Listened to a podcast today where Ben Ikon was saying that he was convinced Reece Walsh's rise to stardom was in no small part because Tristan Sailor was pushing so hard from reggies. Thought there were parallels... Makes you wonder how much Tracey has contributed to Kennedy's rise and how much value he adds to the squad in training - possibly moreso than his first grade cameos.
Coaches like effort and if you have a high effort guy behind you then you know you can't afford to lapse - you know you have to work hard to retain/win your spot and if you ever drop your focus they will come flying up behind you trying to take your spot
Tristan maybe did push Walsh a bit, but Walsh was basically this good last year just the 2022 Warriors weren't as good as the 2023 Broncos - a factor in that also is probably that the only reason the Broncos can even afford Walsh is Warriors blocked him signing with Dolphins and he needed to go to Brisbane.
If Warriors don't try to spite O'Sullivan Walsh probably signs for Dolphins for three to four times as much money.