Spray OK as Walsh gets tick for verbals from Broncos
Joel Gould |
If a spray a day keeps the errors away, then Brisbane forward Jordan Riki is happy for teammate Reece Walsh to unload when necessary.
Sprays between teammates are a hot topic right now after Parramatta captain Mitchell Moses unloaded three times on hooker Tallyn Da Silva for getting it wrong in the closing stages of the Eels’ 19-18 win over North Queensland on Sunday.
The pair took to social media afterwards to make it clear it was “all good” between them and they were still brothers in arms.
Broncos centre Kotoni Staggs was on the end of a Walsh outburst in the first half of the 26-14 win over Gold Coast in round 19.
Staggs dropped a Walsh pass in the first half and copped a mouthful. Straight after the break Walsh put Staggs away down the sideline and backed him up for a try and all was forgiven. The pair get on well, and Staggs said on Wednesday he was fine with it.
“It was all good. Walshy loves winning,” Staggs said.
“He sees the game different to other people do, and it was just a play where I could have been in a better position for him.
“He does have a spray in him, but we showed after that we made up. In the second half I set him up for a try.”
The fact the high-tensile world of NRL is different to “normal” workplaces has been hard to accept for some fans, who have been critical of Moses and Walsh for their verbals. Others accept it as passion for the jumper and a competitive spirit.
Second-rower Riki provided a player perspective of his own on the Walsh situation. The Brisbane fullback is not backward in letting his displeasure be known, and is demonstrative by nature.
“Reecey is just a big ball of energy and wears his heart on his sleeve like many of us do,” Riki said.
“For someone like him to be able to pull someone up where he thinks he can add value or thinks he has missed his job I am more than happy.
“If I miss my job and Reece wants to yell at me, cool. I am taking it on board. That’s my job. He expects the same too.”
Riki said the NRL was a volatile environment where winning is paramount and things can get heated.
“If you’ve ever played a footy game or competitive sport, people want to win. Sometimes it gets like that,” he said.
“Some people who haven’t been in an environment like that would take it quite seriously, but at the end of the day we are all just one big massive family.
“You are obviously going to fight with your brothers and your sisters, so I just think it is funny how people try and take it the wrong way.”
AAP
