Nine years after delivering one of the most iconic debut performances in State of Origin history, Queensland Maroons captain Cameron Munster is passing on a lesson of self-belief to young rookie halfback Sam Walker, who is gearing up to make his first Origin appearance on Wednesday night. With simple but powerful words, Munster has urged the 20-something Sydney Roosters playmaker to “back yourself” as he steps onto what is forecast to be a rain-soaked field in front of 80,000 raucous New South Wales Blues supporters at Accor Stadium. Walker, widely regarded as a naturally unflappable competitor, will lean heavily on this advice from his experienced halves partner as he prepares for the biggest test of his young rugby league career to date.
Walker earns his unexpected Origin call-up after incumbent playmaker and 2023 Wally Lewis Medal winner Tom Dearden was forced to withdraw with an ankle injury sustained during a recent North Queensland Cowboys club match. While the young halfback has previously trained and worked with Queensland rugby league immortal Johnathan Thurston, Munster and the entire Maroons squad are clear: they do not want Walker to try to emulate the legend’s playing style or live up to the shadow of iconic former number 7s like Thurston and Cooper Cronk. Instead, they want him to lean into the unique strengths that earned him this opportunity in the first place: his sharp short kicking game and unorthodox, unpredictable playmaking that has caught the eye of selectors and fans alike this NRL season.
“There’s a reason why he’s been given the opportunity to wear that famous No.7 jersey,” Munster told reporters ahead of the clash. “We’re not expecting him to go out there to be Johnathan Thurston or Cooper Cronk or those type of guys that have been wearing the jersey before him. Go out there and be Sam Walker. Back yourself.” Munster added that the team has given Walker full creative freedom to play his natural game, even if some of his gambles do not pay off. “If it doesn’t come off, it doesn’t come off – that’s rugby league. I’d rather him out there giving it his all and trying his little tricks that he’s got in his bag than just sitting back and at the end of the game going ‘oh, I wish I did this, I wish I did that’,” he said. “We’ve given him full reins and full keys to the car, and hopefully you’ll see Sammy Walker blossom.”
While Walker has never competed on the Origin’s national stage before, he has already proven his ability to perform under intense pressure at the club level. The young halfback has claimed Man of the Match honours three times in the Roosters’ iconic Anzac Day clashes against the South Sydney Rabbitohs, consistently showing fearlessness when all eyes are on him. He grew up watching generations of Maroons young guns make successful Origin debuts, and Munster’s own 2015 debut stands as the perfect template: in that series-deciding match, Munster ran 136 metres and set up two match-defining tries, cementing his place in Queensland Origin folklore from his very first game.
Munster says he is confident Walker is ready to write his own Origin story, even if it does not follow a perfect narrative. “I guess you’ve got to sometimes write your own fairy tale. You’re not always going to be given the fairy tale,” Munster said. “It’s for him to go out there and get his game on and play well. There’ll be some times in that game where things might not go his way, and knowing Sammy, he’s that type of person with how calm he is that he’ll get on with his next job and do something spectacular.” The Maroons captain added that the team has no unrealistic expectations for the rookie: “We’re not expecting him to go out there and be man of the match. If he gets his job done, and everyone else in his team gets their job done, then we’re looking really excited and looking really forward to the way we can play.” Beyond Walker’s debut, Munster also expressed confidence in the depth of Queensland’s emerging halves talent, noting that the future of the Maroons program is in “good hands” with the likes of Dearden, Walker, Ezra Mam and Jake Clifford all coming through the development pipeline.