😳“THE SIGN NO ONE TOOK SERIOUSLY… UNTIL NOW”: A bizarre moment involving Reece Walsh has suddenly resurfaced after the Maroons star was sh0ckingly dropped from Queensland’s State of Origin squad — and fans are now convinced it may have revealed a hidden warning long before the bσmbshell decision was made…

Premiership great Luke Keary has claimed “there’s something that doesn’t add up” about Reece Walsh’s surprise axing from the Queensland side for State of Origin.

Walsh, the star of Brisbane’s grand final win last year and the Kangaroos’ Ashes triumph, is out of the Maroons’ squad entirely with Kalyn Ponga picked to wear the No.1 jersey.

Queensland coach Billy Slater suggested the “difficult” decision came down to what Ponga being in a “sweet spot” of form compared to Walsh not playing “his best football” upon returning from a facial fracture.

But Keary has pinpointed a predicted team from a week earlier as a concern for Walsh, who only appeared in the No.18 jumper in last year’s decider after missing the first two games through injury.

“Last week Cam Smith, Queensland legend and very close friend of Billy Slater, named his Queensland team and it didn’t have Reece Walsh in it,” Keary said on Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters.

“Cam Smith works at the Brisbane Broncos as a leadership consultant so he’s obviously close with Reece and that team, for him to not have (Walsh) in that team, it was very, very bizarre to me. Very bizarre.”

Slater’s acknowledgement that Walsh “was one of the most influential players in the Queensland team in 2023” only muddied the waters.

“There’s something that doesn’t add up and I don’t know how to explain it,” Keary said.

Asked to clarify that he believes it was a decision not taken on form only, he replied: “No way. No way.”

Keary accepted the Maroons “don’t have to explain” the truth.

“It’s obviously a conversation Billy will have with Reece in the background,” he added.

“I just find it very hard to believe that the Clive Churchill medallist, the best player in the Ashes series, he’s probably the best player, behind Nathan Cleary, when he’s on — and he hasn’t been off this year.

“He got injured but he hasn’t been off, and Kalyn’s been injured too. This isn’t like Kalyn’s absolute lit up the competition.”

Broncos and Queensland great Corey Parker said he was also “baffled” that Walsh “wasn’t at least in the 20-man squad”.

“If you want to go with Kalyn Ponga at fullback that’s fine,” he said.

“But I was baffled given the fact that Ezra Mam at 18, Gehamat Shibasaki at 19 and Kulikefu Finefeuiaki at 20 — I was thinking that Reece could’ve maybe found himself in that area somewhere given the type of player he is.”

Riccio doubled down on the questions around what Smith might have known about Walsh’s relationship with Slater.

“Are we led to believe this is form and form only?” the veteran journalist said.

“Cameron Smith, who has a great affinity with Reece Walsh both through the Queensland Origin arena and working with the Broncos, that a week before the teams are picked he coincidentally leaves Reece Walsh out?

“He knows something — unless we’re reading Reece Walsh’s form incorrectly.”

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Walsh has recorded just one try, two try assists and one line break in his past three games — all losses, including two by heavy margins — while Ponga has laid on four tries and registered two line breaks in three wins.

Parker played devil’s advocate and reminded the panel what happened last year after Slater made the biggest call of his coaching career so far.

“You can read any which way you want in terms of who’s playing well and who’s got form, who doesn’t have form,” he said.

“Ultimately at the end of the day Billy Slater and the two selectors go through a team of 20 who they think can win game one. That is it. Don’t look too far ahead, stick with who you think is going to be able to win game one.

“They’ll have their ideas and their reasonings in terms of how and why that is going to come to fruition. Reece Walsh at this point in time by the opinion of three people is not part of that side.

“Now we’ve seen Billy make some decisions — he moved on the skipper (Daly Cherry-Evans) after game one, ended up being a masterstroke, Queensland go on to win the series.

“I’m absolutely going to back in what Billy and the selectors have come up with — KP’s not a bad back-up to go in as No.1.”

Riccio added: “It was a monstrous call, a courageous call, a brave call to sack Daly Cherry-Evans while captain of Queensland. I firmly this decision is equal to that call.”