Robinson admits surprise at speed of Walker’s return from surgery

The halfback will reclaim his place in the Roosters line-up in Friday grand final qualifier against the Dolphins in Brisbane and is “fit and ready to go”.

Based on reporting from Brisbane Times:

Trent Robinson: Roosters coach reveals surprise at Sam Walker’s rapid recovery from ankle surgery Open accessibility guide Skip to sections navigation Skip to content Skip to footer Log in Our network Log in Expand navigation menu Search Advertisement NRL Around the Clubs Sport NRL NRL 2026 Robinson admits surprise at speed of Walker’s return from surgery Chris Barrett September 23, 2026 — 3:30pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Share A A A Loading Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson admits he was surprised to hear from Sam Walker a fortnight ago that he was targeting the preliminary final for his return from ankle surgery but has declared the halfback “fit and ready to go”. Walker will reclaim his place in the Roosters line-up in Friday night’s grand final qualifier against the Dolphins at Suncorp Stadium less than two months after succumbing to a syndesmosis injury against the same opponents. Loading There were fears his season was over after he hobbled from the field during the Roosters’ 26-12 defeat at Allianz Stadium that night, but Robinson said the No.7 had his eye on a faster than expected recovery as the finals series began. “He was pretty clear about what his target was,” the coach said on Wednesday. Advertisement “I said to him two weeks ago ‘Do you think you’ll be right for the last game of the year?’ “He said, ‘I’ll be right for the one before that’. Even that surprised me a couple of weeks ago.” Sam Walker is out to lead from the front for the Roosters on Friday night. Wolter Peeters Walker will also resume goalkicking against the Dolphins, according to Robinson, who credited the 24-year-old’s speedy return to the precision of doctors and physios as well as the player’s mindset. The Queensland playmaker’s selection has forced rising homegrown Roosters utility Hugo Savala back to the interchange bench after joining Daly Cherry-Evans in the halves during Walker’s absence. Advertisement But Robinson said he still had a role in mind for Savala in the penultimate week of the season, saying he had “earned his right to continue to play, and he’ll get that”. As for how he will be deployed, the three-time premiership winning mentor was more guarded but made it clear Billy Smith’s spot at left centre was locked in. Trent Robinson hopes it is third time lucky for the Roosters against the Dolphins this year. Getty Images “We’ll see. I won’t go into that,” said Robinson when asked how he would use Savala, who was listed as 18th man by the Roosters on their six-man bench. “I think I’ve given more thought than I’ve given ever before in naming the line-up like that. I knew there’d be a lot of interest in who was playing where … but other than that I’m not really going to go into changes. That’ll have to wait for Friday night.” Advertisement Related Article NRL 2026 Tones and I offered NRL grand final show only three weeks ago Cherry-Evans and fullback and captain James Tedesco

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