Slater urges two stars to ‘stand up’ after crushing Roosters blow
Sam Walker‘s season is over in a major blow to the Roosters’ premiership hopes and Billy Slater has pinpointed the two stars who need to stand up in his absence.
The gun halfback left the field mid-way through the second half, having suffered an ankle injury in a tackle from Kulikefu Finefeuiaki in his side’s 26-12 loss against the Dolphins that has placed their top-four spot on shaky ground.
Sam Walker of the Roosters walks off injured. Getty Images
Walker was caught awkwardly in the tackle and scans have since confirmed the Roosters star has suffered a high-grade syndesmosis injury.
The injury will require surgery, ruling Walker out for the rest of 2026.
There were initial concerns that Walker had been caught in a hip drop tackle, but the replay showed Finefeuiaki was already on the ground.
“That’s just unfortunate ... no foul play,” Michael Ennis said on Fox League.
The news compounded an already tricky night for the Tricolours, who sunk to a second-straight loss and ruled them out of the minor premiership.
Hugo Savala moved into the halves upon Walker’s departure, but was unable to steer the side to a comeback alongside Daly Cherry-Evans.
The hosts were provided every opportunity to get back into the match at Allianz Stadium with the Dolphins down to 11 men at one stage.
Tom Flegler had been sent to the sin bin in the 60th minute when it was 26-6 for repeat infringements. His teammate Morgan Knowles was then given the same punishment seven minutes later for a hip drop.
Salesi Foketi crossed for a try to make it 26-12 with the two-man advantage, but substitute winger Tommy Talau bombed a couple of try-scoring opportunities late in the piece as the Dolphins cemented themselves as title contenders.
But the big story is the Roosters, who will now be forced to contend for their first premiership in seven years without their marquee playmaker.
Speaking on Nine’s Sunday Footy Show, Slater admitted that the pressure was now on a couple of Walker’s experienced teammates to fill the void.
“[This will have a] huge impact. He’s one of their go-to players, he’s instrumental in all the good things they do, he is so creative and he’s unpredictable,” Slater said.
“You need your best players on the field at this time of the year. Two weeks ago, the Roosters had won eight in a row and they were flying – how times can change.
Daly Cherry-Evans will now take charge of the Roosters attack. Getty Images
“It’s a tough situation for the Roosters at the moment, because how do they replace him? The two people who really need to stand up for me now are Victor Radley, he plays that ball-playing first receiver role in the middle of the field, he will take pressure off Daly Cherry-Evans, who is the other guy.
“He’s one of the greatest kickers in the game’s history and he will need to stand up. He only does 50 per cent of the kicks – he will have to do 100 per cent now.”
Roosters hooker Reece Robson also left the field in the final nine seconds.
They will meet local rivals South Sydney in round 27 and may need to win that game in order to keep the Sharks out of the top-four.
