World Cup 2026, Reece Walsh vs James Tedesco selection call could blow up in Kevin Walters’ face, Paul Crawley column

I’m as blown away as anyone that Kevin Walters is considering starting Reece Walsh at fullback ahead of James Tedesco for Australia’s opening World Cup blockbuster against New Zealand on Thursday night.

Surely the Roosters grand final winning captain and Clive Churchill Medallist deserves first shot at the No 1 jersey ahead of Walsh who, let’s remember, hasn’t played for two months after suffering a syndesmosis ankle injury back in Round 24.

It was a genuine shock to read the Code Sports report that Walsh appeared to have his nose in front after starting Sunday’s training session with the first-choice spine.

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That also included another surprise, with Mitchell Moses ahead of Sam Walker at halfback, while Cameron Munster was five-eighth and Harry Grant hooker.

Tedesco was later subbed in along with Walker, Tom Dearden and Blayke Brailey.

As coach, Kevvie is entitled to do whatever he thinks is best for the team.

And you’ve got to admire a bloke who has the guts to back his own judgment and make such a brave selection call, especially when he knows the fallout will be enormous if it backfires.

But I do worry that overlooking Tedesco’s extraordinary work rate in favour of Walsh’s attacking brilliance would be a massive gamble.

If Walters was picking Walsh on the back of his 2025 form, when he led the Broncos to the premiership and also took home the Clive Churchill Medal, it would be a different story.

But the Kangaroos are going to have to be at their absolute best to bring down this stacked Kiwi side that boasts one of the most powerful and imposing packs ever assembled.

And when you weigh up the form of the two fullbacks this season, I just can’t see how Tedesco hasn’t earned the right to get first crack at the No 1 jumper.

Teddy was tremendous for the Roosters throughout the finals, but especially in the grand final when he clocked up a phenomenal 28 runs for 330 metres.

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Let’s not forget Billy Slater also overlooked Walsh for Origin this year, with Kalyn Ponga starting at fullback for Queensland.

And while Walsh was Australia’s player of the series against England last year, if we’re being fair dinkum, the Poms were ordinary compared to how the Kiwis performed in the Pacific Nations.

I know some will also see this as the coach giving another Queenslander a leg up.

I seriously doubt that would have entered Kevvie’s mind.

It’s well known how highly Walters rates Walsh, and he makes no secret of that.

Surely this has more to do with the fact he believes Walsh offers an extra dimension in attack with his speed and ball-playing ability.

The flip side is that Teddy’s exceptional work rate could be incredibly valuable against this monster Kiwi pack.

There may also be a factor in this that Walsh hasn’t played for some time and is more in need of a run, while perhaps Teddy could be carrying a niggling injury that we don’t know about and may benefit from a rest.

Whatever the reasoning, we all know Walsh is an extraordinary talent who can turn a game in the blink of an eye.

There is every chance he will go out and shoot the lights out against the Kiwis and make Kevvie look like a genius.

I genuinely hope that turns out to be the case.

Because it takes enormous courage for a coach to make a call like this when the safer option would be to stick with the bloke who has been so reliable for so long.

But there’s also a very real danger it could blow up in Kevvie’s face.

WHY MOSES OVER WALKER DOES MAKE SENSE

As for the talk Moses could get the jump on Walker as starting halfback, I can see the reasoning in that one.

While I’m a massive Walker fan, the grand final wasn’t his greatest game.

And given the amount of ball the Roosters had in great field position, they should have won far more comfortably than just scraping home on the back of a Daly Cherry-Evans field goal with the teams finishing three tries apiece.

And while Walker has arguably the best short kicking game in the league, Moses has the best long kicking game.

That could be another significant factor against the Kiwis who have so much go forward.

I also can see the argument Moses may be better suited playing alongside Munster given how the Storm champion like to play a similar off-the-cuff style to Walker.

Although Munster and Walker combined well in this year’s Origin series.

PONGA THIS TIME WILL BE PLAYING WITHOUT ONE ARM TIED BEHIND HIS BACK

It’s hard to comprehend Kalyn Ponga is now 28 and yet he’ll play his first rugby league Test match this week.

I can’t wait.

Ponga’s performance in the grand final was one of the most inspired we have seen from a losing captain.

It was well documented how the Knights were without their entire starting front row, while also missing star halfback Dylan Brown.

It meant Ponga may as well have been playing with one arm tied behind his back when you take into account the breakdown of the stats coming out of the match — where the Roosters had a 57/43 per cent split of possession, 55 tackles to 6 inside the opposition 20m zone, and the Knights were forced to make 100 more tackles overall.

The fact the Knights still finished three tries apiece was largely thanks to Ponga’s incredible influence.

I said at the time that while Tedesco was a worthy Clive Churchill Medal winner given the work he got through, I still thought Ponga was the most influential on ground given the challenges his team faced and the fact they got as close as they did.

At least Ponga won’t have to worry about his pack not holding their own this time if the Kiwis play to their potential with the likes of Naufahu Whyte, Joe Tapine, James Fisher-Harris, Moses Leota, Xavier Willison and Erin Clark all fighting for the middle starting spots.

BRONCOS SET A DANGEROUS PRECEDENT WITH SIGNING OF RECRUITMENT BOSS

Did the Brisbane Broncos just make a rod for their own back with the appointment of recruitment chief Peter O’Sullivan?

It was interesting to see the Newcastle Knights issued a short two-sentence statement to announce O’Sullivan’s departure.

“The nib Newcastle Knights have been advised by head of recruitment Peter O’Sullivan that he will be departing the club,” the statement said.

“The club thanks Peter for his services.”

The report indicated O’Sullivan was contracted until 2029 on $350,000, but will now join the Broncos on $2.5 million over five years.

It was suggested the Knights weren’t prepared to get in a bidding war to try and keep O’Sullivan.

You can only wonder how this will now play out if a Broncos player down the track pushes to get an upgrade or an immediate release.

It won’t be helped by all the talk there could be more Broncos heading for the exit door if things don’t settle down with Michael Maguire.

Even though O’Sullivan is respected as one of the game’s best recruitment bosses, this sets a dangerous benchmark.