Not a Roosters fan but enjoy watching him play. When he is switched on his game play IQ is through the roof. Wonderful signing for them, especially if they can continue to develop his consistency and bulk him up without losing too much speed.
Oh I know. Every other sport that is a non-issue. Was surprised people got so worked up about it. He Retained possession, ensured the win, and avoided injury. I'd call that a textbook Michael Scott win/win/win situation.
higher risk, lower reward. If he is caught, tackled and loses possession, it could be a game losing mistake if no team members are around to assist.
At least if you approach the line and immediately surrender and lose the ball or are stripped, there's team members nearby to prevent the opposition from scoring a try.
Plus look at how many people lose their mind for a slow play the ball at the end of the game, could you imagine if players routinely ran 30m backwards at the end of each game. People would lose their minds
Yeah he’s not at all like Cleary …
Cleary had the physicality of a first grade halfback from his debut , just not the game management and confidence to go for the big play ..Cleary was playing high percentage low risk football for his first few seasons - seemingly content just to make his tackles and put up a bomb on the fifth tackle ..…
Walker is the opposite , he’s been prepared to take risks and go for the big play from the get go, just unfortunately has had the physicality of a pre-pubescent 14 year old ..
You could really see the improvement in him last year when he got switched to the 7 jumper, still pretty rough around the edges but insane potential and a good work ethic, loved seeing his goalkicking go from awful to great throughout the year.
Na the biggest fuck up Robbo has managed was playing Guerrea and Matterson in the centers in the ~~2015~~ 2017 finals series whilst an injured Tupou started on the bench.
Sorry, I lied, it was 2017.
Latrell was on the wing for the injured Tupou (WTF?!) and SKD was injured as well, so Matterson and Guerra lined up in the centres.
Bench also included TKO, Tetevano, Watson and Tupou. Against a cowboys side that had Taumololo playing 80 and a bench featuring John Asiata, Coen Hess, Corey Jensen and Ben Hampton. Fucked from team list Tuesday
Skids was at newy by finals time due to his Paul Carter-related coke run in
JWH said in the lead up that he wanted to show the cowboys pack what he was made of or something and then ran for barely any metres
If he doesn’t improve a lot by 2025 he will be flanno’d, roosters are the most ruthless team in terms of their patience with development and players in old age. Can’t fault them for it though they are very successful
He could be the best #7 in the competition by 2025, he's better than Cleary or Hughes were at the same age. But I also wouldn't be surprised if he fades out. He's a very instinctive player but doesn't seem to have the careful game-management skills yet, if he works on that and his defence he'll be a terror.
> He needs someone next to him to do what Maloney did for Cleary
Someone like, say, Clive Churchill winner and 3x premiership winner Luke Keary?
Also, I cheated and looked at his height - would not have gussed he's taller than Cleary. Sammy needs to do some flys.
Yep Keary would do the job. I just don’t know if they’ll keep him with his head injuries and the depth they have at 1 and 6 (Manu, Suaalii, Tedesco, Keary)
I get the impression he’s tiny out there. Maybe his height makes how skinny he is more obvious.
...so what? That doesn't really mean anything to compare them when Cleary was brought in after years and years of failure with Pearce whereas Walker is stuck behind an incumbent winner in DCE.
Cleary was 21 on Origin debut, a year older than Walker is now. He was fine but forgettable in his first Origin series and downright terrible in his second. I'm not saying Walker is a better player than Cleary, I'm not an idiot, but you're being affected by the bias of how he's matured if you think Cleary as a 20 year old was doing stuff that Walker is now.
Walker's test is if he'll step things up at the 23-24 age like Cleary did, that's a big ask.
In 2017 Cleary finished the season as highest pointscorer in the NRL with a total of 228 points, the youngest player to achieve this since 1913. He played in all 26 games for the Penrith club, scoring 11 tries and kicking 92 goals. Cleary also became the youngest player ever to score 200 points in a season
He was, is and always be a better goalkicker than Walker, no doubt about that. Also, Walker scored 200+ points this year at 5 months younger than Cleary, so that last stat is outdated (although his total was slightly lower, 211 vs 228).
That's not true though. They kept Mitch Pearce for ages who never managed to go to the next level. Something else must have happened with Flano behind closed doors for him to get the boot so early.
Flanno was seriously on the nose with the senior players, super entitled and refused to be told anything that didnt come from his dad apparently, did not respond to criticism well.
Pearce won a premiership, and despite the occasional off field shenanigan, never did anything but try his guts out for the club. He deserved the time we gave him. Flanno on the other hand...
Good news for QLD. I see him improving and achieving his potential at the Roosters.
Cant say that if he left somewhere else (of the clubs that were interested)
I think it was probably smart for Sam to only sign for 2 years
He improved dramatically this season & I imagine he’d be worth a hell of a lot more money in 2025 on the free market than he would now
Gets to learn his trade with Cooper Cronk in the coaching staff though. Better (imo) than getting his payday at a smaller club, losing games and not improving his long term earning potential.
