Roosters coach Trent Robinson has declared returning halfback Sam Walker is “fit and ready to go” and will play 80 minutes in Friday’s preliminary final after his incredible comeback from injury.
Walker suffered a syndesmosis injury in round 26 against the Dolphins on August 29 but has been named to play just four weeks later against the same opposition in the grand final qualifier.
The Queensland star will wear the No.7 on his back, with Hugo Savala dropping back to the bench after filling in alongside Daly Cherry-Evans.
Walker got through Monday’s training session and will be on the plane with the team on Thursday when they fly up to Brisbane.
“He’s fit and ready to go,” Robinson said.
“Hugo’s been outstanding and he’s ready to go, and the only reason that I would put Sam in is if I knew he was 100 per cent and he’s right.
“He’s moved in lots of directions so far, so another good session today. But it hasn’t actually been that long since he played.
“There are obviously some guys that get out with injury for a long period of time, whereas he didn’t play that long ago and he got moving quite quickly after that op.”
Walker will kick goals on Friday, but Savala is ready to step up if required.
It’s a remarkable return given the doom and gloom when Walker went down with the injury, but he made it clear to Robinson at the time that his target was always this week.
“I think the operation credit goes to both doctors and also physios to the speed of the recovery. And then also the mindset of Sammy, he was pretty clear about what his target was,” the three-time premiership-winning coach said.
“I said to him two weeks ago ‘do you think you’ll be right for the last game of the year?’ and he said ‘I’ll be right for the one before that’.
“And even that surprised me a couple of weeks ago. Do you have the physical capacity and treatment? And he’s done that. And then do you have the mindset to get back ready to play? And he’s got that.”
It’s unclear what role Savala plays given he can fill in at centre, in the halves or at lock forward, but Robinson is confident he will thrive wherever he comes on.
“Hugo is so important to our team and the way that he approaches the game and plays the game. He’ll have his part to play,” he said.
“Both of them said ‘what do you want me to do and what role do you want me to play?’
“There was a selfless act from both of them, and then I made the decision about what I wanted to start the game there.”
Meanwhile, Robinson has addressed concerns over star duo James Tedesco and Cherry-Evans after the pair sat out Monday’s session with the flu.
“They’re pretty good. Daly should get through a fair bit, James will get through a bit today as well. Still on the mend, but that’s the life of an athlete,” he said.
“They’re a little bit crook, but that’s cool. There’s always either injuries or illness or babies or moving or whatever you want to throw up. A bit of our mantra there is we’ll care about you Monday to Friday, but game day we don’t care, get ready to play.”
Originally published as ‘I’ll be right for the one before that’: The Sam Walker vow that convinced the Roosters he would make shock return