Brisbane fullback Reece Walsh made a compelling claim for the Queensland No.1 jersey with a two-try display in a 34-10 thrashing of Canberra.
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The 21-year-old Broncos whiz kid, in his second NRL game back from a facial fracture, was too hot to handle for the hapless Raiders defence in another masterclass of skill, speed and daring at Suncorp Stadium in front of 37,286 fans on Saturday.
The Raiders lost half Jamal Fogarty to a biceps injury to compound their woes.
"They seem to think he has ruptured his biceps," Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said.
"If that is the case, and it has got to be scanned when we get home, the best-case scenario is probably 12 weeks."
Walsh is in a battle with Newcastle's Kalyn Ponga for the Maroons fullback gig in the State of Origin series opener in Sydney on June 5.
He shone in the opening two games of last year's series before being suspended for the third.
Ponga, who was superb at No.1 for the Maroons in the 2022 series win, sat out last year's series due to a series of concussions to focus on the Knights, and went on to win the Dally M Medal.
Walsh made three line breaks and finished with a personal tally of 18 points, including five goals, against the Raiders.
"Reece has got that explosiveness in him to break a game open," Broncos coach Kevin Walters said after the match.
"He struggled a bit early, but when he decided to run, he ran, and we got some good results on the back of that."
The Broncos set up the win with five quality tries in the space of 19 minutes in the first half to lead 28-0 at the break.
"It was a great first half, our best first half of footy the year ... to set up the win," Walters said.
The Raiders had all the early possession and had a try to Hudson Young disallowed, but it was Walsh magic that lit up the match in the 13th minute.
The dazzling fullback hit an Ezra Mam pass at electric speed from 45m out and left centre Matt Timoko clutching at air before stepping fullback Chevy Stewart to score.
A Mam bomb, followed by a slick catch and pass by prop Fletcher Baker, set up second-rower Jordan Riki for a try and it was 12-0 after 18 minutes.
Half Jock Madden put up a spiral bomb, Stewart dropped it and Mam was on hand to toe ahead and score.
Hooker Billy Walters got in on the act with a slick grubber kick near the line and raced through to score, before Walsh sliced through from close to the line.
A highlight of the first half was a monster front-on tackle by Brisbane hitman Kobe Hetherington on Stewart. It demonstrated the defensive clout the Broncos showed throughout in a display led by lock Pat Carrigan and prop Corey Jensen.
The Raiders showed grit and rallied in the second half with tries to Simi Sasagi and Xavier Savage.
"The young blokes were a bit rattled at halftime, but my message was that all I am focused on is the next 40 minutes and how you handle it," Stuart said.
"I thought they showed some character in regards to how they withstood the adversity in the battle."
Australian Associated Press