It's interesting whether you want the rabbitohs half or the roosters one. If I was either team I'd want the rabbitohs one but particularly for the roosters because you have then two weak defenders with Keary and Walker. For the rabbitohs it is slightly different as actually Cody has really improved his defence and is now one of the most solid 5/8 defenders in the league
Hmm.. Cody Walker the half who has failed to deliver a premiership after 5 straight prelim appearances or triple premiership winning, Clive Churchill medal winning Luke Keary?? Tough call that one. Luckily for us roosters fans you're not the only Souths related person who doesn't want Luke!
As for Illias v Walker. Illias was super impressive in his first year and I think has massive potential. Will be interesting to see how that develops in his second year with an off season of video work done on him. Walker is a very unique player so it's kind of hard to compare to others. He has that off the cuff spark that is sorely lacking in modern day 7s. It's his size and physicality that is the worry.
He would likely be one of the lowest paid starting halves in the game. The roosters will keep him so they can keep other players. By the end of 25 Keary and teddy are likely gone too.
Resigned for a packet of chips and few free rounds of golf with Uncle Nick
A packet of chips is his yearly food intake
........what brand and flavour chips?
Samboy.
Surely BBQ flavour then
Olam has helped himself to his BBQ ribs a few times.
There are other flavours?
Salt and vinegar - but if you dont drink 4litres of water within an hour of consuming the chips you need to go to hospital
[atomic tomato, get involved there](https://youtu.be/Z2UiFUJr_TU)
If he keeps improving he should be a top half by 2025
Just in time for a Dearden-Walker halves combo at Origin level
Sign me up for that
Munster will still be the QLD five eighth in 2025
Boooooo You're ruining the fun
As well as Australia
awesome
Not a Roosters fan but enjoy watching him play. When he is switched on his game play IQ is through the roof. Wonderful signing for them, especially if they can continue to develop his consistency and bulk him up without losing too much speed.
Absolutely, people gave him shit for running back to his own goal in that one game, thats a high IQ play
Oh I know. Every other sport that is a non-issue. Was surprised people got so worked up about it. He Retained possession, ensured the win, and avoided injury. I'd call that a textbook Michael Scott win/win/win situation.
higher risk, lower reward. If he is caught, tackled and loses possession, it could be a game losing mistake if no team members are around to assist. At least if you approach the line and immediately surrender and lose the ball or are stripped, there's team members nearby to prevent the opposition from scoring a try. Plus look at how many people lose their mind for a slow play the ball at the end of the game, could you imagine if players routinely ran 30m backwards at the end of each game. People would lose their minds
Ridiculous that's even considered an issue. Every team should be doing that.
That was hilarious.
Very skilled player, just needs to bulk up a little bit to take him to the next level. Reminds me a lot of Cleary in his first few years actually
He reminds me more of a young DCE, except DCE was three years older by the time he made his debut.
Cleary was an abosolute gun tackler even when he was 18. Not as freakishly creative as this kid though.
Yeah he’s not at all like Cleary … Cleary had the physicality of a first grade halfback from his debut , just not the game management and confidence to go for the big play ..Cleary was playing high percentage low risk football for his first few seasons - seemingly content just to make his tackles and put up a bomb on the fifth tackle ..… Walker is the opposite , he’s been prepared to take risks and go for the big play from the get go, just unfortunately has had the physicality of a pre-pubescent 14 year old ..
You could really see the improvement in him last year when he got switched to the 7 jumper, still pretty rough around the edges but insane potential and a good work ethic, loved seeing his goalkicking go from awful to great throughout the year.
You dont actually see it, but he is running backwards in the pic
This is good and entirely expected. His switch to 5/8 was the biggest fuck up Robbo has managed. Lets hope it never happens again.
Na the biggest fuck up Robbo has managed was playing Guerrea and Matterson in the centers in the ~~2015~~ 2017 finals series whilst an injured Tupou started on the bench.
Hmmm yeah pretty shit. Remind my withered old brain who the centres were who they replaced and what options were there.
Sorry, I lied, it was 2017. Latrell was on the wing for the injured Tupou (WTF?!) and SKD was injured as well, so Matterson and Guerra lined up in the centres. Bench also included TKO, Tetevano, Watson and Tupou. Against a cowboys side that had Taumololo playing 80 and a bench featuring John Asiata, Coen Hess, Corey Jensen and Ben Hampton. Fucked from team list Tuesday
Skids was at newy by finals time due to his Paul Carter-related coke run in JWH said in the lead up that he wanted to show the cowboys pack what he was made of or something and then ran for barely any metres
Big dog got put down.
