{"id":89608,"date":"2021-06-23T02:01:07","date_gmt":"2021-06-23T02:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=89608"},"modified":"2021-06-23T05:57:02","modified_gmt":"2021-06-23T05:57:02","slug":"queenslands-long-discussion-over-teen-superstar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=89608","title":{"rendered":"Queensland's long discussion over teen superstar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Queensland selector Darren Lockyer insists the decision to throw teen livewire Reece Walsh<\/a> into the State of Origin furnace isn't as rash as many experts believe, stressing the Maroons are "conscious of the welfare" of the young Warrior and that they're trying to "shield" him from the limelight.<\/p>\n

NSW icons Phil Gould<\/a>, Peter Sterling<\/a> and Paul Gallen<\/a> are among the many respected figures who've questioned Queensland's decision to haul Walsh into their 17 for the do-or-die Suncorp Stadium clash, in which the former Bronco will play at fullback as Valentine Holmes shifts to a wing.<\/p>\n

While Walsh has been exceptional since joining the Warriors in April, he's only 18 and has played just seven NRL games.<\/p>\n

Only an 18-year-old Ben Ikin<\/a> has turned in fewer first-grade games before being thrust into the Origin cauldron. The playmaker had only made four appearances for the Gold Coast Chargers when he earned a bench spot for the 1995 series opener.<\/p>\n

But former Queensland captain Lockyer said extensive dialogue was had before the selection panel made the bold call to throw Walsh a Maroons jumper.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"What I can say is in the conversation around the selection table there was a lot of consideration around Reece in terms of, 'Is he too young?' All of those things were deliberated and discussed for quite a long time," Lockyer said on Wide World of Sports' QLDER<\/em>.<\/p>\n

"We're obviously conscious of the welfare of Reece but we all came to the conclusion that we think he's up to it. He's done some special things at NRL and he is stepping up (in making his Origin debut) but we also think he's a player that if he does make an error in a game, he moves on pretty quick.<\/p>\n

"We're aware of all the pros and cons to playing someone of that age but we all know he's a special talent and we've put some mechanisms in (place) through the week to try to shield him from the preparation and the build-up to the game.<\/p>\n

"But at the same time, that's also the older teammates, the forwards; it's up to them to protect a rookie."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The selection of Walsh is not only a result of his tremendous breakout season, but the injuries of Newcastle superstar Kalyn Ponga and Gold Coast weapon AJ Brimson, as well as Queensland's call to rejig the backline. Holmes has moved to a wing to replace the sacked Xavier Coates, leaving the No.1 jersey vacant for Walsh.<\/p>\n

Walsh has made such a striking impression in his early days at the Warriors that 2018 Dally M medallist and captain Roger Tuivasa-Scheck moved himself to a wing so the youngster could play at fullback.<\/p>\n

Legendary Queensland five-eighth Wally Lewis backed Walsh to be ready for his Origin debut.<\/p>\n

"I've watched this kid play. I must admit I was a bit confused as to why he wasn't going to be hanging around the Broncos. Perhaps they felt they had the position covered, which they certainly have the right to do," Lewis said.<\/p>\n

"But having seen a couple of his performances for the Warriors, he's got that bit about him. He's got plenty of thrill in his game. He goes searching for opportunities, for space, seems to run some great angles."<\/p>\n

\"Gus<\/p>\n

However, Lewis is wary of the Blues stampede threatening to hit Walsh in Brisbane.<\/p>\n

"This time he is stepping up in the class of the game that he will be playing, and certainly, I expect the Blues will go out there and they're going to say, 'We're going to make this the most painful introduction to Origin football that's ever existed'."<\/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<\/strong><\/em> clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Queensland selector Darren Lockyer insists the decision to throw teen livewire Reece Walsh into the State of Origin furnace isn't as rash as many experts […]<\/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\/89608"}],"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=89608"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89610,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89608\/revisions\/89610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=89608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=89608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=89608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}