All eyes are on Brisbane this week for the rugby league State of Origin decider.
And tucked away in the stands of Suncorp Stadium will be a little girl proudly wearing a storied number one Maroons jersey – an adorable miniature matching that of a star player on the field below.
Reece Walsh, already a champion fullback at the tender age of 22, has credited his three-year-old daughter Leila with keeping him grounded. And it’s clear she has Daddy wrapped around her little finger too.
“She has been awesome for me – she calms me down,” Reece revealed in a recent interview. “Not everything is about footy and a job. When I step out and see my little one and my family, I am Dad – it is pretty awesome.”
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing to the top of his game for Reece, who became a parent at just 18 with his former partner, Freda Puru.
He was once arrested for cocaine possession at a Gold Coast nightclub, and had a late-night altercation last year with Gold Coast Titans forward David Fifita in a Burleigh Heads bar. But after a tough few years, it seems fatherhood may well have mellowed the once ‘bad boy’ of the game.
Rugby league Immortal and former Maroons legend Mal Meninga believes Reece has what it takes to become one of the greatest players of all time.
“He’s an excitement machine – with the footy he’s electric,” the current Kangaroos coach tells New Idea exclusively.
“I think he’s certainly a talented and marketable player. In my opinion, he has enormous pressure placed on him to perform and be the face of the game.”
Mal, 64, adds that it can sometimes seem “unfair”.
“I’ve seen it many times where the game puts young players on a pedestal and they haven’t got the maturity to consistently live up to it. He’s been in trouble already as everyone is watching. However, I definitely think over time, if he survives the outside noise, he’ll live up to all that potential.”
In Origin I, Reece was involved in a tackle by New South Wales player Joseph Sua’ali’i that saw him knocked unconscious within seven minutes of the opening whistle.
The sickening crunch has yet again raised plenty questions around the number of former players, including Maroons legend Wally Lewis, who live with the possibility of having CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) as a result of too many head knocks during their careers.
Of the shocking incident that saw Reece laid flat in the middle of Sydney’s Accor Stadium, Wally didn’t hold back. He told Reece to follow the experts’ concussion protocols because there is “too much to lose” by returning to the field too soon.
With more than half a million Instagram followers and a rumoured $6 million deal with his beloved Brisbane Broncos that will set him and his family up for life, it’s clear Reece is all about making his precious little girl proud.
In a recent Instagram post, the doting dad – who wears his Māori and Indigenous heritage as a badge of honour – shared a photo of little Leila and their new puppy.
It sent his fans into a “cuteness overload” frenzy!
Veteran sports presenter Jim Wilson, himself a proud Queenslander, believes Reece, with the right guidance and care, has what it takes to be one of the finest rugby league players of modern times.
“Considering he’s taken on fatherhood with the same level of commitment with which he plays the game week in and week out, I think he’s set for big things … so long as those around him can keep him grounded,” says Jim.
“I know how much being a dad changes your life – when he runs out on his home turf at Suncorp this week, trust me, he’s going to have an extra special spring in his step knowing his little girl will be cheering him on.
“Fans love a good backstory – and Reece being a dedicated young single dad along with being one heck of a player – that’s the stuff of champions.”
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