Reece Walsh lets loose with final parting shot at Storm’s Stefano Utoikamanu in wild victory lap

Reece Walsh and the Broncos have had the last laugh over Storm enforcer Stefano Utoikamanu’s ‘stuck-up’ sledge ahead of the NRL grand final.

Utoikamanu lit the fuse for the premiership decider when he implied some Brisbane players were arrogant and said he couldn’t wait to “run over” them.

But the front-rower couldn’t inspire Melbourne to victory and has now had to cop it sweet in return.

Walsh wasted little time going after Utoikamanu during the post-match celebrations while streaming live on Instagram.

“Let me say something, let me say something,” he began.

“Boys, boys. Stefano’s stuck. We’re f***ing up, baby!” (Language warning in the video below)

Walsh’s chant drew raucous cheers from teammates, and it kicked off a wild night partially documented on social media.

After declaring ‘plumber out’ on the dais and holding up a potty during his lap of honour the Clive Churchill medallist drank from a toilet mug in the rooms.

“Someone better take my phone away,” he joked while waiting to depart Accor Stadium on the team bus.

But the posts kept coming as the players moved to a club function and then a nightclub.

“I just won a comp WTF,” laughed Walsh, who revealed soon after full-time that he had been on a self-imposed booze ban during the season.

High praise for Payne Haas followed.

“My people, my people. I’ve got one thing to say. Payne — is he the best ever?” Walsh said.

“He’s won everything, he’s got his ring.”

Haas celebrated with family before rejoining his team.

“That’s my brothers, through it all no one can break this bond, this is who I do it for,” he shared.

Walsh, still just 23, had every reason to let loose after producing a performance for the ages that both Johnathan Thurston and Darren Lockyer hailed as the best ever.

The fullback scored a superb try and set up three others in the come-from-behind victory, but it was also three try-saving plays in defence that ultimately shaped the Broncos’ thrilling 26-22 win.

It is no exaggeration to say Walsh saved not only Brisbane’s grand final but their whole season.

The Broncos were struggling in 11th spot off four straight losses when the 23-year-old returned from a knee injury in June, and inspired Brisbane to 13 wins in their remaining 16 games.

He immediately breathed life into Brisbane’s season with a flogging of Gold Coast, before lighting up the finals with match-defining displays against Canberra, Penrith and Melbourne.

Asked on Sunday night what the difference had been, Walsh joked it was “drinking out of a toilet” — a reference to his social media gag last month — before he got rather more serious by heaping praise on Maguire.

“When I got injured, I got a lot of time away from the boys and that was from Madge telling me that when I’m at home, be at home and enjoy those moments,” Walsh said.

“At the start of the year I was so heavily invested in footy, which is obviously a good thing, but sometimes it gets a little bit too much.

“You’re sitting up at night watching film at home and my little ones there playing and I’m on my phone, looking at clips from training.

“So when I got that injury, I reset. I let myself be the footy player at work, and then when I’m at home, I just enjoyed being dad.

“I enjoyed being a son to my old man. We got on the tools together.

“I had the mentality of, when I’m in the building, work hard and when I’m out, enjoy my time. But when it’s time to switch on, it’s time to switch on.”

A proud Queenslander, Walsh was four the last time the Broncos won a title.

But he had made no secret of how driven he was to regain the trophy for the Broncos.

On returning from the Warriors in 2023 he immediately asked to see Adam Reynolds’ ring from his 2014 title at South Sydney.

That determination was there on Sunday night at Accor Stadium, from his brilliant effort to beat five men for a first-half try to his last minute effort to deny opposite number Ryan Papenhuyzen a Melbourne match winner.

“In Queensland, you want to play for the Broncos, you want to play for Queensland,” Walsh said.

“No one gave us a chance and the only ones that believed were the ones in the room and us players.

“Our backs were against the wall and we could have shied away, but we went towards those moments.

“I’m just so honoured and grateful to be a part of this team. It’s been 19 years and we’ve just etched our names in history. So I’m extremely honoured.”

- with AAP