When the Brisbane Broncos announced that Reece Walsh would be returning to the club in 2023 people reacted with understandable confusion.

This is because they already had two players who were going to be duking it out this offseason for the fullback position in Tesi Niu and Selwyn Cobbo.

Niu predominantly played in the role last season apart from when he was out through injury during the middle of the season.

Cobbo on the other hand has not been properly tested at fullback in the NRL but did have a breakout season for the Broncos on the wing in 2022 that saw the 20-year-old make his State of Origin debut for Queensland.

Walsh has been the starting number one for the New Zealand Warriors for the better part of two seasons with the club originally signing him to be the long-term replacement for Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.

The Courier Mail’s Peter Badel recently spoke to Brisbane’s academy chief Simon Scanlan who revealed that the Broncos are yet to determine who their fullback will be in 2023.

“The thing we’ve made clear is that Reece isn’t guaranteed anything,” Scanlan said.

He is Brisbane’s key off-season recruit. But the Broncos insist excitement machine Reece Walsh will not get a free ride to a first-grade spot in his return to Red Hill after a stint at the Warriors. Via @badel_cmailhttps://t.co/gdhCP8y836

— Courier Mail Sport (@cmail_sport) November 5, 2022

“We have Tesi Niu and Herbie Farnworth wanting to play fullback as well so it will be a shootout for that No.1 jumper in the pre-season.

“Reece has to come in and fight for the jumper.

“No one at the club has been told they are locked in as the No.1 fullback. Reece is one of the guys in the mix.”

Scanlan was the one who signed Walsh to his first contract at the Broncos as a 14-year-old and went on to give his take on the prodigy being released to join the Warriors in 2021.

“It was extremely disappointing to lose Reece, especially when he was part of our succession plan at fullback,” Scanlan revealed.

“Reece was coming through our program the whole time and to lose him, just as he was about to play NRL, was extremely disappointing.”

Brisbane’s next fullback will likely be one of the club’s marquee talents for years to come so they must make the correct decision to prevent issues and disruption down the line.