Reece Walsh steers Australia to 66-6 Rugby League World Cup win over Cook Islands in Townsville
Reece Walsh played a central role as Australia defeated the Cook Islands 66-6 in Townsville in a Pool A Rugby League World Cup match on 31 October 2026. Walsh scored one try, provided five try assists and was involved in another while the Kangaroos made 15 errors in a partly clunky performance.
Coach Kevin Walters now faces a selection decision between Walsh and James Tedesco for the semi-final, after a display that showed promise but left questions about consistency. Australia’s combinations in what appears to be a first-choice spine of Harry Grant, Tom Dearden, Cam Munster and Grant improved as the match progressed and were capped by a late try for Grant created by an inside pass from Walsh. The win gave Australia their third victory of the tournament and put them top of Pool A.
The match began poorly for the Cook Islands’ visitors and in other respects for Australia: Cameron Brown fumbled the Kangaroos’ first kick under pressure, but Walsh drew in right winger Esan Masters and lofted a pass for Jack Bostock to score in the corner. A mistake from Harry Grant when chasing a kick left the Cook Islands with a set 10 metres from the Australian line, and a dummy from hooker Rua Ngatikaura fooled Pat Carrigan and Liam Martin to create a converted try that put the visitors ahead.
Errors continued to affect both sides in the opening quarter. Walsh kicked out on the full from the restart, Tom Dearden conceded a ruck penalty, and a misdirected Grant pass briefly returned the Cook Islanders to the Australian line, but poor kicking options blunted their pressure.
The Cook Islands’ side featured former Kangaroo Val Holmes at fullback, prop Davvy Moale, captain and centre KL Iro and 20-year-old Warriors five-eighth Maui Winitana-Patelesio, while the team relied on 37-year-old Brad Takairangi at halfback after his season with the Glebe Dirty Reds. Takairangi produced a notable tackle on Tom Trbojevic that flattened the Australian winger.
Australia regained the lead with a blindside move finished by Trbojevic from interplay with Grant and Dearden, and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui finished a subsequent sequence after a Holmes error. Cam Murray, named on the bench, had been ill at Friday’s captain run and was replaced by David Fifita; Murray returned to finish the match and was described as one of Australia’s better forwards after suffering a head knock last week against Fiji.
A six-try blitz in the first 20 minutes after half-time effectively settled the contest. Canberra five-eighth Ethan Strange came on for his first appearance in green and gold in the second half, and from his first play Bostock scored his second try after Walsh batted the ball on to avoid a jamming defence. Walsh produced the final pass for Trbojevic’s second, the pair combined again for Trbojevic’s second hat-trick in two weeks, and Bostock finished with a hat-trick of his own. Jacob Preston’s first-line break led to a Dearden-to-Kotoni Staggs try, Preston later put Walsh over for Australia’s sixth and Preston then scored midway through the second half.
The result leaves Australia top of Pool A with three wins and sets up a semi-final next week at Allianz Stadium against either Samoa or Tonga, a selection dilemma Kevin Walters must address between Walsh and James Tedesco.