Walsh’s ‘up yours’ to Broncs; $1m man dodges heat as $250k buys thrive — Crawls

Did you happen to see the Instagram post this week from Ryan Papenhuyzen drinking the water out of his newly installed dunny?

Nope?

I missed it too.

Just as I didn’t see any reports about Craig Bellamy having to drop any of his players for turning up to training still under the influence after a boozy night out.

While the Storm have been happily left to focus on the job at hand leading into Thursday night’s final round blockbuster against the Broncos, Michael Maguire has been busy running around Brisbane putting out spot fires that were totally avoidable.

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We are entitled to ask how could it not, even in some small part, detract from the potential performance of a team who need to win this game to guarantee a top four finish?

In respect to Reece Walsh’s social media party tricks, a lot of people say, ‘give the young bloke a break’.

They want to tell you that Walsh is a rugby league rock star.

And how his image and flair bring more and more new fans and life to our game than what any other player has been able to do in years.

And that is true.

They also say that all Walsh did this week was have a bit of fun by taking a drink out of an apparently unused toilet before flushing it down the system to his 540,000-plus Instagram followers.

Nevertheless, where Walsh took it too far was by not copping the tip that as harmless as his initial post was intended to be, it still wasn’t a great look for his club.

The Broncos had made it abundantly clear that Walsh was walking a fine line after a couple of other social media flare-ups earlier this season.

Yet Walsh just couldn’t bring himself not to have the final say, doubling down on Wednesday when he posted a fresh picture of him dressed as a plumber, and another of his dog in Bunnings in front of a sign, ‘Thru to plumbing’.

For mine, it was nothing more than an ‘up yours’ not only to his critics, but also the club that pays him massive money to make rugby league is No 1 priority.

Further to that, why would a player who is such an integral part of the Broncos’ hopes want to even run the risk of allowing his focus to be diverted even slightly by the fallout surrounding his social media content.

Especially when his teammates (all except Gehamat Shibasaki of course) are busy preparing for a season-defining match against a side who have had the wood on the Broncos for years.

So even if it was nothing more than an act of naive defiance, it still struck me as the actions of a young man who is clearly still putting himself ahead of his team, and the club.

Walsh will want to hope he goes out and has a blinder against the Storm, because you just know Bellamy and his players would not have left a single stone unturned after the embarrassment they copped last week.

It reminds of what Phil Gould said before the 2023 grand final when Walsh turned up wearing his rock star sunglasses and the Broncos’ cockiness was on show to all TV viewers in the dressing rooms before the game.

Gould warned at the time: “Hopefully they feel that way in three or four hours’ time because it is going to slap them in the face if they underestimate what is about to happen out there.”

Of course, we all know how that worked out for the Broncos.

Yet here we are two years on, and has Walsh learnt anything from what happened back then?

While there is no doubt Walsh is a freak of a talent, is his desire to always be the main attraction still holding him and the Broncos back from reaching their enormous potential?

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DID MADGE MAKE THE RIGHT CALL DUMPING SHIBASAKI?

As for Gehamat Shibasaki, we wait to see what impact his actions will have on the Broncos.

As far as rugby league atrocities go, Shibasaki’s appears to be at the minor end of the scale.

Yet what we don’t know is if Shibasaki had form for a similar previous misdemeanour, or if there are other things going on in his life away from football that led to this.

You would like to think if this was a one-off mistake Maguire would not have taken the hardline stance he did — dropping a bloke who has been a mainstay all season ahead of such a crucial game.

Surely there would have been a way to punish him without punishing the entire team in the process.

There is no doubt Deine Mariner is a more than capable replacement.

The 22-year-old is one of the most naturally gifted athletes in the game, and with the ball in hand you wouldn’t think the Broncos will lose too much.

But we also know how tough it is from a defensive perspective for a winger to move into the centres and aim up immediately, and this has been Shibasaki’s strength all season.

If the Storm manage to expose Mariner it could go a long way to sinking the Broncos’ top four hopes.

GALVIN TAKES BLOWTORCH OFF HYNES

It’s been a long time since a rival playmaker has gone into a game as significant as the Sharks vs Bulldogs clash under less pressure than Nicho Hynes.

But the heat on Lachlan Galvin has created an opportunity for the Sharks’ $1 million man to allow his focus to be purely on his performance come Saturday.

If the Broncos lose on Friday night, it opens the door for the Sharks to leapfrog Brisbane into the top four.

While the Sharks have done well to stay in the hunt despite rarely setting the comp alight this season, there is no doubt this upcoming finals series is huge test for the entire team, but particularly Hynes who is now 29.

It is time for him to put the past to bed and show everyone why he is an elite halfback capable of taking Cronulla to the next level.

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Craig Fitzgibbon has been unwavering in his support for Hynes up until now.

Yet you only have to look at the tough call Cameron Ciraldo made this year to dump Toby Sexton to make way for Galvin when the Bulldogs were leading the comp to see not every coach is so patient.

Even though Hynes is signed until the end of 2029, he owes it to his coach to repay Fitzy’s faith in the coming weeks.

$250,000 BARGAIN BUYS PUT RAIDERS BACK ON RUGBY LEAGUE MAP

It’s astonishing to think that when Kaeo Weekes signed to play for the Canberra Raiders this year, his salary was worth about $250,000.

That’s about the same money Ethan Strange was offered when he initially signed with the Raiders after leaving the Roosters to grab his opportunity in Canberra.

That would make them both the bargain buys of this finals series.

Of course, both Weekes and Strange have since been upgraded and extended on money worthy of their current status.

But it goes to show bargains are still out there for clubs who are prepared to gamble on young players other clubs have failed to see the value in.

Had Weekes stayed at Manly there is no doubt he would have got lost in the system behind Tom Trbojevic and Lehi Hopoate.

It probably would have been a similar case for Strange at the Roosters given they have now gone and bought Daly Cherry-Evans over the top of Hugo Savala.