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Gisborne: Planned outages Tue-WedNZ legend: Give Walsh $5m a year to be an All Black
SEN • October 14th, 2025 2:50 pm
Reece Walsh in the 2025 NRL Grand Final | Photo: Dan Himbrechts/AAP
Is Reece Walsh worth $5 million a year?
Yes, according to New Zealand rugby league legend Sir Graham Lowe who has described the young Broncos superstar as “the best young player I’ve ever seen”.
Walsh played what many experts have described as “the greatest individual Grand Final” in the history of rugby league when he helped Brisbane break their 19-year premiership hoodoo against the Storm at the start of this month.
And at just 23-years-old, the biggest threat to any rival is that he is theoretically nowhere near playing his best.
It is because of this that Lowe has called for New Zealand rugby union to make an audacious bid for the fullback and convince him to make a code switch.
Walsh’s New Zealand-born estranged mother would make him eligible to defect from Australia to play for the All Blacks if the coup ever came off.
“The Warriors won’t be able to get him over here because of the salary cap in the NRL, but I think there’s an opportunity for the New Zealand Rugby Union,” Lowe told Herald NOW.
“The going rate for the stars is a million-plus. Pay this guy $5 million a year. Anywhere else in the world, it’s chicken feed. Make a big statement about him.
“He’s the best young player I’ve ever seen; he’s something special.
“We get sick of the Aussies pinching our players and having them play in the competitions over there.”
It’s not just his abilities on the field that make his such an attractive proposition, according to Lowe who recognises the insane PR machine that is Reece Walsh.
“The excitement he brings is fantastic, I reckon get him over here, he’ll bring 10,000 people on his own,” he continued.
“Between where I live and the local coffee shop, I’ve been asked at least 20 times by old ladies about who’s this young fella who paints his fingernails and plays for the Broncos.”
Whether Lowe’s ambitious plea goes anywhere remains to be seen with Walsh currently contracted to the Broncos until 2029.
But with the force and money that is R360, a rebel league set to take over the global union landscape, it seems both rugby codes are living in an era where anything is possible and never say never.
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