- Broncos star has apologised over clip of him with a mate
- Footage shows a ‘joke’ between star and his best friend
Brisbane Broncos fans woke to the news that their superstar fullback Reece Walsh is being investigated by the club and is facing punishment over a video of him punching a man in the head.
Sounds like yet another rugby league atrocity, doesn’t it?
But the reality is that the fullback is making headlines over a silly joke that didn’t hurt anyone – and shouldn’t offend a single fan, sponsor or footy club executive.
Walsh was celebrating his best mate Zayden Martin’s birthday recently and the ‘offending’ footage he posted to TikTok shows him wearing a padded boxing glove as Martin agrees to be hit and puts his head in harm’s way before Walsh launches the punch.
Martin wasn’t punched in a pub car park. It was done in private, at somebody’s house.
Pictured: The moment Reece Walsh (left) punches his best mate Zayden Martin (right) in the head during a birthday celebration that the Broncos star posted to TikTok
Walsh and Martin both went online to explain that the clip was a harmless prank – but that didn’t stop footy’s outrage machine from swinging into action
Martin clearly gave Walsh permission to hit him and had no issues with what happened – which he proved by telling his Instagram followers, ‘Everything was for a laugh and nothing more. We have mucked around like this our whole life.’
But instead of following Martin’s lead and laughing it off, the footy outrage machine went into overdrive on Wednesday, with Broncos CEO Dave Donaghy revealing he will haul Walsh into his office for a dressing down – and reportedly, a fine.
On Wednesday morning Walsh – who also explained that the clip was ‘a joke with me best mate’ – made a sheepish TV appearance in which he said the punch is ‘not a good look’ and repeatedly said ‘we don’t support violence’.
For crying out loud. You’d think he posted a video showing him coward-punching a fan to the ground.
Here’s a bloke who did something completely victimless, yet he’s being carpeted by his boss and ambushed by TV cameras on the street like he’s brought the game into disrepute.
The Broncos now appear so desperate to project a perfectly spotless image that they’ve lost the plot.
If they really wanted to send a serious message that they won’t put up with bad behaviour from their stars, they’ve already missed their chance.
Ezra Mam drove his ute while high on cocaine last October and crashed into an Uber, leaving a four-year-old girl with a broken hip and also injuring her mother.
The NRL hit him with a nine-match ban, which many fans saw as weak.
Nobody got hurt, the punch wasn’t thrown in a public place, everybody had a laugh… but Walsh (pictured left with Kevin Walters) is still in trouble with the Broncos
Brisbane CEO Dave Donaghy (pictured) revealed he will haul Walsh into his office over the incident and a fine is on the cards
Fans blasted Brisbane for what they saw as the club’s weak punishment for Ezra Mam for seriously injuring a four-year-old girl while driving high on cocaine as they lashed out at the club for its reaction to the punch thrown by Walsh (pictured right with Mam)
Brisbane fined him $90,000 but chose not to add to the ban. They did, however, rush him back into their side almost as soon as possible.
I say almost because Man was right to go in round 10 this year, but was held out – reportedly because Brisbane didn’t want the bad press that would have come with returning him to the field during that week’s Women In League round.
But jeez, they were tough on Instagram activity when they reportedly axed Martin Taupau after he liked a post from an ex-player who slammed coach Michael Maguire for being too tough on his stars.
Both of those punishments keep coming up in fans’ reactions to Walsh getting carpeted for that punch.
Supporters can’t reconcile what they see as Mam getting off lightly while Taupau and ‘Reece Lightning’ get treated like some sort of cancer.
And the supporters are spot-on.
Walsh is 22. And 22-year-olds do stupid – but harmless – things all the time without getting dragged through the court of public opinion for it.
If he and his mate want to pretend they’re filming an episode of Jackass, I say go right ahead.
The only people who would care are high-ranking officers in the fun police, the sorts of wowsers Aussies used to have a reputation for hating.
