South Sydney’s Cody Walker says he won’t change combative style

Cody Walker may be public enemy No. 1 with his Sydney Roosters archrivals but the in-form South Sydney five-eighth has no plans to change his in-your-face style of game

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Cody Walker may be public enemy No. 1 with his Sydney Roosters archrivals but the in-form South Sydney five-eighth has no plans to change his in-your-face style of game.

Walker was labelled ‘disrespectful’ by opposite Luke Keary after Walker was engaged in a verbal battle with Angus Crichton and Cooper Cronk in a fiery fallout from their round one clash. While the two teams do not meet again until the final round of the regular season, Walker said he had no interesting in sparking a feud with Keary.

“It is just part of the rivalry and part of the game,” Walker said. “Tempers seem to flare in those sort of games. It’s just a great reminder that we are arch rivals and the games when they are that tight they end up like that.

Cody Walker at training with Greg Inglis and Damien Cook looking on. Picture. Phil Hillyard

“It’s all done now. It’s stayed on the field. I’m not going to have a running battle or talk about it all the time. It’s happened. It’s moved on.”

Walker labelled former teammate Crichton a “traitor” which drew the ire of Cronk. Walker said he had since spoken with Crichton and their relationship was fine.

“I saw him after the game and had a little laugh and shook hands,” Walker said. “That’s where you leave it. I’ve spoken to him on Instagram.

“Everyone is going to have an opinion. Whatever happens on the field stays on the field. We shook hands after the game that’s where I’ll leave it.

Cody Walker promises to maintain his combative style. Picture. Phil Hillyard

“It doesn’t bother me what people think of me. I play footy the way I play footy. When it’s all said and done I shake hands and that’s it. It’s how I’ve been brought up as a kid. I try and play to the best of my ability. Sometimes tempers flare in games.

“I don’t want to talk about it. It’s happened, I’ve got to move on.”

Walker has thrived under new coach Wayne Bennett. Bennet has backed Walker’s unstructured style of football allowing the 29-year-old to play with more freedom than he has had in his previous four seasons in the top grade.

Cody Walker and Cooper Cronk come face-to-face. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

“He tells me don’t be afraid to pop up on the other side of the field,” Walker said. “I wasn’t getting my hands on the ball as much as I should’ve been in the first half (against the Dragons). We spoke about that at halftime. Things changed pretty quickly in the second half.

“Over the last couple of weeks we’ve been very good as a team. We’ve executed our game plan really well. The first half last week they out-enthused us in terms of running harder than us. It showed on the scoreboard.

“We can’t be doing that in too many games otherwise we won’t get so lucky in the second half. Someone will blow us off the park.”