{"id":899759,"date":"2026-09-21T06:20:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T06:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/899759\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T06:20:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T06:20:14","slug":"nrl-2026-sam-walker-set-to-play-as-naufahu-whyte-explains-limited-roosters-minutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/899759\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Sam Walker set to play as Naufahu Whyte explains limited Roosters minutes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sam Walker\u2019s likely return isn\u2019t the only bit of good news for the Roosters with a couple of key forwards downplaying any injury concerns as Trent Robinson\u2019s side prepares to travel north for Friday\u2019s preliminary final against the Dolphins.<\/p>\n

A healthy squad at this time of the year can make or break a team\u2019s premiership chances, and things are looking up for the Roosters who welcomed back Angus Crichton after three months on the sidelines, while Walker is set to be named.<\/p>\n

The representative halfback suffered a syndesmosis injury in round 26 against the Dolphins but has been progressing well, with the next couple of training sessions to determine whether he starts on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what you dream of in the finals when you\u2019ve got your full squad healthy and ready to go,\u201d star prop Naufahu Whyte said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we can have Sammy then it will be a huge asset for us. We all know how Sammy can play and we all know what he can do in a game.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was also awesome to have the brother \u2018Gussy\u2019 there on the weekend. He was itching to get back out there because it\u2019s been a long stint for him off the field. He\u2019s another huge asset for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fellow prop forward Lindsay Collins was seen limping from Allianz Stadium following the win over the Sharks, but he said \u201ceverything is fine\u201d and that he is in no doubt at all for the grand final qualifier. <\/p>\n

While Hugo Savala did a tremendous job alongside Daly Cherry-Evans in the halves, the Roosters look like a different team with Walker calling the shots. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe brings a lot to our team,\u201d Collins said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been playing in that position all year so there\u2019s that familiarity and consistency with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone knows what Sammy brings. He brings that flair as well as the structure in the system, so it\u2019ll be awesome to have him back.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Whyte, he assured Roosters supporters that he is good to go for the Dolphins game despite not coming back on for the second half on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

This season\u2019s most dominant forward had six carries and wasn\u2019t required in the second half as he nursed a right hamstring issue, but he would have come back on if the game was closer. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m all good. I appreciate the love and support from our fans,\u201d Whyte said after the international star was put on ice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a hamstring injury and have been carrying it for the past couple of weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI probably wasn\u2019t needed against the Sharks after the boys dominated, so it was good to rest it up so I can try to push it to 100 per cent before Friday. There are no concerns. I\u2019m all good and ready to go.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was meant to go back on. I spoke to Robbo and asked him if there were any concerns, but he was just doing the best for me to make sure I was 100 per cent coming in to these next two games. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m grateful for coach for looking after me. The boys were doing an awesome job (when I was off) so credit to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published as Sam Walker set for Dolphins preliminary final as Roosters forwards overcome injury scares<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sam Walker\u2019s likely return isn\u2019t the only bit of good news for the Roosters with a couple of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":899760,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[468185,468187,461488,468193,377258,45986,377373,468202,379201,387307,468199,468205,468198,376730,468191,402316,387445,468206,377225,57709,468215,99978,468194,387900,468213,64,63,32092,3181,43221,4430,162,468209,468188,16308,39598,22103,11402,217205,7963,12979,49772,224233,447614,49458,468186,761,762,45626,43961,468214,468204,158,386774,407491,468184,20424,9120,468208,468200,73924,4478,186999,46907,468201,468203,85,468207,468197,468189,400044,381352,23275,449874,54179,468196,377453,377514,74713,456469,395523,381116,468210,432480,453584,468212,435628,174850,380344,87397,377175,383329,379535,103578,22514,377140,378969,468192,378871,199184,387444,141801,4737,468195,9829,29258,468211,468190],"class_list":["post-899759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-gussy","tag-s-likely-return","tag-s-preliminary-final","tag-s-premiership-chances","tag-s-side","tag-45986","tag-a-couple","tag-a-different-team","tag-a-game","tag-a-hamstring-injury","tag-a-healthy-squad","tag-a-huge-asset","tag-a-long-stint","tag-a-lot","tag-a-right-hamstring-issue","tag-a-syndesmosis-injury","tag-a-team","tag-a-tremendous-job","tag-all-year","tag-allianz-stadium","tag-an-awesome-job","tag-angus-crichton","tag-another-huge-asset","tag-any-concerns","tag-any-injury-concerns","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cent","tag-coach","tag-collins","tag-daly-cherry-evans","tag-dolphins","tag-dolphins-preliminary-final","tag-fellow-prop","tag-finals","tag-friday","tag-good-news","tag-hugo-savala","tag-hurdle","tag-ice","tag-injuries","tag-injury-concerns","tag-injury-scares","tag-key-forwards","tag-lindsay-collins","tag-more-good-news","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-naufahu-whyte","tag-newswire-sport","tag-night-this-season","tag-no-concerns","tag-nrl","tag-our-fans","tag-our-team","tag-representative-halfback","tag-robbo","tag-roosters","tag-roosters-forwards","tag-roosters-supporters","tag-round-26","tag-sam-walker","tag-sammy","tag-saturday","tag-six-carries","tag-so-credit","tag-sports","tag-star-prop-naufahu-whyte","tag-that-familiarity-and-consistency","tag-that-flair","tag-that-position","tag-the-best","tag-the-boys","tag-the-brother","tag-the-dolphins","tag-the-dolphins-game","tag-the-field","tag-the-finals","tag-the-game","tag-the-grand-final-qualifier","tag-the-halves","tag-the-headlines","tag-the-international-star","tag-the-love-and-support","tag-the-next-couple","tag-the-only-bit","tag-the-past-couple","tag-the-roosters","tag-the-second-half","tag-the-sharks","tag-the-shots","tag-the-sidelines","tag-the-structure","tag-the-system","tag-the-weekend","tag-the-win","tag-the-year","tag-these-next-two-games","tag-this-time","tag-this-week","tag-three-months","tag-training-sessions","tag-trent-robinson","tag-two-key-forwards","tag-walker","tag-weeks","tag-whyte","tag-your-full-squad"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899759","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=899759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/899760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=899759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=899759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=899759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}