The Tackle Round 9: Sam Walker’s Roosters career looks all but over

Sam Walker is too good to be languishing in reserve grade, but it’s hard to see the halfback ever cracking a healthy Roosters side. Round 9 LIKES and DISLIKES.

Josh Reynolds and referee Grant Atkins exchange words.

It is hard to see how Sam Walker can stay at the Sydney Roosters and have any hope of playing NRL any time soon unless it is because of injury or suspension.

On a weekend the Roosters’ new halves combination of Luke Keary and Joey Manu took another step in their development that has now landed back-to-back wins against the Dragons and the Warriors, Walker is stuck back in NSW Cup having a tough time of it.

The Roosters’ second grade team went down to the Warriors 36-22 with Walker playing solid (scoring a try) but was hardly the standout.

The thing is, the 20-year-old is just too good not to be playing in the NRL.

You’d imagine a stack of clubs will be watching very closely to see how this develops in the coming weeks.

Sam Walker has been plying his trade in NSW Cup. Picture: Damian Shaw

DISLIKES

GRUB MUST BE PUNISHED FOR REF ACT

Josh Reynolds should have been sin binned immediately for screaming “bulls**t” in referee Grant Atkins’ face against the Dragons.

And he should be facing a fine to send a strong message to every player that this type of behaviour is unacceptable at any level of the game.

It shouldn’t matter if it is kids’ footy in the park or NRL.

Atkins was clearly angry at the Canterbury five-eighth’s reaction after Reynolds’ questioned a penalty that went against him for whacking Dragons fullback Tyrell Sloan in the back of the head.

Reynolds then took it up with Atkins just before the players left the field for halftime.

When Atkins told the veteran playmaker that he thought there was head contact, Reynolds hollered “bulls**t”.

Josh Reynolds’ hit in the back on Tyrell Sloan.

At that point he should have been marched.

That language might be acceptable when your talking like that to mates in a pub.

But it has never been acceptable to talk to any referee that way at any level.

And it sets a terrible example to hear it coming into your homes on live NRL match coverage.

It was also a penalty that was warranted given the replays clearly show Reynolds had made contact to Sloan’s head.

While Dogs fans may have felt hard done by when Corey Waddell was later sin binned for a professional foul, the fact is they should have lost Reynolds earlier.

Take nothing away from what was an incredibly gutsy performance.

But please don’t make excuses for bad behaviour.

HIP DROP CONFUSION NEEDS URGENT TREATMENT

Just as baffling for the fans is this hip drop confusion.

Seriously, it makes absolutely no sense that the Cowboys’ Jeremiah Nanai gets whacked with a grade three charge for his tackle on Sharks’ prop Braden Hamlin-Uele that will rub Nanai out for four matches.

Meanwhile, the Panthers’ Soni Luke then escapes with a grade one charge and a $1000 fine for a tackle that looked like a classic hip drop on the Tigers’ Alex Twal.

Fans are entitled to wonder how there is such a discrepancy, and if having your coach blow up about it after the game has any influence on the charge he will cop.

While no one would ever dare suggest the NRL’s match review panel would be swayed by comments from coaches, for the majority of fans and even the experts it is just so incredibly hard trying to make any sense of the apparent lack of consistency.

It follows the confusion last week when you had Payne Haas not sin binned (which obviously meant the Bunker was fine with the tackle that left Reagan Campbell-Gillard sidelined for an extended period).

Yet Haas was then hit with a grade two charge and a one match ban, while Parramatta’s J’maine Hopgood was sin binned but then escaped with a fine.

Then you see so many more tackles that go unpunished, not even penalised.

It’s all as clear as mud.

Is Jeremiah Nanai in trouble for this tackle on Braden Hamlin-Uele? 🤔

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— NRL on Nine (@NRLonNine) April 27, 2023

PONGA/WALSH GIVE SLATER AN ORIGIN MIGRAINE

Kalyn Ponga and Reece Walsh would have left Billy Slater nursing a migraine in relation to his State of Origin selections following their performances over the weekend.

