Sam Walker sends ominous warning ahead of State of Origin decider
One of the more mature and polished performances of Sam Walker’s career has all but extinguished the Brisbane Broncos’ hopes of a premiership defense and provided an ominous State of Origin warning ahead of the series’ decider.
The Sydney Roosters star masterfully dominated the reigning champions’ 24-18 win at Suncorp Stadium, inflicting a seventh successive defeat on their opponents.
Walker never overplayed his hand, choosing the moments to inject himself wisely and making the most of them. In what proved to be an arm wrestle of a contest, the Queensland Maroons sensation kicked decisively, allowing full-back James Tedesco to take the lead in the finishing touches, while Blues full-backs provided center Hugo Savala with serve for a pair of tries to wing Billy Smith.
Even Walker’s decision to float down the field and drop it back down for his No. 1 tent paid off; The Roosters skipper placed a perfect tackle for Robert Toia to dive in to score.
Come the second half and Walker showed why he trusts Maroons coach Billy Slater; After crossing the line and taking the lead, he forced play off and embarked on a desperate chase from Tom Duffy to prevent Tedesco from scoring.
His assist to Mark Nawaqanitawase on half-time was then denied by some wonderful cover work from Josiah Karapani, but he hasn’t finished scripting it yet.
Under pressure from game management, Walker’s late attack on Tedesco put Sydney in the lead, with the 23-year-old then scoring with an inside brace to break the 16-point deadlock.
Slater has long said that the halfback needs to be a running threat to succeed in the modern game, and Walker epitomized that on Friday night – finishing with 117 yards, leaving the Broncos defense with constant problems to solve.
Walker has already dominated the Origin arena; his first two matches this year, emerging as man of the match in the second match; the honor was only denied in the series opener when the Blues came back with Kalyn Ponga sent off.
But his performance in Brisbane has undoubtedly given NSW coach Laurie Daley plenty to think about, knowing the slightly but confident maestro has truly come into his own.
But Walker’s Roosters and Maroons team-mate Lindsay Collins will face a tense wait before the teams are named for the third leg on Monday; The prop has been disabled with a concussion and can no longer complete contact practice until the weekend before next Wednesday’s shootout due to the game’s concussion protocols.
Broncos’ season is almost over
They were brave and missing some of their biggest names but this loss all but ends the Broncos’ hopes of being seen as premiership contenders in 2026.
While there were some hopeful signs in defending their line, ultimately they had too much work to do; Payne Haas (207 running metres) was the only man who looked capable of getting them off their own goal line and into some sort of striking position.
Although it took just five minutes for Smith to score, Brisbane responded as the left-side combination of Duffy and Brendan Piakura came to life – the latter offering a late offload for his eighth five-a-side goal.
Duffy soon returned the favor with a deft tackle for the attacking back-rower to pounce on, but although a strong rush and finish from Grant Anderson gave the Broncos the lead at half-time, they failed to pose much of a threat after the break.
Haas, who took over as captain in the absence of the injured Adam Reynolds and Pat Carrigan, proved a lone wolf in the engine room after Xavier Willison was ruled out following a head injury assessment in which Sydney dominated with 64 per cent.
Brisbane desperately needed full-back Reece Walsh to produce a moment of unleashing magic, but the speedy No.1 could not muster it; He ran only 97 meters throughout the night and failed to get over the line.
The effort could not be faulted as it completed 33 of 39 sets, but the result could still leave the Broncos four wins out of the top eight should Manly beat Melbourne on Saturday night.
There is a Broncos star, but can Piakura develop into that star?
Piakura has shown signs of becoming one of the NRL’s breakthrough forwards, but flaws in his game are preventing him from realizing that potential.
The line that Duffy ran to take his try was beautiful, with the former Maroons team member at times hitting harder than anyone else in defence.
But despite running 110 metres, his nine missed tackles and two errors will undoubtedly frustrate coach Michael Maguire, although there is some leeway given the wet conditions.
Piakura have a damaging prospect, but need to put it all together to really push his way to higher honours, and give his side the X-factor they desperately need right now.
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