Cronk’s Reynolds plea over ‘red line’ Walsh; Ciraldo hint as Galvin flaw exposed — Finals Talking Pts

The Broncos face a looming selection dilemma with Adam Reynolds set to return from injury, while the Bulldogs need to get their attack back on track and history is against the Sharks amid a horror finals record.

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Read on for the key Talking Points heading into the finals series.

BRONCOS REYNOLDS’ DILEMMA AMID FORM SURGE

It is a good headache to have for Michael Maguire, but there is no doubt skipper Adam Reynolds’ looming return has the potential to throw a spanner in the works of the Broncos’ title charge.

Reynolds could return as early as next week if the Broncos lose to the Raiders in the qualifying final, while a win would give the veteran an additional week to recover.

Superstar Reece Walsh has delivered career best form in Reynolds’ absence, working freely alongside Hunt and Billy Walters, who has impressed NRL greats Matty Johns and Cooper Cronk.

“Billy Walters has been so good in the No.6,” Matty Johns said on Matty and Cronk.

“He’s been outstanding. He’s fantastic at No.14, great at No.9, but almost at No.6 he’s gone to another level again.

However, Cronk believes Reynolds needs to come straight back in when fit.

“Not for me, I think Billy Walters has been a point of difference for the Broncos off the bench, playing longer minutes (once Reynolds returns). I’m not going to say start at No.6, I think Ben Hunt stays there.”

Cronk believes Reynolds plays a crucial role keeping Walsh on track.

“(Reynolds goes) straight back in. I think he’s the Jamal Fogarty of Brisbane, he makes really good decisions,” Cronk said.

“Yes, the Broncos have played well since he’s gone down and Ben Hunt is an experience campaigner. But Reece Walsh has gone through the roof in terms of his performance and I feel like in big games, he’s gonna sit on the red line and he could tip over either way.

“If he gets it right, he could be damaging, but I think Reynolds needs to come back in.”

Manly legend Geoff Toovey agreed Reynolds must play when fit.

“Yes you have to, you can’t leave a quality player out such as him,” Toovey said on NRL 360.

“Big-game player, match winner. You need him to organise it.”

However, Gorden Tallis believes the Broncos already have an organising half.

“They’ve got one there, Ben Hunt,” Tallis said.

“Well, he’s another one. Have two then,” Toovey replied

“Yeah, gotcha, you can’t have two. What No.6 and No.7?” Tallis asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” Toovey replied.

However, Benny Elias noted the Broncos’ attack struggled to click when Reynolds and Hunt were both in the halves.

“Tooves you of all people know you can’t have two people control in that ruck,” Elias said.

“No, I think they’ll work it out, I think Reynolds is the controller,” Toovey said.

But Elias believes the Broncos should stick with their current side because it is working.

“Don’t break anything if it ain’t broken,” Elias said.

“Honest to god and the Broncos are on fire. They ain’t doing anything wrong.”

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WALSH’S SCARY EVOLUTION

The stage is set for Reece Walsh to light up the finals series and lead the Broncos to a drought-breaking title given his improvement and sparkling run of form.

Walsh has stepped up in the absence of Brisbane’s injured stars Adam Reynolds and Ezra Mam to take control of the Broncos’ attack in a career best form spike.

Matty Johns believes Walsh has taken his game to greater heights by playing different roles and popping up all over the field.

“Walsh has been good the last couple of weeks,” Johns said.

“I thought his performance the other night was one of the very best of his career.

“I thought he was that good. He played No.1, he played a little bit of No.7, played a little bit of No.6.”

Cooper Cronk agreed Walsh has relished the extra responsibility.

“He has put it together, Reece Walsh, since Adam Reynolds went down,” Cronk said.

Manly legend Goeff Toovey believes the combination of the Broncos’ forward pack and Walsh’s brilliance has the Broncos primed for a run at the title.

“I just think that they’ve got that really competitive edge in the forwards where they tackle everything, they do all the hit-ups,” Toovey said.

“They are not that creative around the ruck, but they’ve got some fantastic outside backs, and their fullback, hello. Did you see him last week?

“He’s a genius with the ball. Not defensively so much, but with the ball, anything can happen around him.

“And many of their outside backs are similar to him as well, so I think they’ve got so much X-factor in their side, they can do anything.”

Tigers great Benny Elias can’t recall a more exciting player than Walsh in recent memory.

“I reckon one name, Reece Walsh. Oh, my God, I’ve not seen anything more exciting,” Elias said.

“The only other bloke in the game at the moment is Marky Marky, who plays for the Roosters on the wing.

“I mean, those two players should be on every second billboard in the country. They are superstars.

