By Jon Healy, ABC
Maroons coach Billy Slater and Reece Walsh.
Analysis: Billy Slater took a major risk when he handed a 20-year-old Reece Walsh his State of Origin debut in 2023.
That year, Walsh and his team of baby Broncos soared within minutes of a premiership, pipped only by an otherworldly performance from Nathan Cleary.
The following season, the team was bad enough to warrant coach Kevin Walters copping the axe five days before the first anniversary of that game.










