Roosters set to call on Daly Cherry-Evans in finals as Sam Walker sweats on shattering injury
Daly Cherry-Evans’ NRL swan song appears set to turn into a Sydney Roosters recovery mission, as the Tri-colours sweat on scans on Sam Walker’s injured ankle.
Walker underwent scans late on Saturday night, after leaving Allianz Stadium in a moon boot following the Roosters’ 26-12 loss to the Dolphins.
The Roosters were unsure of the severity of the halfback’s injury on full-time, but there are legitimate concerns given he stayed down after contact from Kulikefu Finefeuiaki’s in a tackle.
Any absence of Walker would come as a massive blow, given he has been one of their best in a year in he also starred in State of Origin.
It would also come at the worst possible time, on the eve of finals and with their top-four spot in doubt after two straight defeats.
But it could also make Cherry-Evans’ one-year stint at the Roosters even more crucial, before his move to the English Super League next year.
The 37-year-old has spent recent years as the main man at Manly, having led them to eight finals series being a premiership-winning rookie in 2011.
He will likely take on that same role again at the Roosters if Walker is out, with Hugo Savala likely to return to the halves at No.6.
“We don’t know how severe it is yet, so hopefully it’s not too bad,” Roosters captain James Tedesco said of Walker on Saturday night.
“It’s one of those ones (where) you get caught in the tackle, I had a similar one as well. It’s tough, hopefully it’s not too long, we’ll see how it is.
“But again, I think everyone’s disappointed with our performance and the injury as well.”
Walker’s injury comes after an ACL rupture ruled him out of the finals two years ago, with Trent Robinson’s men making the preliminary final then.
The Roosters now face a challenge to turn things around, ahead of Friday night’s clash with arch-rivals South Sydney.
It was only a fortnight ago that the Roosters went top of the ladder, after one of the best wins in years with a 12-6 defeat of Penrith.
5News aggregated this summary from the outlet’s public feed. The full article, with all the context, is on 7news.com.au — the content belongs to 7NEWS Australia.
