origin selection as "disgraceful". Speaking after […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89054"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=89054"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89056,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89054\/revisions\/89056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=89054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=89054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=89054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}