{"id":896370,"date":"2026-09-18T09:14:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T09:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/896370\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T09:14:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T09:14:12","slug":"nrl-2026-angus-crichton-cleared-for-roosters-return-sam-walker-on-track","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/896370\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Angus Crichton cleared for Roosters return, Sam Walker on track"},"content":{"rendered":"

Roosters coach Trent Robinson has confirmed injured star Angus Crichton will make his long-awaited return to the team after last week\u2019s false start.<\/p>\n

He also left the door open for halfback Sam Walker to play in next week\u2019s preliminary final if the Roosters can beat old foes Cronulla on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

Crichton hasn\u2019t played since round 15 due to a serious foot injury but has been named on the bench after he just fell short of being cleared to face the Panthers last week.<\/p>\n

\u201c(He\u2019s) ready to go,\u201d Robinson said on Friday morning. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the standard of the game changes when it comes to Angus. I just think it\u2019s the time out with the injury and time that he\u2019ll get on the field. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the only thing, but he\u2019s played enough of these sort of quality games to get ready to go back in.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wasn\u2019t ready to go last week, that was the truth of it. He still had some issues last week and he hasn\u2019t had them this week, so ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robinson didn\u2019t reveal whether Crichton would start or come off the bench, with Salesi Foketi making the left back row spot his own with some eye-catching performances.<\/p>\n

While Crichton is back, there is quiet optimism in the east that Walker will be fit to return next week if the Roosters advance. <\/p>\n

The Queensland halfback hasn\u2019t played since he injured his syndesmosis against the Dolphins in round 26, but he could make a stunning return against the same opposition next week if he continues to progress as rapidly as he has.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good. Another good progression this week. (He needs to) keep going. There\u2019s a little bit less weight on that ankle compared to other guys in our game, so he\u2019s progressing well,\u201d Robinson said. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a chance (to play next week). <\/p>\n

\u201cMost of those guys end up doing running, straight line running, and all of that, whereas he\u2019s back into some free movement and into some training, so that\u2019s a real positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Robinson refused to give his thoughts on scheduling throughout the finals but said he would address it down the track.<\/p>\n

The Roosters have a six-day turnaround from the Panthers game and will have the same gap next week if they eliminate Cronulla from the finals.<\/p>\n

The Knights have nine days between games, the Warriors have an eight-day gap, while the Sharks had a week between matches.<\/p>\n

The decision to put Penrith\u2019s game on last Sunday has thrown things out of whack, with the schedule not helped by the Warriors having to play in the afternoon due to time differences. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d probably like to hold my opinion on that,\u201d Robinson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ll do whatever it takes to play finals. That\u2019s as simple as it is. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a real fair question around how it\u2019s scheduled and why we schedule them in this way, but they\u2019re the cards we\u2019re dealt and we\u2019re ready to play on six days, five days, four days, whatever it takes. So yeah, let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published as \u2018He\u2019s a chance\u2019: Sam Walker closing in on shock return as Roosters confirm Angus Crichton will play against the Sharks<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Roosters coach Trent Robinson has confirmed injured star Angus Crichton will make his long-awaited return to the team…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":896371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[465538,380197,461488,377450,380489,465528,465542,454598,465539,420682,465524,465531,381022,465520,28384,99978,465537,421039,64,63,223923,26958,16308,239948,387349,385035,39598,1852,91404,404632,394589,447512,431008,174702,12979,3899,402034,13307,463154,465521,13053,401069,761,762,51485,407395,158,465529,465526,380373,16284,465532,465536,9747,9120,380296,457351,73924,2434,421655,4478,465534,63540,79682,1042,296295,422260,465543,465545,465533,447525,85,465535,465544,379784,384381,392981,54179,378193,379743,377453,377514,465519,74713,406922,465527,465530,406354,5991,439080,465546,174850,465525,465523,464398,456759,87397,13985,315971,376539,465522,214757,12644,465541,380966,199184,383350,465547,34224,4737,9829,465540],"class_list":["post-896370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-s-false-start","tag-s-game","tag-s-preliminary-final","tag-a-chance","tag-a-little-bit","tag-a-real-fair-question","tag-a-real-positive","tag-a-serious-foot-injury","tag-a-six-day-turnaround","tag-a-stunning-comeback","tag-a-stunning-return","tag-a-veteran-rooster","tag-a-week","tag-an-eight-day-gap","tag-angus","tag-angus-crichton","tag-another-good-progression","tag-another-star","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-crichton","tag-cronulla","tag-finals","tag-finals-call","tag-five-days","tag-four-days","tag-friday","tag-games","tag-halfback-sam-walker","tag-his-long-awaited-return","tag-his-own","tag-his-syndesmosis","tag-his-thoughts","tag-injured-star","tag-injuries","tag-injury","tag-last-sunday","tag-last-week","tag-less-weight","tag-matches-the-decision","tag-morning","tag-my-opinion","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-next-week","tag-nine-days","tag-nrl","tag-old-foes-cronulla","tag-other-guys","tag-our-game","tag-penrith","tag-quality-games","tag-quiet-optimism","tag-robinson","tag-roosters","tag-roosters-coach-trent-robinson","tag-round-15","tag-round-26","tag-running","tag-salesi-foketi","tag-sam-walker","tag-saturday-night-crichton","tag-schedules","tag-scheduling","tag-sharks","tag-shock-return","tag-six-days","tag-some-eye-catching-performances-while","tag-some-free-movement","tag-some-issues","tag-some-training","tag-sports","tag-straight-line","tag-that-ankle","tag-the-afternoon","tag-the-bench","tag-the-cards","tag-the-dolphins","tag-the-door","tag-the-east","tag-the-field","tag-the-finals","tag-the-finals-the-knights","tag-the-game","tag-the-green-light","tag-the-injury-and-time","tag-the-left-back-row-spot","tag-the-only-thing","tag-the-panthers","tag-the-panthers-game","tag-the-queensland-halfback","tag-the-roosters","tag-the-roosters-advance","tag-the-same-gap","tag-the-same-opposition","tag-the-schedule","tag-the-sharks","tag-the-standard","tag-the-team","tag-the-time","tag-the-track-the-roosters","tag-the-truth","tag-the-warriors","tag-these-sort","tag-this-way","tag-this-week","tag-those-guys","tag-time-differences","tag-track","tag-trent-robinson","tag-walker","tag-whack"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896370","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=896370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/896371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=896370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=896370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=896370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}