{"id":875190,"date":"2026-08-31T16:26:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T16:26:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/875190\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T16:26:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T16:26:21","slug":"its-a-race-why-tantalising-contract-showdown-could-develop-after-unfortunate-walker-twist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/875190\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s a race\u2019: Why tantalising contract showdown could develop after unfortunate Walker twist"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sam Walker\u2019s season-ending ankle injury has complicated his contract situation but led to one NRL great to float a potential scenario which could leave the Roosters high and dry. <\/p>\n<p>Walker recently turned down a massive contract extension offer from the Roosters, instead wanting to focus on the club\u2019s run to the finals.<\/p>\n<p>Watch every game of every round of the Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kayosports.com.au\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/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\/08\/1788193581_17_poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>In an unfortunate twist, Walker will miss several weeks with an ankle injury suffered on Saturday against the Dolphins.<\/p>\n<p>It now begs the question whether it\u2019ll have any impact on what deal he could sign.<\/p>\n<p>CODE Sports journalist Brent Read believes that Walker shouldn\u2019t \u201close out\u201d because of his injury setback. In fact, it could give the playmaker more \u201cleverage\u201d in negotiations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought they were a little bit unders to start and I still believe they are. That hasn\u2019t changed even though Sam is out,\u201d Read said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe potential now is that they capitulate in the finals, then his price goes up potentially goes up as a result of that. Doesn\u2019t that show how important he is to them and it gives him more leverage?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think Sam loses out here.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>While the Roosters are the favourites to keep Walker, other clubs have been linked to the half, notably PNG.<\/p>\n<p>Nathan Cleary remains the Chiefs\u2019 top target with the Panthers superstar to hit free agency. But NRL360 host Braith Anasta wonders if Walker makes a bold move to leave the Chooks and lock down a \u201conce-in-a-lifetime\u201d tax-free deal.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Broncos just want the off season!&#8221; | 07:27<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe hear all this talk about Nathan and PNG and we\u2019ve heard the Chiefs are interested in Sam and want one of them at the club but if either one of them want to go there, it\u2019s a race on,\u201d Anasta said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoes Sam think now that \u2018the Roosters won\u2019t budge, I think I\u2019m worth more. If I go to November 1, Nathan\u2019s going to be there and I\u2019ll be competing with him for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity\u2019. Does Sam jump early?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read says it\u2019s possible, but thinks the Chiefs will be all in on Cleary, who is set to hit free agency on November 1.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think PNG will pull the trigger on Sam Walker unless they know they won\u2019t get Nathan Cleary. He\u2019s clearly their priority \u2026 They\u2019ll wait to see what Nathan Cleary does,\u201d Read said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve all had some indications to what Cleary\u2019s going to do. I think he\u2019s going to stay in Penrith, \u2018Bulldog\u2019 (Dean Ritchie) thinks he\u2019ll go to November 1 so there\u2019s plenty of mixed messaging. I don\u2019t think anyone knows what he\u2019ll do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;A disgrace&#8221; Luai trip causes a stir | 03:58<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think he (Walker) should take the money. The offer from the Roosters is incredibly generous,\u201d Ritchie added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom what he delivers for the Roosters, equates to what they\u2019ve offered him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo be fair, the Roosters have plunged seven years of investment into him. I think Walker owes the club some loyalty.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sam Walker\u2019s season-ending ankle injury has complicated his contract situation but led to one NRL great to float&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":875191,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,85,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-875190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-sports","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875190","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=875190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/875191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=875190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=875190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=875190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}