Joey Walsh has stayed grounded by giving haircuts to his Manly teammates, but he\u2019s happy to bide his time in reserve grade despite calls from fans for him to be the bigwig in this Sea Eagles team.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Fogarty is expected to return for Saturday\u2019s 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\u2019t guarantee him any minutes. <\/p>\n
\u201cAt the moment our starting halves are Jamal and \u2018Brooksy\u2019, and those two boys have been playing great,\u201d Foran said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWith a guy like Joey, if we can see value of a bench spot with him moving forward, there\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo there are a few options we can look to tinker with as the year goes on, but he knows he\u2019s still really early on in his career and there are parts that he wants to continue to grow and get stronger at.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he can play like that for us throughout the year, he\u2019s going to be a pivotal part to where we\u2019re going and what we\u2019re doing. It\u2019s just a matter of trying to fit everyone in, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought he was great. For a young guy to come into this sort of arena up against the team that\u2019s coming first, he was pretty calm throughout the week. He wasn\u2019t going to shirk it and he walked straight towards it tonight. <\/p>\n
\u201cI 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\u2019ll only get better. He\u2019s a real future player for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walsh missed a tackle on Blaize Talagi that led to a try, but he didn\u2019t hide on a night he was forced to make 30 tackles.<\/p>\n
It felt like Cleary\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cJoey will go through that process where everyone says how good he is, and then in two years\u2019 time, everyone will be telling him how bad he is,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got a current coach who knows that story, so I\u2019m sure he\u2019ll help him along.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walsh is seen as the long-term future of the club and he\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n
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\u2019s happy to gain more experience in NSW Cup. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been sweet,\u201d Walsh said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t hear too much about it away from footy and the club has got some really good resources that look after me, so it\u2019s all good. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m in no rush to be out there. It\u2019s good getting reps in Cup, so that\u2019s definitely helped me get out there today, but there was definitely no rush.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year for me, I just want to get as much game time as I can. I\u2019m still getting used to the code, so whatever is best for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walsh didn\u2019t do much kicking given he was on his non-preferred side of the field, but it didn\u2019t stop him from producing the highlight play of the night when he fooled Penrith\u2019s defence with a head fake and short ball to put Haumole Olakau\u2019atu into space.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n