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Walsh's season over as Warriors star cops ban
Scott Bailey, AAP •  August 16th, 2026 7:00 pm
Reece Walsh | Photo: AAP
Reece Walsh's NRL season is over and he is now in a race to be fit for the World Cup, with the Brisbane superstar to undergo surgery on a ruptured syndesmosis.
Walsh was on Sunday given the bad news and booked in to see a surgeon after falling victim to a hip-drop tackle in Saturday night's thumping from the Warriors.
Warriors fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad is facing a two-game ban over the tackle, with his suspension a hit to his side's top-two chances.
But the fact Walsh's injury will have no bearing on finals shows how far the Broncos have fallen.
It was this time last year Walsh was lighting up the NRL, putting on one of the greatest finals runs in history to take the Broncos to their seventh premiership.
A try-scorer on Saturday, Warriors fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad is facing a two-game ban | Photo: AAP
Twelve months later, the only concern will be whether Walsh is now fit to keep his Kangaroos Test spot.
Brisbane confirmed on Sunday that Walsh would be out for approximately eight weeks, the precise amount of time remaining before the start of the tournament.
Australia's coach Kevin Walters also has options in the role.
James Tedesco was in line for a Test recall for last year's Ashes series in England, before he made himself unavailable to instead be best man at his brother's wedding.
Dylan Edwards was picked alongside Walsh in the Ashes squad, but did not play a minute in the series after losing his spot to Walsh.
For Brisbane, Walsh's injury is another bitter blow.
They hope to have Adam Reynolds back from a calf injury before he retires at season's end.
The Broncos have now lost 12 of their past 13, sit 16th, and are still a mathematical chance of receiving their second wooden spoon of this decade if they lose their last three.
