Sam Walker has always been a halfback who excels at the big plays.
Match-winning field goals in finals matches? He’s got two of them.
Long cut out passes that seem to hang in the air forever before landing just where they need to? He’s your man.
An attacking kick early in the tackle count? You know he’ll pull the trigger, no questions asked.
When he plays fast and straight and his instincts meet with his training, wonderful things can happen.
In the Roosters’ 60-18 Anzac Day win over St George Illawarra there was just such a moment before half-time, an audacious chip and chase inside the red zone should have ended with Walker scoring a brilliant try that blew the game wide open.
It didn’t quite happen that way – Dragons utility Nu Brown took out Walker’s legs and a penalty try was awarded instead – but it was still a flash that shows everything about the young halfback’s game that can be exhilarating.
He was in that kind of mood all day as the Roosters looked a little more like the team they’re supposed to be. They were fast and powerful and direct in a way they’ve only occasionally been in 2024.
Walker was at the heart of so much they did well. It wasn’t just the penalty try or the 10 goals from as many attempts, or the sharp kicks for Joseph Manu and Nat Butcher’s tries or even the three drop outs he forced, although those were all hallmarks of the Tricolours’ success.
It was also how he kept the side’s attack straight and direct, a crucial thing for the Roosters if they’re to unlock their many gifts, and the way he played with tremendous energy, especially in defence.
For all his attacking sharpness, coach Trent Robinson will no doubt highlight a pair of tackles just before half-time, one in cover on Tyrell Sloan and a second on Kyle Flanagan moments later to force a turnover, during the week.
It shouldn’t be a surprise to see Walker do all these things and look so dangerous and seem as though the only limits on what he can do with the ball is his own imagination.
It’s been that way since his early days in first grade but maintaining those moments has not always been easy for Walker. You can trace the line of his career and its peaks and valleys through these Anzac Day games.
His first one came in just his fourth NRL game back in 2021 and he was breathtaking, scoring a try and setting up five more in a 34-10 rout.
The following year he was outfoxed by the wily Ben Hunt, a player of imperfect craft but indomitable spirit, as the highly-fancied Roosters short-circuited in a 14-12 boilover.
Last season he didn’t even play in main game – he was running around at Wentworth Park for the Tricolours’ NSW Cup side as part of a stint in reserve grade.
None of this inconsistency is fatal for Walker. It’s not even a problem. Most young halves go through similar patterns because development is rarely a linear process.
Even though he’s in his fourth year of first grade he’s still just 21. There is still so much time and really, he’s only just getting started.
Halfbacks are hitting their prime later and later in their careers, which makes sense if you stop seeing them as Messiahs and more as men – anything gets easier the more often you do it, even steering rugby league teams around the park.
The problem is there is no time to wait. The Roosters are a side seemingly built for perpetual success. Their star power demands results now – not tomorrow, not next year, now.
They were imposing against the Dragons, as they have been on occasions this year, but there have been several lapses through their campaign to the point the pressure was starting to build a little.
If you follow some wonky rugby league logic you can twist their inconsistency into a measure of Walker’s importance to the team.
He missed most of the match against the Bulldogs due to an HIA, which also kept him out of last week’s loss to Melbourne. This game was his return and the team looked far better for his presence.
The team faces the same challenge as their halfback – how do they master their many gifts, how do they channel the verve they can play with and their penchant for moments of brilliance into something sustainable and repeatable?
Can Walker have a game with no big plays but a lot of small ones? The kind of game where there’s no magic on the highlight reel but where his fingerprints are all around? He can skin a team alive if he’s got a sharp knife, can he pull them apart if his blade loses it’s edge?
For a player as young as Walker, that’s part of growing up. For an entire side, it can be maddening process. The root of both thoughts is the same – how can you see what they did against the Dragons and not want more of it?
A win of this magnitude in this style will send the horses running because sometimes it feels as though the entire league is waiting for the Roosters to return to the heights they enjoyed in their premiership years of 2018 and 2019.
But this has happened before, for Walker and his side. There have been plenty of times over the past four seasons when they have enjoyed wins just like this one, where Walker seems limitless and his team flies along with him, only for things to fall flat shortly thereafter.
Next week the Roosters head to Brisbane to take on the Broncos, one of the competition’s true giants. For the Roosters, and Walker, to contend with the league’s stand-out teams they’ll need to apply all their skill and power and spirit and they’ll need to do it for every single minute.
It’s a true test of their mettle, a rematch of their season opener in Las Vegas where the Roosters scored an impressive win they’ve failed to match since and it wasn’t big plays that got it done, for Walker or his side, but a whole lot of little ones.
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