Broncos coach Kevin Walters has been forced to address his controversial decision to leave Reece Walsh on the field as he looked increasingly distressed against the Tigers.
The superstar fullback on Saturday night tore the Tigers apart with two tries in the 34-10 victory but also sent a shudder through the club when he appeared to succumb to an injury.
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The Queensland No. 1 was seen vomiting on the field late in the second half and on separate occasions clutched at his calf and knee. He also appeared to be struggling to get back to his feet when making tackles or getting tackled.
Walsh, who also ran for a game-high 185m, stayed down with what looked to be a cramp after one long run up the field.
Despite this, and the fact the result has already been locked up, Walsh was left on the ground for several minutes before he was eventually taken from the field with five minutes to play.
Walters, however, assured fans Walsh did not suffer an injury and will be selected to play next week when they face the Roosters at Suncorp Stadium.
“He (Walsh) had vomiting first and then he had the cramps,” Walters said.
“He had every injury known to man tonight, but he’s OK, he’ll be right for next week, so that’s a good thing.”
Walsh wasn’t the Broncos’ only injury scare. Adam Reynolds also had an early night, coming from the field in the 77th minute, limping off with cramps.
The only concern is a pec issue for Jock Madden which forced him off midway through the second half, although Mam is expected to be back for next week’s heavyweight bout against the Roosters.
The Broncos will go into the clash with red hot form following the returns of Payne Haas, Brendan Piakura, Deine Mariner and Reynolds.
There had been drama earlier in the Broncos’ win over the Tigers with a first half try disallowed.
The Tigers played well in the first half and thought they had a sniff when hooker Api Koroisau dummied and appeared to score a trademark No. 9’s try to make the score 10-6 in the 26th minute.
Michael Ennis said on Fox League: “Anything good has come when Koroisau’s had the ball in hand. Little bit of deception, gets underneath the tackle attempt from (Reece) Walsh and slams the ball down.”
But the Bunker ruled Koroisau had lost control of the ball when he lunged forwards and didn’t regain control before planting the ball on the tryline.
The Bunker official said: “At this point the ball has come away from the hand, which then catches back up and he doesn’t regain possession. This is a knock on.”
Ennis said: “That’s crazy. Watching it at full speed he’s got control of it.
“Even if it starts to move in his hand, he still presses the football down on the line. At no point does it bobble on the ground. That’s crazy.
“They’re the little things that are just not falling for the Tigers at the moment. There’s another call that has gone against them tonight.”
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