{"id":875292,"date":"2026-08-31T18:26:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T18:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/875292\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T18:26:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T18:26:22","slug":"nrl-2026-roosters-hope-sam-walker-will-return-after-surgery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/875292\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Roosters hope Sam Walker will return after surgery"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Roosters aren\u2019t giving up hope of getting superstar Sam Walker back from injury in the finals, with veteran playmaker Daly Cherry-Evans and the versatile Hugo Savala backed to get the job done while he\u2019s sidelined.<\/p>\n

The club confirmed that Walker had surgery on Sunday to repair the syndesmosis injury that he suffered against the Dolphins on Saturday night, with the loss seeing the Roosters drop from first to fourth in the space of two weeks.<\/p>\n

They will finish in the top four \u2013 which ensures they get a second chance in September \u2013 no matter what happens in the final round of the season.<\/p>\n

But their chances of winning the premiership hinge on whether Walker will be cleared to return after he injured his left foot following a tackle by Dolphins forward Kulikefu Finefeuiaki. <\/p>\n

Walker was in agony and had to be helped from the field by trainers, with Hugo Savala shifting to the halves where he will likely remain for the upcoming game against Souths.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had surgery yesterday, so the big fella is just resting up now,\u201d Roosters utility Connor Watson said. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s obviously disappointed. We\u2019re disappointed as a group, but he\u2019s got his eyes set on coming back this year so we\u2019ll see if that happens, but hopefully it does.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith these injuries, you can get back from them in 4-6 weeks, so it\u2019s definitely possible. There\u2019s obviously hope there, but it\u2019s a good opportunity for Hugo to come in this week as well, and we all know what he\u2019s capable of, so I\u2019m looking forward to playing with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Savala burst onto the scene last year but has only played two games in the halves this year, with the emerging talent spending most of his time at left centre. <\/p>\n

While he\u2019s a very different player to Walker, his big body and booming right boot are valuable assets in the finals where points are traditionally harder to come by. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s too big of a thing for him,\u201d Watson said. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s shown what he\u2019s been capable of over the last couple of years. He came in last year when we were sort of struggling and really helped us turn our season around playing in the halves. He\u2019s just a football player. He\u2019ll go out there and do his job.\u201d<\/p>\n

The injury to Walker would usually derail a team\u2019s finals chances, but the Roosters still have Cherry-Evans who is in his 16th and final NRL season where he has seen and done it all. <\/p>\n

He was brought to the club for moments like this, with his teammates backing him to stand tall. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe really need \u2018Chez\u2019 right now,\u201d prop forward Naufahu Whyte said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn saying that, we back any brother of ours. That\u2019s the whole reason we\u2019re a team, and it\u2019s the whole reason why we\u2019re all in these four walls and we have the belief in each other to get the job done no matter who you are, no matter how many games you\u2019ve played and no matter where you sit in this club.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as you put that Roosters jersey on, as brothers we back you to do a job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Veteran winger Daniel Tupou and rugby-bound edge forward Angus Crichton are in the mix to return from injury for Friday\u2019s showdown with the Rabbitohs. <\/p>\n

Originally published as \u2018We really need Chez right now\u2019: Roosters reveal finals hope for Sam Walker after star undergoes surgery<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Roosters aren\u2019t giving up hope of getting superstar Sam Walker back from injury in the finals, with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":875293,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[445058,445049,395498,445061,445073,384265,383308,378768,445072,380349,387445,393648,445042,172855,420963,99978,445048,64,63,445055,9751,60217,445068,445065,1865,379391,16308,68535,39598,445069,445051,385801,407982,445056,377197,379530,26796,394383,75716,11402,445052,12979,3899,421688,45755,439754,324879,761,762,45626,35062,158,390319,84998,9120,445060,445053,4478,46907,440964,43157,16282,85,4031,8825,445062,1369,445041,380887,445046,382205,54179,445057,377453,10673,377514,395523,417727,380914,380485,377557,382332,445044,378780,174850,445063,376817,445054,390303,445047,428269,445059,445050,445045,426530,445067,445066,445064,386823,199184,364611,97565,404600,445043,161841,445071,445070,9829,9833,32388,93285],"class_list":["post-875292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-s-finals-chances","tag-s-finals-return","tag-s-showdown","tag-4-6-weeks","tag-a-football-player","tag-a-good-opportunity","tag-a-job","tag-a-major-update","tag-a-second-chance","tag-a-tackle","tag-a-team","tag-a-thing","tag-a-very-different-player","tag-a-group","tag-agony","tag-angus-crichton","tag-any-brother","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-booming-right-boot","tag-brothers","tag-cherry-evans","tag-chez","tag-dolphins-forward","tag-door","tag-each-other","tag-finals","tag-finals-hope","tag-friday","tag-his-16th-and-final-nrl-season","tag-his-big-body","tag-his-eyes","tag-his-job","tag-his-left-foot","tag-his-teammates","tag-his-time","tag-hope","tag-how-many-games","tag-hugo","tag-hugo-savala","tag-injured-star-sam-walker","tag-injuries","tag-injury","tag-kulikefu-finefeuiaki","tag-last-year","tag-left-centre","tag-moments","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-naufahu-whyte","tag-night","tag-nrl","tag-our-season","tag-points","tag-roosters","tag-roosters-utility-connor-watson","tag-rugby-bound-edge","tag-sam-walker","tag-saturday","tag-savala","tag-september","tag-souths","tag-sports","tag-star","tag-sunday","tag-superstar-sam-walker","tag-surgery","tag-that-roosters-jersey","tag-the-belief","tag-the-big-fella","tag-the-club","tag-the-dolphins","tag-the-emerging-talent","tag-the-field","tag-the-final-round","tag-the-finals","tag-the-halves","tag-the-injury","tag-the-job","tag-the-last-couple","tag-the-loss","tag-the-mix","tag-the-premiership-hinge","tag-the-rabbitohs","tag-the-roosters","tag-the-roosters-drop","tag-the-scene","tag-the-season-but","tag-the-space","tag-the-syndesmosis-injury","tag-the-top-four","tag-the-upcoming-game","tag-the-versatile-hugo-savala","tag-the-whole-reason","tag-their-chances","tag-their-premiership","tag-these-four-walls","tag-these-injuries","tag-this-club","tag-this-week","tag-this-year","tag-trainers","tag-two-games","tag-two-weeks-they","tag-valuable-assets","tag-veteran-playmaker-daly-cherry-evans","tag-veteran-winger-daniel-tupou","tag-walker","tag-watson","tag-years","tag-yesterday"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875292","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=875292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/875293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=875292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=875292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=875292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}