- Broncos star was knocked out cold in sixth minute
- Sua’ali’i immediately given marching orders
- Blues struggling to keep up with Queensland with 12 men
He may be one of the biggest superstars in the NRL, but Reece Walsh is a father first which was on full display in heartwarming scenes in State of Origin I on Wednesday night.
Sydney Roosters star and Wallabies signing Joseph Sua’ali’i was sent off for a horror tackle on the Maroons fullback early in the Origin clash at Accor Stadium on Wednesday night.
In scary scenes Walsh was left knocked out on the field for several minutes before he was able to stumble from the field while being assisted by trainers.
His daughter Leila was watching in the stands and would have been terrified seeing her dad in such a condition.
The hit from Joseph Sua’ali’i that knocked Reece Walsh out and saw the Blues winger sent off by referee Ashley Klein
Walsh jumped the fence to find his daughter and give her a big hug to let her know he is OK
But in heartwarming scenes, Walsh made it his priority to find Leila and give her a massive hug, letting her know that he was OK.
The incident happened in the sixth minute of the match and play went on while Walsh lay unconscious on the turf until referee Ashley Klein eventually stopped play.
He refused to let the Roosters winger protest his innocence, directly sending him to the sheds to become the sixth Blues player in history to be sent off in an Origin clash.
Walsh was graded with a category 1 head injury on the field so even though he later passed his head injury assessment, he was not allowed to return for the rest of the match.
Walsh is attended to by a Queensland trainer after he was knocked out cold in Origin I
Joseph Sua’ali’i was sent off by referee Ashley Klein for the ugly high tackle on Walsh
It was officially the shortest State of Origin debut in history, with Sua’ali’i sent packing after just 7 minutes and 25 seconds.
When Channel Nine crossed to Queensland coach Billy Slater and asked for his reaction to the hit on Walsh, with a face like thunder he fumed: ‘You probably don’t want to know that.’
‘Hindsight is a great thing, isn’t it?’ Slater then said when asked about carrying Selwyn Cobbo on the bench to replace Walsh in the backline.
‘He’s a quality player and he plays in that position regularly and so does Hammer.
“Nothing changes for us,’ he responded when asked about what NSW being down to 12 men meant for Queensland.
‘We just want to get our footy on, get our game on. These sort of things can happen.’
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