ANOTHER Joe Walsh from another Eagles called it “life in the fast lane” and this Joe Walsh – in the words of his coach Kieran Foran – “walked straight towards it”.
Manly’s unbeaten run under Foran came to an end with a two-point loss to NRL hotshots Penrith on Sunday night at CommBank Stadium – but it was the debut of 19-year-old half Walsh that afforded the See Eagles all the post-match buzz.
“He’s a bit different to me,” said his halves partner Luke Brooks, who perhaps dealt with the fast lane more like the characters in the 1976 hit when he made his debut 13 years ago.
“I think he’s very confident as the kids are these days,” Brooks continued on ABC, “I don’t think I need to say anything.”
Walsh was dropped into the team for Jamal Fogarty late, setting up a try in a display that was five star even without a possible late two-point field goal to tie up the game that finished 18-16 to the Panthers.
“Fogarty was just on standby the whole week so we were just seeing how he went on captain’s run and I just got a couple of reps with the boys throughout the week,” Walsh told Triple M.
“That helped me gain some confidence and then captain’s run I was just told I’m in so I was just keen to go out there.”
Foran, whose winning run since replacing Anthony Seibold was halted at four, made absolutely no attempt to “keep a lid” on the excitement surrounding the rookie.
“He was good. I thought he was great. For a young guy to come into this sort of arena, up against the team that’s coming first, he was pretty calm throughout the week. He wasn’t gonna shirk it. He walked straight towards it tonight.
“I thought defensively he was outstanding. We all know what a tough kid he is but he put his body in front time and time again, came up with really nice plays at certain times of the game. He’ll only get better. He’s a future player for us.
Of a brilliant head-fake pass at one stage, Foran said: “That’s instinctive Joey. He’s been doing that all pre-season, every week up against the boys at training. He’s just got so many skills that he can keep growing. That was a beautiful pass. To execute that the way he did, it just shows you the sort of ability that that kid has got.”
One of Manly’s tries, to winger Lehi Hopoate, was somewhat controversial but that didn’t detract from a mighty Sea Eagles performance that made Penrith work hard and rely on a bit of good fortune to keep a record of only one loss this year.
Fogarty, though, will be back next week.
“Obviously at the moment our starting halves are Jamal and Brooksy and those two boys have been playing great,” said Foran.
“With a guy like Joey, if we can see a value in a bench spot moving forward, there’s a six man bench that we could potentially use him on to give us great cover and some spark too when we need it.
“There’s a few options there we can, I suppose, tinker with as the year goes on but he knows he’s still really really early in his career and there’s parts that he wants to continue to grow and get stronger at.
“Look, if he can play for us like that throughout the year, he’s going to be a pivotal part to where we’re going and what we’re doing.
“It’s just a matter of trying to fit everyone in, isn’t it?”
Captain Jake Trbojevic was watching intently as his coach answered that final question about the immediate future for Joe Walsh.
Jake said: “I was really excited for him. As Foz said, all off-season, all pre-season he’s been outstanding. To see him get his way, he really deserved it. We knew he’d go well.”
But the man himself, he was just looking forward to seeing his family in the crowd – and then getting in some field goal practice.
“Disappointing,” Walsh said. “I had very short legs today. But obviously you go back to those things and hopefully get them next time.”
Embed from Getty Images
PENRITH 18 (Talagi To’o Tago tries Cleary 3 goals) beat MANLY 16 (Faulalo Bullemor Hopoate tries Cleary 3 goals) at CommBank Stadium.
Teams:
PENRITH: Dylan Edwards’ Tom Jenkins, Paul Alamoti, Casey McLean, Brian To’o; Blaize Talagi, Nathan Cleary (c); Moses Leota, Freddie Lussick, Lindsay Smith, Isaiah Papali’i, Luke Garner, Isaah Yeo. Res: Jack Cogger, Scott Sorensen, Kalani Going, Billy Phillips, Izack Tago, Billy Scott.
MANLY: Tolutau Koula; Jason Saab, Clayton Faulolo, Reuben Garrick, Lehi Hopoate; Luke Brooks, Joey Walsh; Taniela Paseka, Brandon Wakeham, Kobe Hetherington, Haumole Olakau’atu, Ben Trbojevic, Jake Trbjojevic (c). Res: Jake Simpkin, Nathan Brown, Ethan Bullemor, Siosiua Taukeiaho, Blake Wilson, Jackson Shereb.
Referee: Wyatt Raymond.
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