Ponga looks like his concussion injury is still holding him back after a lacklustre effort in the big loss to Parramatta.

Walsh was also way below his best in the belting the Broncos copped off the Rabbitohs.

The thing is, for Walsh to push out the man of the match in last year’s series decider he needs a big few weeks kicking off against the Sea Eagles on Friday night.

But Ponga looks so far away from his best you wonder if he will even be right when Origin I rolls around on May 31.

It is hard to be too critical of Ponga given the seriousness of his recent injury.

But you just can’t hide from the fact it looked as though he didn’t want to be out there.

The other debate in this is whether the Knights are going to have to consider switching him back to fullback and putting Tyson Gamble at five-eighth.

Fox Sports Stats had Ponga down for 12 tackles and four missed tackles on Friday night, while having six runs for 51m but no tries, no tries assists, no line breaks or line break assists.

Kalyn Ponga dejected after full time. Picture: Getty

JENNINGS ROLLERCOASTER WOULD HAVE BENNETT FEELING WEARY

Tesi Nui’s expected return from a knee injury for Magic Round can’t come soon enough for Wayne Bennett.

Heading into his 900th game as an NRL coach, you’d imagine Bennett would be keen to get a rest from the Robert Jennings rollercoaster after another eventful afternoon in Wagga Wagga.

A week after Jennings gave the Dolphins coaching staff heart palpitations after he stayed on the ground with no one near him to bomb a certain try in the comeback win over the Titans, the rocks and diamonds winger produced so more crazy moments that would have given Bennett nightmares.

You can’t question his effort, and he’s certainly got a nose for a try, but it’s everything else that comes with it that can make it more than a little nerve racking.

COWBOYS HAVE LOST THEIR WAY

Last year the Cowboys went within a try of the grand final.

This year they will be lucky to get within cooee of the top eight.

But their performance against the Sharks was particularly disappointing after they appeared to have turned a corner following the previous win over the Knights.

They didn’t have a forward on the park who cracked 100m, while all up they made 1162 run metres compared to the Sharks’ 1661m.

Then you look at their post contact metres, 313m up against 587m. They also missed 39 tackles to the Sharks’ 13, and gave away eight penalties to two.

It sets up a huge game against the Roosters on Sunday that you’d reckon might have the Cowboys’ finals hopes riding on it.

CRACKDOWN ON ‘PROTECTED SPECIES’ IS MADNESS

The over-protection of NRL playmakers is really getting embarrassing.

I totally understand the need to make sure rival teams don’t go out and target them unnecessarily by putting on late and high shots that can lead to serious injuries.

Protection of NRL playmakers has gone overboard, says Paul Crawley. Picture: NRL Photos

But in the same boat you can’t make them protected species who are totally off limits when it comes to them putting up a kick or digging into the line.

The current crackdown has obviously been a clear directive from the NRL football department to the refs in this whole-of-game approach to make rugby league safer.

But what you don’t want to do is totally tear apart the fabric that made the game so great.

And on that note some of the penalties we are seeing in recent weeks are just taking it way too far.

There were several more over this round.

Two that come straight to mind were when Manly was penalised for Sean Keppie’s shot on Tanah Boyd that was just a terrible call, while Jordan Rapana also had one against the Raiders for pressure on Kodi Nikorima that was a joke.

The NRL really needs to look at this and bring back some common sense, and stop painting the refs as the bad guys for what is obviously a clear crackdown that has just descended into madness.

‘MYSTIFYING’ SEIBOLD CALLS PROMPT FEARS OF BRONCOS DISASTER REPEAT

Anthony Seibold will want to watch out that he doesn’t make the same mistakes that helped bury him in Brisbane.

How would you feel being a Manly fan waking on the weekend and reading that your club was in the process of potentially signing Kyle Flanagan to cover for Daly Cherry-Evans during Origin?

That’s coming on the back of what can only be described as an embarrassing 26-10 loss to the Titans, that again exposed how big a hole the injured Tom Trbojevic leaves in this team.

