Few NRL stars are as polarising as Brisbane Broncos star Reece Walsh.
He has arguably the biggest spotlight in rugby league shining on him, which opens him up to a stack of ridicule.
Some of those criticisms came during the Broncos all-time win against the Canberra Raiders last weekend, where he was seen flipping off opposing fans on his way to the sin bin.
Walsh was charged with contrary conduct by the match review committee and escaped with a fine as a consequence.
NRL legend Brad Fittler has shared a different opinion to most on Walsh's antics, sharing his sympathies with the young star and calling for the NRL to look after the players more.
"They've got to protect players better," he said on Nine's Freddy and The Eighth.
"At any stage there, emotions get high, and they have to protect the players.”
He argued that the fans' accessibility to the players is to be relaxed, with greater measures needed to ensure safety.
"You can't have people being able to lean over and get access to players or referees — that can't happen, we don't need to deal with that anywhere in the game,” he said.
"We need to be able to make sure that around our tunnels, there's protection so players don't have to deal with it."
There were reports that Raiders fans had made targeted comments about Walsh's daughter, however the Raiders have revealed they're unaware of any sledges made.
"Broncos PR machine going into overdrive as usual... I was standing in the tunnel when he left the field,” Raiders CEO Don Furner was quoted on foxsports.com.au following the incident.
“It was so loud nobody could have heard a word.”
Walsh will appear in the Broncos preliminary final next weekend, facing either the Canterbury Bulldogs or the Penrith Panthers.
