Walker must ‘take lessons and move on’ for Roosters
Jasper Bruce |
Former Queensland captain Daly Cherry-Evans says Sam Walker must move on from State of Origin heartbreak for the sake of the Sydney Roosters’ NRL finals aspirations.
The Roosters were understrength at training on Monday after giving their Origin representatives extra time to recover from last Wednesday’s decider.
Even 26-time Maroon Cherry-Evans could be happy for the Roosters’ NSW contingent James Tedesco, Mark Nawaqanitawase and Reece Robson that the Blues reclaimed the Origin shield against the odds.
“It’s hard not to be proud of all of them, even as a proud Queenslander,” he said.
“I was proud to see the Blues boys play so well.”
Two points clear of Cronulla in fourth, the third-placed Roosters are set to welcome their full Origin cohort back against Melbourne this Friday, bar Tedesco (concussion).
With a league-leading seven players featuring across the series, the Tricolours can ill afford a post-Origin hangover if they are to keep their top-four tilt on track.
No man looms as more important to that push than halfback Walker, who was Queensland’s best player in his first Origin series.
Cherry-Evans urged his halves partner to park the disappointment of coming up short in game three as he prepared to reunite with the Roosters.
“No doubt he’ll be disappointed but he’ll take a lot of great lessons from his first Origin series, I know I certainly did,” the former Queensland halfback said.
“But you do have to take your lessons and move on. We’re at clubland now, we do just get narrow our focus into what’s important for this club.”
Cherry-Evans believed Walker had a “good mentality” for overcoming adversity.
“Sometimes you can really get caught up in the results part of the game. That’s because we care so much, we put so much time into it,” he said.
“If you can learn it at a younger age, to take your lessons and move on quickly, it is a really good trait to have and I do feel like Sammy’s got that.”
The NRL’s oldest active player, Cherry-Evans was first onto the field for Monday’s training session, keen for some extra kicking practice with team staff.
The 37-year-old said he was eager as ever to come into work, though has still not made his mind up about playing into 2027.
“I’m playing with house money,” he said.
“It’s been a hell of a ride. Whenever it ends, I’m going to be so grateful for how long I’ve been able to play this game.
“Right now, the fire’s burning. There’s a great opportunity in front of us.”
The Roosters have won just two of their last 15 clashes against the 10th-placed Storm, the only team outside the top eight to have beaten Cherry-Evans’ side this year.
After a poor start to 2026, Melbourne are two wins out of the eight and kept in the finals hunt by defeating Gold Coast on Sunday.
“They’re a good club with great players, but it’s really simple: You just give them respect like you do to every team,” Cherry-Evans said.
“If you want to respect them more, you want to give them more energy, that obviously I don’t believe ends too well.”
AAP