But the mere suggestion the club is also looking at bringing in young Flanagan, who was dropped by the Bulldogs this week, would have had Sea Eagles fans choking on their Sunday morning breakfast.

We have also read in recent days how Flanagan’s father Shane (who is currently Seibold’s Manly assistant) has now engaged Seibold’s agent Isaac Moses, as Flanagan chases a new head coaching gig.

It is important to make clear what our colleague Phil Rothfield wrote when he broke this story that Flanagan senior has played no part in this potential deal involving his son.

However, how Seibold could possibly see that young Flanagan’s arrival is going to somehow make Manly a better football team given his struggles at the Bulldogs is mystifying.

Let’s not forget the Sea Eagles already have Cooper Johns playing that back up role for the halves, although Johns has been promoted in the pecking order after they sent the ridiculously overpaid Josh Schuster away to work on his fitness and injuries.

Seibold’s time at the Broncos ended in disaster – could his Manly career be headed down a similar path? Picture: AAP

But even if Manly only intends to sign young Flanagan for the rest of this season, surely the club has another youngster in the lower grades who should get the opportunity first.

And what makes this storyline even more intriguing is it follows the recent arrival of another Moses client in Aaron Woods that has also caused more than a few raised eyebrows.

It didn’t help that Woods’ arrival coincided with the release of young gun Manly forwards Viliami Fifita and Alec Tuitavake (who are managed by rival agent Mario Tartak) to the Dragons.

Broncos fans would remember that when Seibold was coaching Brisbane there was also concern expressed by club legend Gorden Tallis among others that Moses was gaining too big an influence over that roster.

Of course, the Sea Eagles now take on the Broncos in Friday night’s Magic Round opening blockbuster.

Seibold has come out over the weekend and said that he doesn’t hold any animosity against his former club.

I’m not so sure the majority of Broncos fans would say the same given the damage done during his short reign.

The Isaac Moses-aligned Aaron Woods was a surprise mid-season signing by Seibold and the Sea Eagles. Picture: Getty

LIKES

MR NICE GUY NICHO NRL’S BEST ADVERTISEMENT

Nicho Hynes is such a joy to watch that you don’t have to be a Sharks fan to cheer for him.

But it goes way beyond his onfield performances to the way Hynes carries himself off the field.

And on a night where the Sharks playmaker won the inaugural Paul Green Medal for man of the match against the Cowboys, Hynes’ touching acknowledgment of the Green family was just so classy and sincere that it made you again think how lucky the game is to have this bloke as one of its leading role models.

It was just a beautiful moment when Hynes gave his jumper and the Paul Green Medal to Green’s kids Emerson and Jed.

Meanwhile, his form on the field just upped the pressure on NSW incumbent five-eighth Jarome Luai following the Panthers’ shock loss to the Tigers.

Every time we think we couldn't possibly love Nicho Hynes more, he goes and does this…… 🥺#UpUppic.twitter.com/KeDANi8hvq

— Cronulla Sharks (@cronullasharks) April 28, 2023

EELS HALVES ANNOUNCE THEY’RE BACK

It hasn’t been the greatest start to the season for last year’s grand finalists, Parramatta.

But the Eels’ win over the disappointing Newcastle might just be the turning of the tide.

While Clint Gutherson’s hat trick stole the spotlight in the seven tries to two demolition, what about the numbers from the halves Mitchell Moses and Dylan Brown?

Moses finished with nine runs for 150m that included a try, eight tackle busts, three line breaks, a line break assist and a try assist.

Brown had 15 runs for 155m including a try, five tackle busts, two line breaks and a try assist.

Those are great stats heading into Magic Round where the Eels play the Titans on Sunday.

TIGERS FINALLY FIND FULLBACK TO REPLACE TEDDY

How could you not feel happy for everyone involved with Wests Tigers after their gutsy upset victory over the Panthers?

It was so good seeing the relief on Luke Brooks’ face, and what about the effort from inspirational skipper Api Koroisau against his former club, while David Klemmer turned back the clock and John Bateman is just such a great competitor.

