Reece Walsh has been a little jealous of Brisbane's success in his absence, says coach Michael Maguire as the superstar fullback prepares for a rapid return from injury.
Walsh's meeting with a specialist on Wednesday cleared him to line up against the Sydney Roosters, some four weeks after suffering a facial fracture against Gold Coast in round five.
Last year's grand-final hero underwent surgery and had been facing up to six weeks on the sidelines, but missed only three games with his injury.
Walsh had been pushing to return even earlier.
"He wanted to come back last week," Maguire said.
"He's got ticks from everyone that has an opinion around that, from the medical guys, and they've all said he's ready to go."
Walsh's injury came amid a personnel crisis for the reigning premiers. Payne Haas, Pat Carrigan, Ben Hunt and Adam Reynolds are among the other big names to have missed time across the past month.
But in their past two outings, the depleted Broncos have impressed by pipping an improved Wests Tigers on the road and flogging last year's semi-finalists Canterbury.
It's been enough to make Walsh's feet itchy.
"He's obviously been a bit jealous, probably, being able to watch the team go about the things they've done the last couple of weeks," said Maguire, who also has Carrigan back from suspension this week.
Walsh's comeback comes on the same weekend his nearest rival for Queensland's fullback jersey, Newcastle's Kalyn Ponga, returns from a hamstring issue.
A knee injury thwarted Walsh's hopes of playing in the first two State of Origin matches last year, though he did feature as replacement player in the game-three decider.
With three rounds to play out before Origin teams are picked, Maguire backed Walsh to win the shootout and clinch a first start since 2024.
"I know who I'd pick, and that'd be Reecy," he said.
The Broncos face a Roosters side that has scored 167 points during their ongoing four-game winning streak, capped by a 62-16 flogging of St George Illawarra on Anzac Day.
"We want to keep pushing our game forward, the hunger to do that is high," said coach Trent Robinson.
Mild-mannered Roosters winger Daniel Tupou is two tries from passing Billy Slater's mark of 190 and becoming the outright third-most prolific try-scorer in the league's history.
"You'd have to remind 'Tups' that he's that, and it's probably an insight into the way he views his game," Robinson said.
"All he's doing is doing his role, he's really clear on what a left winger should do in the game, and he's going about performing that."
