Source :- THE AGE NEWS
One of the more mature and polished performances of Sam Walker’s career has all but extinguished the Brisbane Broncos’ hopes of a premiership defence, and issued an ominous State of Origin warning ahead of the series decider.
The Sydney Roosters star pulled the strings masterfully in a 24-18 triumph of the defending champions at Suncorp Stadium, reducing their rivals to a seventh-straight defeat.
Walker never overplayed his hand, choosing his moments to inject himself wisely and making them count. In what proved an arm wrestle of a contest, the Queensland Maroons sensation kicked with intent and allowed fullback James Tedesco to take the lead of the finishing touches, with the Blues fullback providing the service for centre Hugo Savala to lay on a pair of tries to winger Billy Smith.
Even Walker’s decision to float across the field and drop it back under for his marquee No.1 paid dividends, with the Roosters skipper placing a perfect grubber for Robert Toia to dive onto a score.
Come the second half, and Walker showcased why he has the faith of Maroons coach Billy Slater – forcing a dropout after breaking the line and chipping ahead, with the play taking a desperate Tom Duffy chase to prevent Tedesco from scoring.
The halfback was then denied an assist for Mark Nawaqanitawase by a brilliant Josiah Karapani cover tackle, but he was not done writing his script just yet.
On the back of the pressure his game management had built, Walker’s late offload for Tedesco to toe ahead got Sydney on the front foot, with the 23-year-old then supporting on the inside to score and break a 16-all deadlock.
Slater has long said that to succeed in the modern game, a halfback needed to be a running threat, and Walker epitomised that on Friday night – finishing with 117 metres to constantly leave the Broncos defence with problems to solve.
Already Walker has dominated the Origin arena, his maiden two appearances this year culminating in a man of the match display in game two – an honour he was only denied in the series opener by the Blues comeback with Kalyn Ponga sent off.
But his showing in Brisbane has no doubt given NSW coach Laurie Daley plenty to ponder, knowing that the slightly but confident maestro has truly come into his own.
Walker’s Roosters and Maroons teammate Lindsay Collins, however, will face a nervous wait before game three teams are named on Monday, with the prop ruled out through concussion and now unable to complete contact training until the weekend before next Wednesday’s clash due to the game’s concussion protocols.
Broncos’ season all but over
They were valiant and missing some of their biggest names, but the loss still all but ends the Broncos hopes of being considered premiership contenders in 2026.
While there were some promising signs when defending their line, ultimately they were left with too much to do – Payne Haas (207 running metres) ultimately the only man who seemed capable of getting them off their own goal line and into some sort of position to strike.
Despite Smith taking just five minutes to score, Brisbane fought back as the left edge combination of Duffy and Brendan Piakura burst to life – the latter offering a late offload for his five-eighth to score.
Duffy soon returned the favour with a deft grubber for the aggressive backrower to dive onto, but while a strong break and finish by Grant Anderson gave the Broncos a half-time lead, they were unable to pose much of a threat after the break.
Haas, standing in as skipper in the absence of the injured Adam Reynolds and Pat Carrigan, proved a lone wolf in the engine room after Xavier Willison was ruled out following a head injury assessment, as Sydney dominated with 64 per cent of the territory.
Brisbane desperately needed fullback Reece Walsh to produce a moment of magic to unleash the shackles, but the mercurial No.1 was unable to muster it – running for just 97 metres for the night and failing to create a linebreak.
The effort could not be faulted, completing 33 of 39 sets, but the result nevertheless could leave the Broncos four wins adrift of the top eight should Manly defeat Melbourne on Saturday night.
A Broncos star is there, but can Piakura become it?
Piakura has shown signs of becoming one of the NRL’s breakout edge forwards, but mistakes in his game are keeping him from realising that potential.
At times, the one-time Maroons squad member hits harder than anyone in defence, while the line he ran to set up Duffy’s try was a thing of beauty.
But despite running for 110 metres, his nine missed tackles and two errors will no doubt leave coach Michael Maguire frustrated, albeit with some leeway given the wet conditions.
Piakura has the makings of a damaging prospect, but he needs to piece it all together to truly force his way towards higher honours, and give his side the X-factor they desperately need right now.
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