But the biggest positive to come out of the win for mine was the performance of the rookie fullback Jahream Bula.

On an incredibly tough night given the wet conditions, Bula didn’t put a foot wrong with such a mature and no nonsense performance.

You just wouldn’t imagine it possible for a youngster playing just his second NRL game.

And while he laid on a beautiful pass for one try, it was equally impressive how put himself under those towering Nathan Cleary bombs like it was a walk in the park.

No wonder Tim Sheens says this former schoolboy basketballer from Keebra Park is going to own the Tigers’ No. 1 jumper for years to come.

He looks like the fullback the Tigers have been searching for ever since they lost James Tedesco.

Jahream Bula could be the Tigers’ best fullback since James Tedesco. Picture: Getty

SEA EAGLES SHOULD RUE LETTING FORAN GO

Manly might be regretting letting Kieran Foran go.

The Sea Eagles’ decision to fast track Josh Schuster at Foran’s expense could come back to bite them in the coming months when DCE is on Origin duties.

While you’ve got the young bloke who has been sent back to work on his body, the old bloke plays busted every week.

Yet it’s Foran’s ability to play through the pain barrier that makes him the champion he is.

It’s just another example of club’s always thinking younger is better and not giving veterans the respect they deserve.

Fellow Titan David Fifita has put himself back in the Queensland Origin conversation with another barnstorming display that saw him finish with 19 runs for 170m including a try.

TOM HAS BURGESS BROS BRAGGING RIGHTS

Hasn’t Tom Burgess done himself and his family proud?

In no way do I mean this to sound disrespectful.

But when the Burgess brothers first arrived in the NRL all those years ago it wouldn’t have been unfair to say Tom was probably the least naturally talented.

But here he is today at 31 and the last man standing among famous brothers, while playing the best football of his career this season.

And in the Rabbitohs’ win over the Broncos the giant Englishman was enormous again, charging for 189m from his 18 runs.

That was on a night he also equalled Nathan Merritt for the third most games in a Rabbitohs jumper (219 games).

It puts him behind only John Sutton (339) and Adam Reynolds (236) on the all time list.

Throw in the fact that Tom has also played more internationals for England (36) than Sam (26) and George (17), and you’d have to say that gives him bragging rights in an incredibly talented family.

JAMAL FOGARTY COMES IN CLUTCH!!! 💥

The Raiders get it done against the Dolphins in golden point.

📺WATCH #NRLRaidersDolphins on Ch. 502 or stream via @kayosportshttps://t.co/KU6O1WswuO
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🔢 MATCH CENTRE https://t.co/0v4SgVFrV6pic.twitter.com/PI6Qu1no2r

— Fox League (@FOXNRL) April 29, 2023

RAIDERS PLAYMAKER GOES FROM VILLAIN TO HERO

Jamal Fogarty would be thanking his lucky stars he slotted that golden point field goal to get Canberra home against the Dolphins.

Fogarty gave up a chance to seal the win in the dying minutes but inexcusably ignored a shot at field goal.

Instead Fogarty put up a cross field kick while standing almost in front of the posts.

To Fogarty’s credit, he put it behind him and nailed the match winner.

EELS YOUNG GUNS SHOW FUTURE IS BRIGHT

Parramatta and Newcastle fans should be excited about the future.

The Eels beat Newcastle in the SG Ball final with young halfback Ethan Standers man of the match with a tremendous kicking game that reminds you of Cooper Cronk.

Both teams have some outstanding talent with Newcastle fullback Fletcher Sharpe another standout, while centre Ethan Sanders and second rower Elijah Salesa Ieaumoana are all worth watching out for.

Sanders’ Eels halves partner Joshua Lynn looks another future NRL player along with centres Blaize Talagi and Richard Penisini (younger brother of NRL centre Will), and tough prop Sam Tuivaiti. Brad Arthur’s boy Matthew is also a very good dummy half who gives his halves great service.

Originally published as The Tackle Round 9: Sam Walker’s Roosters career looks all but over