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Message: [QUOTE="Big Pete, post: 3407911, member: 1899"] That's fair. It was a byproduct of the Broncos winning the wooden spoon. Not only were players told to steer clear/get out of Brisbane, the Broncos were also looking to avoid reckless spending. At the time, Walsh was a quality prospect coming off a shoulder reco who hadn't played any football since 2019. The Broncos were reeling from the Seibold saga and from the pandemic and didn't put any care into locking up any of their young players before they hit the open market. So when the Warriors lost Tuivasa-Sheck and had a million burning a hole in their pocket, they offered half of that to Walsh with the view that he was the best fullback available which was close to the money. I'd have him behind Hynes and Drinkwater but considering the risk it was the right call and he was an upgrade on Watene-Zelezniak and Turner who were their other options. Even so, the Broncos still had to pay-up to retain Piakura and between the two, Walsh has been far more valuable in the NRL compared to Piakura at this stage. Granted we're not even a 1/3 into that yet and there's still time for Piakura to grow into the player he's expected to be. However I don't support the narrative the Broncos didn't give Walsh an opportunity. It was the other way around with Walsh jumping at the first big money contract instead of plying his trade and showcasing what he could do against men. The only opportunity the Broncos had was going all-in from the start of 2021 but you can understand why Kevie was hesitant to do so. The club was basically performing a diagnostics to see where the issues lied and they didn't want to expose too many young players to that environment. Considering how much Walters tinkered with the team, it's fair to assume that Walsh would have been granted an opportunity that season had he stuck around. Most likely sooner rather than later albeit I doubt it would have changed much of anything. There shouldn't be any bad blood between the clubs especially since the Broncos released him early without any dramas. They didn't even make life difficult for him and force the club into releasing a popular player to them for compensation. I doubt it'll mean much of anything, but it shouldn't rule them out as an option if Walsh is looking to return home which doesn't seem beyond the realm of possibility. So you can see both sides. Walsh backed himself, he's been a stand-out player at the Warriors that's attracted media attention and helped them pick up wins. However he's still a rookie and you can understand why the Broncos weren't keen to pay him full-time NRL fullback money while he's still learning on the job. [/QUOTE]

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