{"id":650273,"date":"2026-05-05T02:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T02:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/650273\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T02:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T02:48:09","slug":"joey-walshs-manly-sea-eagles-future-as-november-1-contract-decision-looms-kieran-forsan-halves-plan-jamal-fogarty-and-luke-brooks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/650273\/","title":{"rendered":"Joey Walsh\u2019s Manly Sea Eagles future as November 1 contract decision looms, Kieran Forsan halves plan, Jamal Fogarty and Luke Brooks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The dream debut is now under his belt, now Manly face a bigger problem around talented playmaker Joey Walsh: how to retain him.<\/p>\n<p>Walsh is arguably the hottest playmaking prospect off-contract from November 1 this year, and following his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/nrl\/nrl-premiership\/nrl-2026-live-penrith-panthers-vs-manly-sea-eagles-score-joey-walsh-kieran-foran-nathan-cleary\/news-story\/4644e40821a7da0c80987debe468321d\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">head-turning debut<\/a> for the Sea Eagles against Penrith on Sunday, has only increased his stocks on the open market. <\/p>\n<p>Watch every game of every round of the NRL Premiership LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776909012_441_poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Now, Manly need to figure out a way to keep Walsh in their NRL rotation \u2013 with the young gun already mooted as a perfect target for the likes of St George Illawarra. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the issue for them is that they\u2019ve got to show him there\u2019s a path to first grade, because he\u2019s a November 1 guy and after seeing that, there\u2019s going to be clubs knocking on his door,\u201d the Daily Telegraph\u2019s Brent Read said on NRL 360 on Monday night. <\/p>\n<p>Walsh is patiently waiting in the wings at Manly, plying his trade in the club\u2019s NSW Cup side behind established NRL playmakers Luke Brooks and Jamal Fogarty. <\/p>\n<p>The 19-year-old debuted on Sunday after Fogarty was ruled out with a groin injury. He took the opportunity with both hands, offering plenty of exceptional touches including a stunning no-look pass that fooled the Panthers\u2019 experienced defence. <\/p>\n<p>Even so, Fogarty is expected to return for Saturday\u2019s showdown with the Broncos \u2013 meaning Walsh could go back to NSW Cup or be picked on Manly\u2019s six-man bench. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love the way he went. I\u2019ve been calling on him to play for a while now. I\u2019ve been saying it for months, and I thought they should have been playing him long ago,\u201d NRL 360 host Braith Anasta said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know it\u2019s difficult, I know he\u2019s a young kid and some people said he might not be ready \u2013 I disagreed. They\u2019ve got Fogarty doing a magnificent job there too. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat I love is that he plays what he sees right in front of him. He\u2019s a kid and that\u2019s what you want to see. When you play on the advantage line off a quick play-the-ball and you\u2019re not pre-empting plays or overthinking, you\u2019ve got an advantage in today\u2019s game.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/nrl\/nrl-premiership\/nrl-2026-live-penrith-panthers-vs-manly-sea-eagles-score-joey-walsh-kieran-foran-nathan-cleary\/news-story\/4644e40821a7da0c80987debe468321d\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">\u2018Top shelf ball-playing from Walsh\u2019: Manly rookie stuns legend<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/nrl\/nrl-premiership\/nrl-2026-why-havent-manly-sea-eagles-signed-kieran-foran-as-coach-brad-arthur-matt-ballin-rival-clubs-circle-round-10\/news-story\/12c6753d8b8d6d2be354abfae073670a\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">\u2018Could he do what he\u2019s done\u2019? Who else is in Manly frame as Foran move baffles<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/nrl\/nrl-premiership\/nrl-2026-the-most-impressive-players-in-reserve-grade-nsw-and-queensland-cup-stats-jonah-pezet-returns-for-eels\/news-story\/4926e6cdfce209ff8517a5f2ae92c1e8\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Axed recruit\u2019s big statement; awkward Eels dilemma as Dogs star stuns: Ressies Wrap<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Joey Walsh delivered a memorable debut for Manly. Picture: NRL ImagerySource: Supplied<\/p>\n<p>Manly will name their side on Tuesday for the Broncos clash, and Foran is being encouraged to consider Walsh on the bench, parachuting him into the five-eighth spot mid-match and moving incumbent Luke Brooks into hooker. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s refreshing to see a kid like him come in and play the way that he did. I think he should be 14, I think they should keep him in the squad,\u201d Anasta said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou could move Brooks to nine during the game if you had to \u2013 and Brooksy\u2019s going great, so I\u2019m not putting him down or anything like that. It\u2019s an option you could have, move him to nine at some point. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt gives them a bit out of dummy-half as well. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would leave Brooksy and Fogarty, they\u2019ve done a great job over the past four weeks. You give them first shot over the next two or three weeks, but you know they\u2019ve got Joey now if they need him.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Walsh hasn\u2019t spoken about his NRL intentions beyond 2026 but insists he is happy to play the waiting game in NSW Cup this season. <\/p>\n<p>How do Manly manage Joey Walsh? | 02:32<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m in no rush to be out there,\u201d he told NCA Newswire after his debut. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s good getting reps in Cup, so that\u2019s definitely helped me get out there today, but there was definitely no rush. <\/p>\n<p>\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<p>Foran reiterated after Sunday\u2019s loss that Fogarty and Brooks would remain Manly\u2019s first-choice playmaking options. Fogarty signed to the club from Canberra this year, while Brooks is contracted at Manly until the end of 2027. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the moment our starting halves are Jamal and Brooksy, and those two boys have been playing great,\u201d Foran said. <\/p>\n<p>\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<p>Walsh shows his class to set up try | 00:21<\/p>\n<p>\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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Adding to the looming squeeze at Manly is the presence of another young gun playmaker in Onitoni Large, 18, who will also be pushing for regular NRL action sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The dream debut is now under his belt, now Manly face a bigger problem around talented playmaker Joey&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":650274,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[246132,64,63,689,7292,18194,2667,12934,314455,17343,218708,314451,12099,313540,314452,39236,314450,4518,4484,314456,4459,314029,4601,314453,314454,677,4585,247041,263600,85,4563,314449,63140,313567],"class_list":["post-650273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-advantage-line","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-capital-territory","tag-braith-anasta","tag-canberra","tag-contract-decision","tag-contract-dilemma","tag-daily-telegraph","tag-dream-debut","tag-first-choice-playmaking-options","tag-game-time","tag-genius-pass","tag-getting-reps","tag-groin-injury","tag-halves-plan","tag-jamal-fogarty","tag-kieran-foran","tag-looming-squeeze","tag-luke-brooks","tag-manage-joey","tag-manly-sea-eagles","tag-meaning-walsh","tag-move-baffles","tag-oceania","tag-panel-debate","tag-panthers-v","tag-six-man-bench","tag-sports","tag-st-george-illawarra-dragons","tag-stunning-no-look-pass","tag-talented-playmaker","tag-young-diamonds"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}