Sea Eagles interim head coach Kieran Foran has given an update on teenage star Joey Walsh's chances of being called up to first grade.
Many in the NRL social media community have voiced their concerns with the Sea Eagles' direction moving forward for the rest of the season.
The majority of the chatter has come from fans wanting Walsh to replace Luke Brooks in the five-eighth position under Foran's guidance.
With Anthony Seibold being sacked four weeks into the season, it's looking likely that Foran will keep a similarly built side to the one Seibold has been naming.
Yesterday, Foran named a highly similar team that lost to the Sydney Roosters, minus the suspended Jason Saab, who was replaced by Clayton Faulalo.
Speaking in his first press conference as head coach, Foran said it would do no justice to Walsh to throw him in deep when the club is looking to get its season back on track.
With only limited experience in the 13-man code, he will take a precautionary approach with Walsh before he returns to first grade.
"There's obviously been a lot of noise from the outside about Joey Walsh, but what people have got to understand is that Joey is 19," he said.
"He's come through as a rugby union kid, extremely talented and gifted, and he's still very early on in his rugby league journey.
"My opinion of Joey is extremely high. He is an absolute superstar, and he is going to be a great player for our club for a long time, that's how highly I rate him."
"He's got all the traits in him to be an outstanding player, but there's a few components to rushing a guy in like that. We're not travelling good enough to put the responsibility of turning a game around on a 19-year-old's shoulders who has played 21 games of league - that's not doing the right thing by Joey, and that's not protecting his long-term career.
"Everyone has got to be a bit patient, we've got a plan for Joey, and he's comfortable with the plan. It's the outside noise; people are trying to beat up Joey.
"I talk to Joey every day, he's loving what he's doing on the footy field at the moment, and he knows where he's going at this club. It's just a matter of us getting our season up and going ... by the end of the year, he should really be up and about."
Despite only being three NRL games into retirement, the club is backing Foran to be the man to turn around the Sea Eagles' disastrous start to the season.
It may be the case that all Foran needs to do is get the players to run through a brick wall for him, compete in every play, and back each other.
All the attacking shapes and defensive systems will most likely stay intact from the Seibold-era for now, with Foran expected to act as a man-manager to get the Sea Eagles players ready to compete.
Queensland Maroons coach and Storm legend Billy Slater agrees with Foran's sentiments regarding Walsh's omission from the side, saying the pressure may cause him much more harm than good.
"The short answer for me is no way," he said on Nine's The Billy Slater Podcast.
"You can't put that sort of pressure on a young lad; the team's not going great at the moment, and they've got two really experienced halves that can help pull them out of it.
"Joey Walsh has been on the extended bench in the opening couple of rounds, and the last couple of rounds, he has played NSW Cup - he needs to play football.
"There's obviously a reason why he's not in the first grade team right now, and sometimes we are too quick to throw young kids with talent in.
"The game requires so much more than talent, and if that talent doesn't get a chance to shine… it's just gonna come undone, and the team is not gonna benefit from it. If he's not ready, I don't think Kieran Foran will be throwing him in and hoping for the best.
"He would rather wear a bit of tough time to help this guy out when he is ready."
Whether Walsh will return to the six-man bench or act as a utility is unknown.
If injuries were to arise in the halves, they have depth with Brandon Wakeham and Zach Dockar-Clay, so they may not need to rely on parachuting Walsh in.
All eyes will be glued to the Sea Eagles' performance on Thursday when Foran's side travels to Redcliffe to face the Dolphins.
If they lose in Brisbane, they then travel to Wollongong to face the St George Illawarra Dragons, where they have had narrow success, losing 11 of their past 13 matches.
