Broncos coach Michael Maguire has defended Reece Walsh after his error ridden performance in the Broncos shock 22-20 upset loss to the Eels in Round 21.
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Walsh had a rocks and diamonds display and nearly stole the game at the death, but his try was denied due to him being off-side.
Maguire conceded Walsh needs to play the long game more often, but that was true of all his players after a disappointing display.
“I think that is for all of us, he is going through exactly the same as what we just spoke about, playing the longer game,” Maguire said.
“It’s about making choices, so we will review and go through that. Reece has been spectacular for us at times and he had a bit of a tough night in some of the periods in his game, so we just need to be thorough in that and how we go about our roles and the captain will steer that well.
“Over the last period we have captured the things that we want to be, but we need to do it for longer periods of time.”
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Broncos skipper Adam Reynolds denied the Broncos’ all-star spine of Walsh, Ben Hunt, Ezra Mam and himself are still trying to work out their formation amid suggestions they are getting in each others way at times.
“No I think the spine generally moves like that anyway, so there is different parts of the game where he will get more involved and it just depends on how the game is going I suppose,” Reynolds said.
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“We all love what Walshy brings. He is an excitement machine and he is a big part of our team and he is a big reason why we are where we are.
“You don’t want to take that away from him, but it is my responsibility to calm him down at times when he gets a bit sideways.”
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Maguire was disappointed his team were not willing to build their performance and were guilty of forcing the issue at times.
“It was disappointing, they played the long game and we didn’t,” Maguire said.
“We just tried to caress our way and do it cute in some periods through that second half and we didn’t build pressure and they did.”
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The Broncos held their breath when Payne Haas went up the tunnel before kick-off and he later limped off after an ankle injury, but Maguire denied he is in any danger of missing games.
“Payne is okay, he just has a temperamental body at the moment, which he is sorting through,” Maguire said.
“That’s his challenge at the moment to get himself right.”
“That’s just Payne putting his body on the line, but he is alright I just spoke to him, so he is okay,” Maguire said.
