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Sydney Roosters’ NRL premiership hopes have been rocked by reports star trio Sam Walker, Brandon Smith and Victor Radley’s seasons are all over following injuries sustained in their 14-12 loss to Canberra on Sunday afternoon.
It has been confirmed halfback Sam Walker will require reconstructive surgery on his left knee after tearing his ACL attempting to tackle Simi Sasagi 12 minutes into the match.
The 22-year-old will not only miss the finals series but be out for the start of next season with a return around April-May his best possible scenario.
At their worst, ACL injuries can rule players out for more than a year.
Smith suffered an injury to his MCL and ACL in a tackle from Raiders veteran Elliott Whitehead, that earned him both a three-match suspension and some tense words from Trent Robinson in a much-publicised post-match confrontation with the Roosters coach.
A decision is yet to be made about whether he will require surgery, but the Roosters have confirmed Smith, like Walker, will play no further part in 2024.
Radley suffered a fractured scapula in the second half after a tackle from Joe Tapine, and will see a specialist to determine whether he too need surgery.
With veteran Luke Keary heading to the Super League, the Roosters are set to start next season with Sandon Smith and Cowboys recruit Chad Townsend as their halves combination.
Keary and Smith will line up this Friday against Souths and in the finals series while Walker begins the long rehab process.
Sam Walker is carried off the ground. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
The Roosters will need to defy history to win the title with Walker sidelined. No side has won an NRL grand final without their first-choice halfback.
Roosters coach Trent Robinson was remaining positive about his side’s premiership aspirations.
“We’ve got a squad for that reason. You guys don’t get to see them always, but you’ve got to believe in who’s coming next,” Robinson said.
“So let’s go, let’s get excited about moving on to next week.”
Forward Nat Butcher later returned a category-one head injury assessment. He will likely miss the match against South Sydney but is expected back for the finals.
Whitehead says Robinson was “out of order” in refusing to accept his apology over a tackle that injured Brandon Smith’s knee.
But Robinson felt it was hard to forgive Whitehead, whom he said had been laying hip-drop tackles for his “whole career”.
The Canberra captain went to the sin bin for laying a hip-drop tackle on Smith during the first half of the Raiders’ 14-12 win, which ended with the Roosters hooker on the sidelines.
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Whitehead has been hit with a four-match sanction for the incident, which was deemed Grade 3 dangerous contact – even if he reduces the ban to three games with an early plea, his Raiders career is over unless the club successfully appeal at the Judiciary, given he is departing for the Super League at season’s end and the Green Machine are all but certain to miss finals.
“I didn’t mean to do Brandon. I know he’s come up with a bad injury and stuff, and I’m sorry to him for that,” Whitehead said.
Whitehead approached Robinson to apologise for his tackle after the game, only to be rebuffed by the coach, who also lost Sam Walker (knee) and Victor Radley (shoulder) to injury on Sunday.
“I went over to ask about Brandon and Trent Robinson’s had a go at me,” Whitehead said.
“I went to apologise, and he’s turned on me, so the way he’s done that I thought that was out of order.”
Robinson was reluctant to address the incident in his own post-match press conference.
But the coach felt Whitehead had a history of laying hip-drop tackles throughout a career that began with English Super League side Bradford in 2009.
In the past two years, though, Whitehead has only been charged with grade-one offences.
“He came up and just wanted to ask how Brandon was, and I just said it was too many times. The hip-drop’s been pretty common in his game for a long time, and I just said it’s too many times. It’s cost us a player,” Robinson said.
“That was it. He said it was an accident, and I just said ‘Look, you’ve done it too many times’. That was it.”
Robinson said he did not hold a personal grudge against Whitehead.
“I like Elliott. I’ve watched him since he was in Bradford and Catalans,” the coach said.
“I wouldn’t usually want to talk to you guys (the media) about it, but he opened it up and it’s been really common in his game his whole career.”
Speaking on SEN on Monday morning, NRL commentator Andrew Voss wasn’t impressed with Robinson’s comments, saying they amount to character assassination.
“This is a 400-gamer and Trent Robinson has assassinated him. How many times has Elliott Whitehead been charged with a hip drop tackle?” Voss asked on SEN Breakfast
“I don’t think it’s right to say what has been said about Elliott Whitehead,” Voss said.
“We are not talking about a bloke who has played 20 games – he’s been feted on both sides of the world for his efforts.
“I hate the term serial offender, unless he’s done it 50 times. If I find today there’s only three charges, that’s hardly serial offending.
“I don’t think he chose his words well against a respected figure out of the Raiders.”
Speaking on Big Sports Breakfast, former NSW coach Laurie Daley suggested Robinson could hardly criticise Whitehead’s history of misconduct, given the lengthy rap sheet of Roosters veteran Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.
“I think Robbo needs to be careful saying that type of stuff, because he’s got Jared Waerea-Hargreaves in his team, who you could argue that his tackling technique is not great,” Daley said.
“I understand the frustration of Robbo and he’s upset that the team lost. Elliot was doing the right thing to go and check on Smith and see whether he’s okay.”
Whitehead’s tackle may have ended his NRL career.
To make the finals, the 11th-placed Raiders likely need to defeat St George Illawarra next weekend and have Newcastle and the Dolphins draw .
That means the round-27 game against the Dragons will be the club’s last before the second-rower joins Super League side Catalans next season.
If the match review committee hands Whitehead a grade-two or grade-three charge, he will face suspension.
Whitehead could appeal to have his charge reclassified as grade one to pay a fine instead of serving a suspension.
with AAP
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