By Ben Talintyre
Copyright news
The Ashes will return to international rugby league after more than two decades in late October, with Australia flying to England for a three-test series.
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Who will be the Kangaroos fullback has been a hot topic in the lead-up to the series against England.
Dylan Edwards, who took over from James Tedesco in 2023, is the incumbent, but his recent form has been far from convincing.
While Tedesco had a career year and was heavily favoured to earn a place in the squad. The other fullback in contention is Walsh, who has had a scintillating run of form at the back end of the season.
However, with just 22 players heading to England, it is unlikely that more than two fullbacks will board the plane, and therefore, it was expected that Walsh would be the one to brutally miss out.
However, after Tedesco informed Kangaroos officials he won’t be available as he has opted to be the best man at his brother’s wedding instead, Walsh has sensationally found himself in line for a call-up.
“I rang Peter. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get picked but he said I was going to get picked and for me to sleep on it and think about it,” Tedesco told NewsWire on Tuesday.
“I’ve been thinking about it the past couple of weeks not knowing what was going to happen, but the thought of missing (the wedding) would’ve weighed on me a lot more than missing a couple of games for Australia.
“It hasn’t been easy. Once he said I was going to get picked, it was pretty hard to say no to.
“But I’ve got my brother’s wedding and I’ve also got to get stem cells in my knee, which is a 6-8 week recovery process, and I want to get that done to be ready for January.
“It’s a better decision and I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulder that I don’t go.”
Tedesco’s omission will likely see Walsh earn a spot in the squad, but not only that, it will most likely see him make his Test debut.
While the Broncos star is playing the best footy of his life, Edwards has struggled.
After leading Brisbane to a win over Penrith on the weekend, if Walsh helps the Broncos claim grand final glory on Sunday, he will almost be impossible to overlook.
But others have argued that, irrespective of what happens in the finals, Walsh should be on the plane on star power alone.
Matty Johns said last week that with rugby league struggling in England, they need to showcase Australia’s best and most high-profile talent, with Walsh at the top of that list.
“Kevvie. Reece Walsh has to be the first man on the plane,” Johns said on SEN.
“Forget about football matters, the game over there is struggling. They (England) desperately need this tour. And I will tell you what else they desperately need is high-profile players like Reece Walsh being there.
“When they went to Newcastle, there were thousands at every training session to watch him and going over to England, it would be enormous for the game.
“You think about a guy like Reece, if you want to sell the game, he’s the selling point. If you took Teddy and Edwards, you still take Walsh. Because the most important thing with this Ashes series isn’t Australia winning, the most important thing is when the players come back, the English game is in better shape.”
And it isn’t just Johns’s opinion, with numbers backing it up, with Walsh the only active NRL player with more than 500,000 followers.
He is also the consensus No. 1 Australian fullback according to news.com.au readers. A poll of around 4,000 readers on who should be the Kangaroos’ fullback last week, before the Tedesco news, found that 60 per cent wanted Walsh in the No. 1 jersey.
Tedesco had 25 per cent of the vote and Edwards had just 15 per cent.
Australia will face England in a three-test series, kicking off at Wembley in late October.
