Maybe Brisbane superstar Reece Walsh was right about his new toilet method of muscle recovery.
Either way, he clearly didn’t let the the drama of the week’s “Toiletgate” saga affect his performance on Thursday night against Melbourne, where he even mocked the drama with a pointed celebration.
The 23-year-old came under fire during the week for filming himself drinking toilet water, claiming in jest that it aids muscle recovery.
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It forced the furious Broncos to release a statement explaining Walsh’s “poor attempt at humour”.
True to the cheeky character he is, Walsh then stirred the pot even further by changing his Instagram profile picture to a photo of him wearing a plumbing uniform.
And at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday, the champion halfback couldn’t help himself but go there again.
After breaking two tackles and crossing the tryline for the second time in the second half, Walsh celebrated by mimicking himself drinking from the toilet bowl once more.
“Here he is, Reece Walsh. There’s your water, there’s your plumbing,” Dan Ginnane said on commentary.
“There’s your statement on the eve of the 2025 NRL finals.
“They won’t need to put out a statement for that one, and that water sure tastes good.”
The Broncos will now play Canberra away in the first week of the finals and get a crucial second chance in the semis thanks to a 22-point haul from Walsh, which included two tries and seven goals.
“He did OK, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about toilets,” Broncos coach Michael Maguire grinned.
“He’s a character, and obviously creates a lot of noise, but at the end of the day he’s in here training and doing all the work with the players and he wants to win.”
It was just the Broncos’ second win in their past 19 games against the Storm, but their ninth victory this season from the last 11 matches.
Melbourne superstar Jahrome Hughes had just returned to action after missing five weeks with a shoulder injury, but now appears to have suffered a fracture in his arm.
“I’m not quite sure if it’s the wrist or just halfway on the forearm,” coach Craig Bellamy said.
“They pretty much think it’s a break without a doubt, he’s in plaster already, so that wasn’t a great idea to put him back this week. I’d imagine it’s season-ending.”
In front of a sold-out crowd at Suncorp, he went to tackle Broncos forward Brendan Piakura and immediately clutched at his left wrist.
Hughes, last year’s Dally M Medal winner, went up the tunnel in the 25th minute and his side’s finals hopes possibly went with him.
To make matters worse prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona was put on report and sin-binned for a high shot on Ben Talty.
The Storm will face a nervous wait for the MRC charge sheet as the giant forward has two prior offences on his record.
A grade-two high tackle or dangerous tackle charge would lead to a three-game ban. If second-placed Melbourne win in the first week of the finals, such a charge would rub him out of the finals.
Walsh landed a 40/20 and celebrated his second try just after halftime with a slurping gesture.
- With AAP
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