'Just give him an opportunity': Wayne Bennett urges Maroons to hand Sam Walker his Origin debut

Former Queensland coach Wayne Bennett has thrown his support behind the selection of Sam Walker despite concerns raised by a couple of Maroons greats.

The 23-year-old Roosters pivot is considered a leading chance to make his State of Origin debut when coach Billy Slater names his team for game one on Monday morning.

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An injury to Tom Dearden has left Walker fighting it out with the likes of Daly Cherry-Evans, Jake Clifford, and Tanah Boyd to be the halfback in game one, and potentially the entire series.

This week, former Queensland forwards Corey Parker and Sam Thaiday both said they wouldn't pick Walker due to defensive deficiencies.

But Bennett - who returned to coach the Maroons to a famous against-the-odds series win in 2020 - says Slater should put faith in the gun No.7.

"It's not my decision, so I'm happy with whatever decision they make. They've got some options, that's the best part," Bennett said on Thursday.

"Sometimes young men need opportunities. (Walker) plays in the NRL every week, he's been there for four or five years now and plays against these guys every week, so I don't see what the big deal is.

"Just give him the opportunity and we'll find out."

While Walker is a wizard with ball in hand and one of the more creative playmakers in the game, his 78kg frame is one of the smallest in the NRL.

Rival teams routinely run lots of traffic at him and he is officially credited with 25 missed tackles this season, although his tackle efficiency is an admirable 83.7 per cent.

On Wednesday morning, Parker voiced his concerns around Walker's defence, and highlighted one incident from the weekend's win over Gold Coast in particular.

Walker missed a tackle on Titans utility Chris Randall which led to the opening try of the game.

"Can Sam Walker get exposed in defence for Queensland? He could," Parker was quoted in Brisbane's The Courier-Mail.

"Take nothing away from Sam Walker, he is a terrific player but he is a heads-up, instinctive type of halfback. He loves to play what's in front of him, but if you have enough creativity around you, sometimes you just need a halfback to facilitate your role.

"If that's what Billy is after, which is what I am looking at, maybe Sam Walker is not that guy.

"One thing you will always see Billy talk about is habits. It's what you do at training and in games, that's the bread and butter of what you fall back on as a player. If you have lazy habits defensively, Billy will spot that."

Fellow former Queensland forward Thaiday echoed those sentiments when speaking on Wide World of Sports' QLDER.

"The thing that worries me about Sam Walker, they are just going to send bodies at him all day," Thaiday said.

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"He's going to have to have two sets of shoulder pads on, I think, to play State of Origin.

"Will he play State of Origin? One hundred per cent, at some point, because he is too good not to. But at the moment I'm leaning more towards Jake Clifford filling that role."

Ironically, Walker and his Roosters teammate Cherry-Evans will go head to head with North Queensland's Clifford on Saturday afternoon at Magic Round in Brisbane.

The Chooks halfback on Wednesday responded to the comments from Parker and Thaiday, and insisted he will be ready to play Origin if Slater calls on him.

"My hand is always up," Walker said at North Sydney Oval where he helped launch the Beer, Footy, Food festival, to be held this weekend featuring six NSW Cup games at the one venue.

"Not at all (concerned about my defence). I'm working as hard as I can on my football, I'm doing everything I can do in my control at the moment.

"Everyone is going to have their own opinions. I can't control that, all I can do is keep working hard at training and keep doing my best performances on the weekend.

"(Angus Crichton) has made it hard for me at training the last couple years, having that big body I have to handle there. It's been really good, if you can tackle players like that it makes tackling anyone on the weekend a bit easier."

Roosters backrower Crichton is likely to get picked for New South Wales and if so, his job in Origin I could well be to terrorise one of his club teammates in Walker or Cherry-Evans.

While they may be rivals in Origin, Crichton hopes one of them gets picked to play for the Maroons.

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"Obviously I'd back both of them... Sammy is a special player, the way he plays the game not many can," Crichton said.

"Neither of them would look out of place, I'd love to play against one of them.

"Yeah (I run at them at training), definitely, and I always get Sam to help me try to isolate the (opposition) half. It's something I'm probably trying to drill into him even more.

"He knows what I want to do as a player."

Slater has a big decision to make and the Queensland coach will announce his game one team on Monday morning.

Thaiday is tipping Cowboys halfback Clifford to make his Origin debut in place of Dearden.

"It's been a while since we've had options in the halves," Thaiday said on QLDER.

"There are some guys in form at the moment. You look at Sam Walker at the Roosters, he's really playing and the way he's elevated his game having DCE next to him. DCE hasn't ruled himself out either, Jake Clifford up at the Cowboys.

"I thought (Clifford) is having the best season I've ever seen him play, he's playing with such confidence at the moment. And even looking back to earlier in the season when Tom Dearden was still trying to get into the season after last year, I thought Jake Clifford really stood up for that Cowboys team in a few of those games.

"It's so good to have so many options at the end of the day.

"We need a goalkicker too, because Val Holmes came out last week and said he's not playing in the form that warrants a Queensland jersey... we are looking for a goalkicker so (Clifford) is definitely a great option."