NRL 2023: How the Sydney Roosters set Sam Walker up to fail, Luke Keary defends star
Sam Walker has been made the scapegoat for the Roosters sloppy start – but if they want to turn him into Cooper Cronk, they’d be better off cutting their losses right now, writes PAUL CRAWLEY.
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Trying to turn Sam Walker into Cooper Cronk is as silly as trying to turn Allan Langer into Ricky Stuart.
Or wanting Andrew Johns or Johnathan Thurston to play like Cronk.
It’s not in Walker’s DNA to play the structured style that made Cronk the champion he was.
But if that is the path the Roosters want Walker to take following the 20-year-old’s axing this week to make way for the new Luke Keary-Joey Manu halves combination, the Roosters would be better off cutting their losses right now.
And let Walker go and find a club and a coach who will allow him to play the instinctive style that best suits his strengths.
Make no mistake, rival clubs are watching with interest to see how this unfolds in the coming weeks.
And if there is even the slightest chance the Roosters are considering heading down the same track that they did previously by cutting ties with Mitchell Pearce and Kyle Flanagan (who made way to bring in Cronk and Walker respectively), you can guarantee there will be a line up of clubs ready to pounce.
Walker’s agent Clinton Schifcofske has come out and point blank denied claims that a difference of opinion over how the Roosters should attack has led to growing tensions between Walker’s family and the Roosters coaching staff, in particular Cronk.
“I can tell you 100 per cent that it wasn’t me or his dad (Ben) or his uncle Shane,” Schifcofske said, in respect to who leaked the story.
And Schifcofske added he has no doubts Walker’s stay in NSW Cup would be short lived.
“I think he will get into first grade quick smart,” Schifcofske said.
“He is too good a player to play reserve grade. And I think he will do it at the Roosters.”
But that final sentence is an intriguing comment in itself, because on face value it certainly leaves the door open in respect to Walker’s future.
While Walker is currently signed until the end of 2025, if the Keary/Manu combination goes gangbusters against St George Illawarra in Tuesday’s Anzac Day blockbuster, it will certainly make it hard for Walker to fight his way back any time soon.
Asked if he had received interest from rival clubs this week, Schifcofske added: “No, not interest. A few people have asked what is going on.”
And that is where this could get really interesting, with a club like Wayne Bennett’s Dolphins still on the hunt for a marquee player.
Walker would be an ideal fit for the Dolphins not just because he is a Queenslander, but no doubt his playing style would give Bennett flashbacks of his days coaching the freestyle footy Alf loved to play.
It was only a year ago Walker was being talked up as a future Queensland Origin player, with legitimate debate about how long it would be before he unseated Daly Cherry-Evans.
But now he is clearly on the outer at the Roosters who have struggled to get their attack in order all season.
Last weekend against the Sharks the Roosters completed at 85 per cent for the match, but still couldn’t score a try in the second half with Keary and Walker clearly upstaged by Nicho Hynes.
All up the Roosters have only scored 106 points in their six games while conceding 128, for a negative 22 points differential.
There is no doubt a lot of people believe Trent Robinson has made the right call to drop Walker.
Even Phil Gould said on his Six Tackles with Gus podcast: “I can’t believe it’s taken them this long, to be honest. This is their best halves pairing.
“That’s nothing against Walker, but at the end of the day Keary has won a premiership playing in that position (halfback), and Manu they’ve got to get closer to the ball, it’s as simple as that.”
But the question now for Walker is what is his next move.
Does he go back to NSW Cup and play the style Cronk and the Roosters want him to play?
Or should he go back and break free from the shackles and back the footy that got him to the NRL in the first place?
The irony is when Walker first signed in 2019 his father Ben said at the time that a big part of the reason he picked the Roosters over clubs like the Broncos and Cowboys was because “Trent Robinson has very similar beliefs to how Sam plays, which is very important for his development.”
Yet here we are four years down the track and the player anointed to be Cronk’s long term successor is clearly at the crossroads because his style apparently doesn’t fit the way Cronk and the Roosters want to play.
If that is the case you are entitled to question if Walker is the problem, or do the Roosters coaching staff need to take some ownership of what has gone wrong?
NOT THE END: ROOSTERS STARS BACK WALKER TO BUCK CURSE
By David Riccio and Brent Read
Roosters playmaker Luke Keary has dismissed fears that Sam Walker’s time at the club is drawing to a close following his surprise demotion to NSW Cup.
Keary’s opinion has been supported by Roosters captain James Tedesco who also said he saw no apparent issues with Walker and the club’s halves mentor Cooper Cronk.
Walker, 20, has been dropped after an inconsistent start to the season with Joey Manu moving from the centres to the halves alongside Keary for the club’s much-anticipated Anzac Day clash with St George-Illawarra on Tuesday.
Aware of the ruthless nature of the Roosters, as proven by the club’s bold decisions in years gone by to let halfbacks Mitchell Pearce and Kyle Flanagan go from their contracts, Keary said he didn’t feel Walker was headed down a similar path.
“No, I don‘t (think that), no,’’ Keary said.
“I know what Robbo thinks of Sam.
“I know what the coaches think of Sam, they have a very high opinion of him.
“They signed him in the off-season so this is just a thing that happens to young players sometimes.
“It’s unfortunate, not everyone wants to go through it, it does happen.
“I know the type kid he is, I know he’s gonna work hard. Not at all (is this the end here).’’
Keary said he was proof that Walker’s demotion could prove beneficial.
“It’s very common. It happened to myself, Billy Slater went through it, Ezra Mam last year, Reece Walsh got put back to the bench. Latrell (Mitchell) when he was here and Joey Manu in his that first season in ‘17,” Keary said.
“It gets highlighted a bit more with the halves.
“I went through it and it was after I’d won a grand final too. It’s a bit of a humbling experience,it’s not it’s not great, it’s a bit embarrassing.
“But you do look back on it and think I needed that little bit of a kick up the arse to get my game into gear or work on these things that, at the time, I couldn’t see that, but yeah, it’s tough in the moment.
“But if you take it the right way it can be really career defining for you and make you a better player and person.”
It has been reported that Walker’s family had issues with the Roosters wanting the young playmaker to relinquish his flamboyant style of play and adopt a structured attitude, similar to that of Cronk.
Tedesco questioned the notion.
“I have never seen that or felt that around training,” Tedesco said.
“Cooper was one of the best halfbacks in the game so Sammy will take what he needs from that and play his own game as well.
“He (Cronk) does some of our attack stuff, stuff for me and the halves. He has a great mind for the game so you have to take what you can from guys like that.”
Tedesco added that Walker still had a lot to learn in leading the side.
“Robbo has obviously given him some things he has to nail,” Tedesco said.
“I think Sammy has to go back to his natural game. He hasn’t been at his best in terms of playing his game.
“But he also has to lead the team around as a halfback and do what Robbo wants him to do.
“I don’t think Sammy feels like he hasn’t been at his best and to be honest the whole team hasn’t been at their best.
“I am pretty sure he will back in the team.”
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