Sam Walker seems to the manor born in the NRL. The son of a former first grader and the nephew of two more, he had every advantage in genetics to make it to the top in rugby league, but that can only take you so far.
As he celebrated his 50th game for the Roosters – before his 21st birthday, too – his coach, Trent Robinson identified his greatest characteristic as his chutzpah.
“He doesn’t lack confidence,” said the Roosters boss. “That’s 50 games at 20 years old, he’s still got until June. There’s a fair bit of time left at 20 and he’s racked up 50 games. He’s played a lot in those, he’s learned on the job. He didn’t get to learn in reserve grade because he’s a good player.
Robbo has had to read him the riot act on several occasions, especially when his sometimes extravagant style of play has got ahead of him.
But for a smaller body surrounded by monsters in the middle at an age when most are still in school, an ability to make mistakes and forget them instantly, and to get smashed and get up, is why he can look so assured so young.
“We’ve been supportive and harsh on him, and held a mirror up,” said Robinson. “He’s a punter, so he keeps going. That’s what you want. That’s 50 games and 150 more to keep learning and improving.
“You want them to think from Monday to Friday, to reflect and improve, because you want that bit of humility to learn the role a bit more, and then you want the courage to play on the weekend. Sammy doing both of those, which is really good.”
The man himself was chuffed to have reached it to 50 not out, though in the sheds after the Chooks’s win over Parra, he said it had not sunk in.
“I’ve got time now to reflect on it, but before, it was just another game,” he said. It’s come quicker than I expected when I first debuted. It’s awesome, I’m stoked. I’m sure that my family is pretty proud as well.
“I have a lot of learnings to go still and Robbo gets into me about my learnings. I’m still learning how my game, how I want to play and how my game will complement the way the Roosters play.”
On asked his biggest learning, the halfback made the obvious joke.
“Probably to tackle!” he laughed. “Also my role as a halfback when I came in I was very free and doing a fair bit, running about like a headless chook.
“But I’ve learned a bit of game control and what the team needs in certain situations. I’m still going but it’s a good step.
“It would have been nice to get a few try assists off the back of them! It’s nice to get a few in, I probably lacked a bit of that last year.”
One of his trademarks was on full display against the Eels: the harbour bridge pass. Walker threw three in the first fifteen minutes as the Roosters set out to exploit two consecutive sin bins that left the Parra edge a man light.
“It would have been nice to get a few try assists off the back of them!” he joked. “It’s nice to get a few in, I probably lacked a bit of that last year.
“In my first year, I threw a lot more than last year, and that was the way I was trying to play. I was doing more of the halfback role, and finding that balance between the halfback and my freedom as well.
“It’s clear where you want to attack when they lose a player on the edge, but you have an idea where want to go and then you let your eyes take over from there.”
When it went back to 13-on-13, they struck through the middle with Walker grabbing an assist for Luke Keary after a clever dart from new hooker Brandon Smith.
“He’s going really good,” said Walker of the Cheese. “He’s clear with what he wants and we’re clear in the way that we want to play as well. He brings that X factor to our team and I’m excited to see where we’ll head.
“For a chunk of the game it felt great. Later on we lacked a little, but we’re getting there. It’s a process. We’re trying to learn the way he’s playing as well. It’s a feel thing, I guess. We have a way that we want to play and each game will vary based on what teams offer us.
“We’re still building. Last year we were on a similar path but we weren’t getting the wins, and it probably cost us towards the end. This year, it’s really good to get those wins while we’re still learning the way that we want to play.
“Last year it was getting used to everyone clicking again, so this year we can take our learnings and move straight on without having too much change. We’re definitely ahead of where we were last year.”
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