Lockyer, Inglis, Hayne, Turbo, Tedesco, Edwards … Slater.
When we judge the great modern-day fullbacks, these are the names at the top of the list.
And for a long time now, it’s been Billy Slater who is always considered the benchmark — the best of the best. But not even Slater at his absolute elite was capable of what Reece Walsh delivered to carry the Broncos to the club’s first premiership in 19 years.
Put simply, no one still alive has witnessed a player combine every facet that makes a rugby league footballer — the skill, speed, power, strength and stamina, along with physical and mental toughness — and mould it into what Walsh produced in what is now being called the greatest grand final performance of all.
What’s more, it came on the back of arguably the greatest finals series from an individual player in memory.
Up with Jarryd Hayne’s run of 2009, and Ben Barba in 2012.
Yet what made Walsh’s effort even more astounding is that you only need to go back five weeks to see how much he has transformed his game in a short period of time.
After making six errors in a rocks and diamonds display in the Broncos’ round 26 win over the Cowboys, Walsh redefined his reputation in his final four matches.
Taking his game to a level never previously witnessed from any player, in any position, of any era.
Now that may sound like a ridiculously over-the-top comment.
But not when you factor in how Walsh has not only totally obliterated the opposition along the way, but also silenced all the questions that had been previously hanging over him, simply by minimising his mistakes while continuing to push his freaky skills to the absolute limit.
Walsh also transformed from a defensive liability to a rock-solid tackling machine, while finding a way to inspire his team no matter what challenge/scoreboard deficit was in front of him.
It started against the Storm in the final round of the regular season when Walsh guided the Broncos to a much-needed confidence boosting victory over their long-time bogey team.
Then in the first week of the finals Walsh returned from the sin bin (after that now infamous headbutt on Hudson Young) to spark an astonishing comeback.
He almost single-handedly carried the Broncos to an epic extra time win over the Raiders after trailing by 16 points (with less than 20 remaining minutes in the match).
No one in their right mind would have thought he could back that up against the Panthers in the prelim final, when the Broncos were trailing by 14 points.
Yet Walsh sent the four-time reigning premiers crashing out with another five-star performance, this time with Nathan Cleary left in Walsh’s wake.
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