Rugby league: Warriors chief executive Cameron George backs cautious approach to Reece Walsh's injury

Warriors chief executive Cameron George says while it will be disappointing for young star Reece Walsh to have missed out on his State of Origin debut, not being risked will be better for him in the long run.

The 18-year-old fullback was expected to make his Origin debut for Queensland last night after just seven appearances in first grade, but was ruled out on the eve of the match due to a hamstring strain.

The strain was not considered to be too serious, however the decision was made to omit him from the team.

"I spoke to Reece [on Saturday]. Naturally he's very disappointed," George told the Herald. "He's got a bit of a hamstring strain, so it's not good for Reece in terms of his Origin, but at least they didn't push the button on it and make it any worse. I don't think it's too bad, but they're still waiting on the scan results."

Walsh has been a revelation at the back since joining the Warriors earlier in the season, and would have been the second youngest player to don a Queensland jersey after half Ben Ikin debuted in 1995, also at 18.

He underwent scans on his injury over the weekend, and while the Warriors did not have the results of those scans on Sunday evening, he is expected to return to the team today and they would be able to evaluate his condition.

The Warriors are next in action on Friday night against the St George Illawarra Dragons, and Walsh could be racing the clock to be fit for the match. Given the Warriors have noted their hesitancy to rush his development at the top level of the game throughout the season, it would not be a surprise to see the club err on the side of caution with Walsh, particularly with Roger Tuivasa-Sheck – one of the best fullbacks in the game – still on the roster.

The Warriors have already had centre Euan Aitken and second rower Josh Curran ruled out for the next two weeks as the pair have been forced to isolate for 14 days from Sunday morning after travelling on a flight with an attendant who tested positive for Covid-19.

Aitken and Curran will have to watch Friday's game against the Dragons from their rooms, but will be out of quarantine hours before the club's match away to the Cronulla Sharks next Sunday night.