Reece Walsh has hit back at criticism of the Kangaroos’ forward pack, saying the Australian big men have been “disrespected a lot” at the Rugby League World Cup.
Walsh made the comments on Monday ahead of Sunday night’s semi-final against Samoa at Allianz Stadium in Sydney, NRL.com reported.
“That’s the thing – I feel like our forward pack’s been disrespected a lot this tournament,” Walsh said.
“There’s a lot of talk about the other teams. They’re great players. They’re awesome players, don’t get me wrong.”
‘We see it’
Walsh said the work of the forwards often went unnoticed outside the team. “The passion they play with and the hard work, the kick chase, the small details,” he said.
“It’s something that the fans and you guys [media] probably don’t see but we see and that’s one thing I see with these other teams.”
Read more: Kangaroos Thump Cook Islands 66-6 as Bostock, Trbojevic Hit Hat-Tricks
Australia finished the pool stage unbeaten after a 66-6 win over the Cook Islands in Townsville on Saturday night, but questions over their forward dominance have remained. Former NRL star Luke Keary said on Channel 7 that the pack was “not dominant through the middle”, Fox Sports reported.
“We’re watching Tonga, Samoa and New Zealand like completely dominate oppositions, whereas Australia are kind of finessing their way around,” Keary said.
Fullback call looms
Walsh, who is still working his way back to full fitness from a left ankle injury, has picked up two player-of-the-match awards at the tournament and set up five tries against the Cook Islands. He is competing with James Tedesco for the No.1 jersey, with the Kangaroos team for the semi-final due to be named on Tuesday.
“One thing we spoke about being in this environment and this team is nothing is guaranteed,” Walsh said, AAP reported. “Whatever Kevvie wants to do we are all going to support him.”
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