Joey Walsh has stayed grounded by giving haircuts to his Manly teammates, but he’s happy to bide his time in reserve grade despite calls from fans for him to be the bigwig in this Sea Eagles team.
The former schoolboys star will turn 20 later this month and is in no rush to replace Luke Brooks or Jamal Fogarty in the halves despite a wonderful display on Sunday against a Panthers side led by champion playmaker Nathan Cleary.
Fogarty missed the game due to a groin injury, with Walsh getting his first start in the NRL as Penrith scored late to win 18-16 to hand interim Manly coach Kieran Foran his first loss.
Fogarty is expected to return for Saturday’s showdown with the Broncos, which means Walsh could go back to NSW Cup unless Foran wants to pick him on the six-man bench, a move that wouldn’t guarantee him any minutes.
“At the moment our starting halves are Jamal and ‘Brooksy’, and those two boys have been playing great,” Foran said.
“With a guy like Joey, if we can see value of a bench spot with him moving forward, there’s a six-man bench there that we could potentially use him on to give us great cover and some spark too when we need it at various times.
“So there are a few options we can look to tinker with as the year goes on, but he knows he’s still really early on in his career and there are parts that he wants to continue to grow and get stronger at.
“If he can play like that for us throughout the year, he’s going to be a pivotal part to where we’re going and what we’re doing. It’s just a matter of trying to fit everyone in, isn’t it?
“I thought he was great. For a young guy to come into this sort of arena up against the team that’s coming first, he was pretty calm throughout the week. He wasn’t going to shirk it and he walked straight towards it tonight.
“I thought defensively he was outstanding. We all know what a tough kid he is, but he put his body in front time and time again. He came up with some really nice plays at certain times of the game and he’ll only get better. He’s a real future player for us.”
Walsh missed a tackle on Blaize Talagi that led to a try, but he didn’t hide on a night he was forced to make 30 tackles.
It felt like Cleary’s debut a decade ago against the Storm when he made 36 tackles in a losing effort, with Penrith coach Ivan Cleary singing his praises after the game and backing him to deal with the outside noise.
“Joey will go through that process where everyone says how good he is, and then in two years’ time, everyone will be telling him how bad he is,” he said.
“He’s got a current coach who knows that story, so I’m sure he’ll help him along.”
Walsh is seen as the long-term future of the club and he’s in no rush to unseat the current halves despite calls from Manly fans for him to get more opportunities after former coach Anthony Seibold chose to play him in reserve grade.
The former rugby prodigy could be a victim of the new six-man bench if nobody in the halves gets injured, which is why he’s happy to gain more experience in NSW Cup.
“It’s been sweet,” Walsh said.
“I don’t hear too much about it away from footy and the club has got some really good resources that look after me, so it’s all good.
“I’m in no rush to be out there. It’s good getting reps in Cup, so that’s definitely helped me get out there today, but there was definitely no rush.
“This year for me, I just want to get as much game time as I can. I’m still getting used to the code, so whatever is best for the team.”
Walsh didn’t do much kicking given he was on his non-preferred side of the field, but it didn’t stop him from producing the highlight play of the night when he fooled Penrith’s defence with a head fake and short ball to put Haumole Olakau’atu into space.
It led to a crucial try in the second half, with Walsh then having the chance to be the hero with a two-point field goal at the death that landed short.
“When you have someone big like Haumole outside, you might as well just give him early ball. Building a combination throughout the week with him helped big time. It was just good to get it out there on the field today,” he said.
“It’s just a bit of luck that it came off out there. We practise all week building a combination and had a few go-to moves. He ran a perfect hole, so it was honestly just get the ball to him and let him do his work.”
Originally published as ‘I’m in no rush’: Joey Walsh earns high praise after stunning performance as Manly reveals next step in career