Roosters coach Trent Robinson says there’s no chance Sam Walker can renegotiate a contract extension after talks broke down during the week and the club decided to pull their deal.

But the Roosters coach dismissed suggestions Walker could leave immediately and not play out the final year of his current deal in 2027.

Speaking before the World Cup game between England and PNG, Robinson was pressed live on TV by Matt White and journalist Dave Riccio about the Walker fallout.

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He was asked if Roosters chairman Nick Politis may backflip on his decision not to offer Walker a deal for 2028 and beyond.

“No, I mean Nick made that pretty clear. We were pretty clear in those negotiations. We knew what we wanted,” Robinson said.

“Sam did want more time, but don’t forget we started negotiations in the middle of the year, they pushed it back to after the season.

“He’s contracted next year, he’s at the Roosters, he’s just not there from 2028 onwards.

“Sammy’s a Rooster until the end of 2027, and then he’s off from 2028, and that’s his decision.”

He clarified: “I think Sam did want more time, but don’t forget we started middle of the year in negotiations and they pushed it back to after the season and we’re after the season and November 1 is coming.

“And Sam was our biggest contract so therefore a lot of dominoes have to fall after that and other players need to know as well so it was pretty clear in the timeline that we gave him.”

Robinson defended Walker, saying he was well within his rights to reject the Roosters offer of $1.2 million a season, which he felt was a little low.

“You think it’s going to go one way and it doesn’t,” Robinson said.

“We wanted to sign Sam and we couldn’t get it done, and that’s the business side of it, and then probably from Tuesday onwards it’s been a bit frustrating around the commentary around Sam and the way his character is and what he should have done.

“No-one’s on a lifelong contract. He’s signed until the end of next year.

“He’s a great guy.

“He’s really personable, everyone loves him and he just didn’t want to sign for 2028, so it’s pretty simple, and we’ve moved on.

“Sam’s moved on and we’ve moved on. There’s no way to get a deal done after this.”

“That’s the business part, but I didn’t really like the character assessment of everybody during the week.’’

He added: “You have managers for a reason, and there was constant communication there, and we couldn’t get it done, so that’s pretty normal.

Robinson revealed that he and Walker “don’t talk about contracts”.

“We never have, it’s never been a part of our discussion. We talk about footy,” he said.

Originally published as ‘Nick made that pretty clear’: Robbo’s surprise Walker defence and declaration on NRL future