NRL: ‘Done deal’! Warriors star set to leave club….
The star Warriors fullback has been given permission to enter contract discussions with the Broncos – and only the Broncos – as he looks to end his time with the Warriors early.
The Courier Mail is reporting it’s a done deal with Walsh reportedly set to sign a three year contract with his former club.
In May, Walsh said he was ‘100 per cent going to New Zealand next year’ but his circumstances have changed according to the Warriors.
After vehemently denying his desire for an early exit from the club, a change in personal circumstances has seen those words come back to haunt the 19-year-old, who wants to remain in Australia to be close to his family.
The Warriors, who have already seen Euan Aitken and Matt Lodge cut their time short with the club for similar reasons, are accommodating Walsh’s request – but have only given he and his agent permission to speak to one club.
“We didn’t want to turn this into a position where he was looking at clubs outside of that region where is family was. On those understandings, we’ve kept it very streamlined,” Warriors chief executive Cameron George said.
“At this point we haven’t officially released him. We’ve given him permission to speak to the Brisbane Broncos on those conditions. We’ll wait for confirmation from his agent; we’ll leave it for him and Reece and that club to deal with, then we’ll address the formalities.”
George said Walsh and his agent came to the club a little more than a month ago to explain the young fullback’s change in circumstances. The club told Walsh and his team that they would not be entertaining any form of release until they had confirmed the signing of “an option equal if not better to what Reece brings” at fullback.
On Wednesday morning, the club confirmed their signing of Canberra Raiders star Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad – a Warriors junior who made his first-grade debut with the club in 2017 – who is departing the Raiders to return to New Zealand to be closer to his family.
Much like the Warriors’ deal with Walsh, George said the Warriors had been the only club the Raiders gave Nicoll-Klokstad permission to discuss signing with if he was to be granted a release from his contract.
“Canberra have been fantastic in their approach to the situation. Equally for Charnze, his family is in New Zealand. He was permitted to talk to us only on the basis of rejoining his family, and that’s the similar approach we’ve taken with Reece.
“It was only in the last 48 to 72 hours that we gave Reece’s agent official permission to negotiate with another club – that being Brisbane.”
Walsh has made 30 appearances for the Warriors since his debut last year but he missed Sunday’s homecoming after failing a Covid test. A move to Brisbane would see him return to the club he played for as a junior as he was granted an early release from the Broncos in April 2021 after originally agreeing to join the Warriors from 2022.
Leave a Reply