Reece Walsh cops it from teammate in damning footage of Latrell Mitchell incident
The Broncos fullback got the better of his NRL rival, but had a moment to forget in the dying stages.
There's no doubt Reece Walsh had an absolute blinder as the Broncos beat the Rabbitohs on Thursday night. But there was a bizarre moment in the dying stages when he got all turned around and let opposite number Latrell Mitchell run straight past him for a consolation try.
The match was dubbed the battle of the gun NRL fullbacks - and Walsh certainly came out the winner. The Broncos No.1 had two tries, five tackle breaks, a line break, line break assist and 127 running metres, starring in the 28-18 victory.
Mitchell ran for more metres (177) to go along with a try, five tackle breaks, a line break and a line break assist. But the Souths fullback had a couple of horror gaffes - most notably when he failed to clean up a kick to allow Walsh to score his second try.
Reece Walsh's bizarre blunder to allow Latrell Mitchell try
Despite getting the chocolates over his opposite number, Walsh wouldn't be happy he allowed Mitchell to score in the 79th minute when the result was beyond doubt. Mitchell scored a brilliant solo try when he burst through some feeble defence near the halfway line, before coming to Walsh and running straight around him.
As the replays illustrated, Walsh was facing towards the sideline on his right-hand side as he appeared to think Mitchell would run that way. With no other Souths players supporting Mitchell, Broncos player Billy Walters could be seen pointing in the background for Walsh to move up and tackle Mitchell.
But in rather inexplicable scenes considering Walsh's speed, the Broncos fullback allowed Mitchell to cut back on the inside and couldn't track him down as Mitchell scored near the posts. Channel 9 cameras captured the moment Walters, who missed the initial tackle on Mitchell, threw his arms in the air in disbelief when the Rabbitohs fullback ran around Walsh so easily.
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In his defence, Walsh grabbed at his leg and was apparently cramping due to the humid conditions in Brisbane. Although so too was Mitchell - and he still managed to burn Walsh.
Reece Walsh explains Latrell Mitchell try
The Broncos gun attempted to explain what happened after the game, saying: “I was sitting down watching his highlights as a kid, I was a little starstruck on the field at the end there - didn’t know if I should let him run or tackle him."
Fatty Vautin also expressed his surprise on Channel 9, saying Walsh was "bamboozled" by Mitchell. Michael Ennis said it was fitting the game had ended with a play involving Walsh and Mitchell considering they were the best two players on the field in his opinion.
However the Fox League commentator copped some backlash from fans, who questioned whether they'd watched the same game. While Mitchell was brilliant in patches, he also came up with some shockers in defence that led to tries.
As well as failing to read the trajectory of the ball and missing it completely when Walsh scored his second, Mitchell also decided to inexplicably toe the ball forward rather than diving on it after a kick from the Broncos in the first half. Brisbane got the ball back and scored through Walsh not long after.
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