With his future at the club secured following his four-year extension, Broncos fullback Reece Walsh wants to improve his consistency and help his team rekindle the flame that had them running hot in 2023.
With new coach Michael Maguire at the helm, Walsh said the pair had already had some ‘honest conversations’ and there were no lingering issues after the 2024 series where Walsh was a target for the Blues in their triumphant campaign.
“It's good, mate,” Walsh said when asked what it was like to now be coached by Maguire.
“From the chats we've had already, there's (been) some really good honest conversations and for myself, those are the conversations you want to have to get better.
“It's pretty cool hearing them, him going up against myself in those arenas.
“It's good to know where I need to get better and for us to have those conversations, it's all about me wanting to get better and him getting the best out of all of us.
“I know that the group is really excited to put their best foot forward and grow together.”
For Walsh, his focus for that growth on the field next season was his consistency and playing a full-quality game more often and developing as a leader.
“Narrowing the gap between my best game and my worst, I think that's a big thing that's sticking out of my head (as an area of improvement)," Walsh said.
“Consistency is a big thing I'm chasing and I think we're chasing that as a group.
“Madge is big on turning up here each day and putting your best foot forward and having a red-hot crack and I think that's something that I want to build in my game.
“You look at the players like Payne [Haas], every single week he's turning up every single training session, he's turning up, so if I just take little things out of their game, Payne, Patty [Carrigan], Reyno, all them and just keep growing and I'm maturing as the years gone on; that's a big thing for me.
“I feel like the position I play and it's my fifth year playing now, so I think it's time for myself to start taking on more of a leader role.
“Obviously I've got so much more to learn and it's good having Madge and all the senior boys there, Reyno, that I can lean on for advice and I want to grow into one of those leader roles and that's just about absorbing off those great people that have been around for a long time.
“If I can just continue to try and get better with the boys here and we all grow as one, I think we can all start to mature more and be those leaders that everyone needs.”
As it always is in pre-season - and especially around a big club like the Broncos - expectations are high but the No.1 gun has no doubt he can handle whatever is thrown at him.
Reece Walsh's 2024 try-scoring season
"There's pressure with putting on the Broncos jersey, it's a massive club and the fans, the people of Brisbane are really passionate about it. The pressure comes with wearing that jersey," Walsh said.
“But I just go out there and play footy and, at the end of the day, I've just got to do my job.
“I took a lot of lessons out of last year and they're only going to make it better for my future.
“I have just got to keep working hard and I nail my job and all the boys nail theirs, I think we're all going to go a step in the right direction."