“They both do things that you just can’t believe are humanly possible. They’re fantastic and seeing Walsh, he’s certainly taken the reins at the moment. He’s grown up and matured.”

IS FISHER-HARRIS THE SECRET TO BEATING PENRITH?

The Warriors will line up against the team that every other rival were hoping they’d avoid in the first week — the reigning premiers.

But do New Zealand have a trump card that could inspire a win against the Panthers?

League legend Cooper Cronk made a move from the Storm to the Roosters ahead of the 2018 season, masterminding a grand final win against his former club that same year.

He also beat Melbourne in the 2019 preliminary final, on the way to another title before he hung up the boots.

Cronk’s expertise proved crucial for the Tricolours across those two seasons, and James Fisher-Harris now has a similar role to play according to the league legend.

The front row leader joined the Warriors after winning four premierships with the Panthers, meaning he knows exactly how Ivan Cleary and his talented side operate.

“This is where I think James Fisher-Harris plays a part in this game,” Cronk explained.

“I think he is the key man in this game, I have played finals against a team that I knew inside and out. Penrith are not going to change their style in the finals.

“Every time they get the good ball and drop off a player, they hardly ever keep going. What I mean by that, in that play is they don’t go to the right.

“Nathan will drop off a play and do the overload principle and shift back to the side the play-the-ball comes from, because the fullback might get the numbers wrong.

“Fisher-Harris plays a huge role in this game for two (reasons). One, for intel. He knows how Penrith play, come up with a defensive plan.

“On the flip side, him coming up against Moses Leota is so good... there’s a spirit about Fisher-Harris, I believe if he can have a first carry and smash the Panthers pack, it gives all those other forwards belief.

“If he takes his first carry and Penrith smash him, they will go ‘oh oh, if he can’t do it how can we?’.

Add in the mix Andrew Webster, who was one of Cleary’s assistant coaches up until he joined New Zealand ahead of the 2023 season – and the Warriors have key figures who understand how the Panthers tick.

CAN DOGS SPINE RE-DISCOVER ATTACKING FLARE?

The Bulldogs had a horror final month of the regular season, slumping to three losses from their last four games. Their only victory over that period came in Round 26 against a Panthers side that were resting 16 players, so many would argue it’s a win that should be disregarded. Over those four games, if you exclude the Panthers game where they scored 28 points, the most points the Dogs scored in a game was 14 against the Storm in Round 25.

It’s an alarming slide in attack for Canterbury. But their recent struggles will be forgotten about if they can jag an upset win over the Storm in Melbourne and book themselves a home preliminary final.

Toby Sexton comes back into the Bulldogs’ 17 on the bench, with Reed Mahoney dropped. Sexton has had stints at dummy half in NSW Cup, giving an indication he will play there when he comes on the field, providing some relief for Bailey Hayward.

But would coach Cameron Ciraldo be tempted to give Sexton some time at halfback?

NRL 360 host Braith Anasta pointed out the weaknesses in Lachlan Galvin’s game as a halfback.

“One thing about Galvin, technically, is his kicking game isn’t great,” Anasta said during the week.

“He’s got to work on his kicking game. His short kicking game is pretty good but even on the weekend he didn’t quite get that right. Long kicking game he needs to work on.

“He doesn’t play square enough and engage the defenders and go right into the line and play short.

“It’s kind of, skips across field or it’s a block play. There’s certain techniques and ways that he’s got to play.

“But he’s not a seven. He’s trying to turn into a seven and he hasn’t played seven. He’s a six. There are ways that he’s got to play in his game better to engage the defence and give opportunities to his outside men because he’s got some lethal outside men.”

Perhaps Ciraldo had all of this in mind when deciding to include Sexton on the bench.

In games that Sexton has started at halfback this season, the Bulldogs have won 12 from 16 (75%) but when Galvin has started at halfback, Canterbury has won just four of eight games (50%).

PENRITH’S HOOKER HEADACHE

Perhaps it will take a shock loss on Saturday afternoon for the wider rugby league world to recognise just how underrated Mitch Kenny has been in Penrith’s premiership run.

His impact certainly doesn’t go unnoticed among the Panthers playing group.

Co-captain Isaah Yeo described Kenny’s physicality, particularly for a hooker, as “outstanding”.

In fact, as Yeo rightfully went on to point out, even when the Panthers had the much more fancied Apisai Koroisau at the club Ivan Cleary instead opted for Mitch Kenny to start grand finals.

Why? Well, Yeo said Kenny would “set the tone defensively and physically”.

Former Panthers teammate Josh Mansour, meanwhile, said Kenny was “one of the fittest in the team” during his time at the club and would “always play above his weight”.

It is that physicality that Kenny plays with in defence and not only the sheer amount of work he gets through but the quality of it too that Penrith will miss on the weekend.