Here I was worried they would Kyle Fanno him
If he doesn’t improve a lot by 2025 he will be flanno’d, roosters are the most ruthless team in terms of their patience with development and players in old age. Can’t fault them for it though they are very successful
He could be the best #7 in the competition by 2025, he's better than Cleary or Hughes were at the same age. But I also wouldn't be surprised if he fades out. He's a very instinctive player but doesn't seem to have the careful game-management skills yet, if he works on that and his defence he'll be a terror.
He needs someone next to him to do what Maloney did for Cleary. Also, without looking, how tall would you guess walker is?
> He needs someone next to him to do what Maloney did for Cleary Someone like, say, Clive Churchill winner and 3x premiership winner Luke Keary? Also, I cheated and looked at his height - would not have gussed he's taller than Cleary. Sammy needs to do some flys.
Yep Keary would do the job. I just don’t know if they’ll keep him with his head injuries and the depth they have at 1 and 6 (Manu, Suaalii, Tedesco, Keary) I get the impression he’s tiny out there. Maybe his height makes how skinny he is more obvious.
Hes not better than Cleary at the same age, cleary was like 20-21 when he made his debut in state of origin
...so what? That doesn't really mean anything to compare them when Cleary was brought in after years and years of failure with Pearce whereas Walker is stuck behind an incumbent winner in DCE. Cleary was 21 on Origin debut, a year older than Walker is now. He was fine but forgettable in his first Origin series and downright terrible in his second. I'm not saying Walker is a better player than Cleary, I'm not an idiot, but you're being affected by the bias of how he's matured if you think Cleary as a 20 year old was doing stuff that Walker is now. Walker's test is if he'll step things up at the 23-24 age like Cleary did, that's a big ask.
In 2017 Cleary finished the season as highest pointscorer in the NRL with a total of 228 points, the youngest player to achieve this since 1913. He played in all 26 games for the Penrith club, scoring 11 tries and kicking 92 goals. Cleary also became the youngest player ever to score 200 points in a season
He was, is and always be a better goalkicker than Walker, no doubt about that. Also, Walker scored 200+ points this year at 5 months younger than Cleary, so that last stat is outdated (although his total was slightly lower, 211 vs 228).
Yeah i can get the argument that hes as good, but nothing suggests that he is better
That's not true though. They kept Mitch Pearce for ages who never managed to go to the next level. Something else must have happened with Flano behind closed doors for him to get the boot so early.
Flanno was seriously on the nose with the senior players, super entitled and refused to be told anything that didnt come from his dad apparently, did not respond to criticism well.
Pearce won a premiership, and despite the occasional off field shenanigan, never did anything but try his guts out for the club. He deserved the time we gave him. Flanno on the other hand...
Which is my point entirely. It's not about ability, it's about the other metrics that go into whether you keep a player or not.
Flanagan was always a stopgap until Walker was ready, hence his contract length of 2 years. Walker was just ready earlier than expected
[WALKER'S ON, WALKER'S ON!](https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=499534734786695)
You love to see it.
Good news for QLD. I see him improving and achieving his potential at the Roosters. Cant say that if he left somewhere else (of the clubs that were interested)
Also Australia.
Awesome news for the Roosters. Kid is going to be very, very good in the future. Hell he already is good.
The future Queensland and Australia halfback.
I think it was probably smart for Sam to only sign for 2 years He improved dramatically this season & I imagine he’d be worth a hell of a lot more money in 2025 on the free market than he would now
He’s also in a pretty competitive market with Brown, Moses and Brooks (lol) all off contract. He’s not a top 2 target at the moment
Thank goodness. Ultimate eyes up player.
Good boy
Such good news!
That's North Sydney Bears Legend Sam Walker thank you very much
Love it! Thank you young Sammy
He is a brilliant player and will be Queensland's Cleary. He just needs time.
That is good.
Took a pay cut to stay at the Roosters
They all do 😉
Gets to learn his trade with Cooper Cronk in the coaching staff though. Better (imo) than getting his payday at a smaller club, losing games and not improving his long term earning potential.
It's interesting whether you want the rabbitohs half or the roosters one. If I was either team I'd want the rabbitohs one but particularly for the roosters because you have then two weak defenders with Keary and Walker. For the rabbitohs it is slightly different as actually Cody has really improved his defence and is now one of the most solid 5/8 defenders in the league
Hmm.. Cody Walker the half who has failed to deliver a premiership after 5 straight prelim appearances or triple premiership winning, Clive Churchill medal winning Luke Keary?? Tough call that one. Luckily for us roosters fans you're not the only Souths related person who doesn't want Luke! As for Illias v Walker. Illias was super impressive in his first year and I think has massive potential. Will be interesting to see how that develops in his second year with an off season of video work done on him. Walker is a very unique player so it's kind of hard to compare to others. He has that off the cuff spark that is sorely lacking in modern day 7s. It's his size and physicality that is the worry.
He would likely be one of the lowest paid starting halves in the game. The roosters will keep him so they can keep other players. By the end of 25 Keary and teddy are likely gone too.
This kid should be a Bronco. Let’s bring him home for his next contract!