His proud father Ben was in the stands and would have lapped up every moment. Walker senior has always wanted his son to play what he sees. He did that against the Red V.
Roosters coach Trent Robinson said of Walker: “Sam does that to us every day when we train. If a fullback comes into the line, he’ll pull you apart.
“It was great to see him do that. Plus also the goal-kicking, it’s such a key part of that as well.
“He sees the game slightly differently. Sam is out of the box when it comes to seeing where defensive lines are, and numbers, and fullbacks … when players are moving for you, and he can see them he can really tear them apart.”
The Roosters have more injury concerns than just Keary, who left the ground in a moonboot. Michael Jennings failed to finish the game because of a tricep injury. Daniel Tupou (knee) and Victor Radley (hamstring) were already late scratchings.
The Roosters looked so much better with Walker. The premiership debate will only start if they can get the job done against the Broncos in Brisbane next Friday.
Suaalii is in the final year of NRL before he takes up a lucrative three-year deal with Rugby Australia, but is doing everything to make sure he exits the game an Origin player.
It was fitting Suaalii scored the final try of the afternoon, his first since round 26 last season, and with Zac Lomax the last line of defence. The contest between Suaalii, 20, and 24-year-old Lomax was tense throughout. Lomax tried to rag doll Suaalii, while Suaalii refused to shy away from the physicality.
A growing debate in the countdown to the first Origin game in June will be whether new Blues coach Maguire should even consider Suaalii because of his code switch.
Maguire wants to win, and you get the impression he will pick the best 17 available at the time.
Dominic Young fends off Kyle Flanagan at Allianz Stadium.Credit: Getty
Lomax set up the Dragons’ first try, the best four-pointer of the afternoon, when he took on Keary, then snuck a pass to Sloan on his wing. It looked effortless. Then Lomax threw a pass that was never on, which led to the Roosters scoring through Angus Crichton. It was a lead they never relinquished.
Lomax came into the game the form outside back in the competition, but there were a few cracks on the big stage and in front of a cracking 40,727-strong crowd.
Loading
To be fair to the Red V, they lost Moses Suli in the first play of the game when flattened by Jared Waerea-Hargreaves. There was nothing wrong with Waerea-Hargreaves’ hit-up.
Kyle Flanagan was forced to move and defend in the centres, and the Roosters sent a mountain of traffic his way. The Dragons were out of gas well before half-time.
“I couldn’t wait until it finished to be honest; we came back to earth with a thud,” coach Shane Flanagan said after the game.
At least Flanagan knows his players have a 10-day turnaround to freshen up for the derby against Cronulla.
Flanagan led the Sharks to their only premiership in 2016, and said of the showdown: “It’s been marked in the calendar for a while. It won’t be an emotional week. I won a comp there. I don’t think they’ve won one since.
“My job is to get these boys back up … I need to get them back to where they were the past couple of weeks.”
NRL is Live and Free on Channel 9 & 9Now
Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