Kenny is expected to only be sidelined the one week, although even if the hamstring strain is minor they can be tricky to manage.

But the Panthers may well need Kenny on the field to be any hope of winning a fifth-straight premiership. That is just how important he is and also, to some extent, a reflection of the shaky depth behind Kenny that could come back to haunt Penrith.

Luke Sommerton is a crafty replacement and may offer more in attack than Kenny, although with Nathan Cleary and Yeo pulling the strings that isn’t really needed.

Rather, it has been more important for Penrith to have an ultimate glue guy like Kenny who gets through a mountain of tackles and keeps communication and energy strong through the middle.

Sommerton, on the other hand, has not played more than 55 minutes in his six games for the Panthers this season.

That wouldn’t be an issue if Penrith’s depth behind Sommerton was strong, but it looks like the versatile Brad Schneider will be the player to give him a breather and Schneider’s service from dummy-half has been a problem most times he has done so.

For a Penrith machine that relies so much on precision and timing with its set plays, that could be a serious issue if the Warriors are able to keep the score close by the time Schneider is on the field.

All of this is to say while he may not be a household name like Cleary or Yeo, there is little doubt Kenny will be a significant loss for Penrith in Saturday’s game and while the Panthers should still have the class to get the job done, it does open the door for the Warriors.

SHARKS’ FINALS HOODOO

Much has been made this week about their stadium and whether it’s fit to host a finals fixture but that talk has perhaps overshadowed Cronulla’s horror recent finals record.

It’s not pretty reading for Sharks fans.

Since winning the competition in 2016, Cronulla have played in 12 finals games, only winning two of them.

So, from 2017 to 2024, the Sharks have a 16.6% strike rate in finals.

It was even worse last season before they defeated the Cowboys in an elimination final but the very next week, they were bundled out with ease by the Panthers.

You could argue that the fact they’ve even taken part in 12 finals games in eight seasons is pretty impressive given the recent top eight strike rate of other clubs.

That was the train of thought fiery winger Ronaldo Mulitalo wanted to express in a press conference this week.

“What’s great to you? We’ve played finals every year while there are eight or nine other clubs that haven’t played finals,” Mulitalo said.

“People just keep changing the goalposts. I couldn’t care less what anyone says about finals records and blah, blah, blah, blah. It’s the same stuff every year. I won’t say anything on that.

“We played it (finals) last year. We finally got over that hump last year. We’ve got a good group that have been together for a long time now.

“It’s just now getting a feel for the game straight away and handling the week professionally and in the right way, how finals football should be handled.

“It’s no different this week, give it the respect that deserves, but it is business as usual.”

While they finished in the bottom half of the top eight, Cronulla has to face arguably the hottest team in the NRL right now.

The Roosters enter Saturday night’s elimination final in sensational touch, having won five of their last six games, including big wins over the Bulldogs, Storm and Dolphins.

However, the Sharks also come into this in strong form, having just thrashed the 3rd-placed Bulldogs in the final round.

What’s more, Cronulla do have somewhat of a mental edge given they defeated the Roosters 31-18 when the two sides last met.

WILL RAIDERS’ YOUNG GUNS HOLD UP IN FINALS?

The Raiders’ crop of talented young guns have done nothing but impress all season, but the finals are a different beast.

When the lights are brightest, will the inexperienced Raiders players sink or swim?

Fullback Kaeo Weekes (23), five-eighth Ethan Strange (20), winger Savelio Tamale (20) and hooker Owen Pattie (21) are the team’s four youngest and have all played integral roles in Canberra’s minor premiership.

This time last year, they had played just 52 games between them. That number is now at 138, with Weekes, Strange and Pattie playing full seasons while injury kept Tamale out for eight games in 2025.

It isn’t known how they’ll respond under the finals pressure, but what has held them in good stead so far this season and will continue to help them is the presence of several respected players in the Raiders locker room to light the path, including Joe Tapine, Josh Papalii and Jamal Fogarty.

It’s something coach Ricky Stuart has stressed throughout the season when he’s been asked about his cohort of talented youngsters.

Of course, Stuart can’t be totally sure how the likes of Strange and Weekes will respond in their first finals foray.

He admitted as much in a recent podcast with journalists Andrew Webster and Phil Rothfield.

“There’s no good me pussy-footing around with these kids. I’ll look after them when I need to but they need to be handle pressure,” Stuart said.

“It might be the issue we have going into the playoffs this year. They might not be able to handle the big stage yet but the one thing I know, win, lose or draw, is that this is going to be an unbelievable education for this young group going forward.”

The Canberra young guns have passed every test in front of them so far with aplomb

Next is a finals campaign and that’s going to be a considerably harder assignment.

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