Joey Walsh, the 19-year-old Manly halfback making his starting NRL debut against Penrith’s Nathan Cleary on Sunday, is already generating a lot of excitement. His journey to this point has been marked by significant decisions and high expectations. Walsh has already turned down offers from Phil Gould and was even predicted to be the Wallabies’ five-eighth for the Rugby World Cup had he continued with rugby union.
While not as intense as the hype surrounding Lachlan Galvin’s entry into the NRL, the attention on Walsh is considerable. A groin injury has kept regular Sea Eagles No.7 Jamal Fogarty out of the clash with the Panthers at CommBank Stadium, leading to Walsh’s long-awaited opportunity. With just 19 minutes of first-grade experience, having made his debut off the bench against the Warriors in the final game of last season, Walsh now faces the challenge of marking the Panthers’ star player.
This is a huge task, but many believe Walsh was destined for this moment. Earlier this year, Panthers legend Greg Alexander praised Walsh after watching him play rugby for St Augustine’s College in Brookvale.
“I thought he’s as good as any kid I’ve ever seen at schoolboy level,” Alexander told SEN radio. “If he didn’t sign with Manly, and stayed with Manly [in rugby] where he was signed with the Waratahs, I’ve got no doubt that next year he would be the Wallabies five-eighth.”
Despite these comments, Walsh remains grounded. He acknowledges the praise but focuses on his training and performance.
“It’s a big call, I’m not too sure about all of that,” Walsh said of Alexander’s comments. “Brandy’s a great bloke, I played lots of school footy with his son Beau, who’s a really good player, too. Nice to hear those things, but obviously you don’t want to read into it too much … Our club definitely provides lots of support about not letting it get to your head, so a big focus for me is honestly playing my footy and focusing on footy when I’m at training. But I’m taking a step away from it at home, trying not to look into social media too much because whether it’s good or bad, it’s not gonna do too much good for me, so I just try to stay away from it.”
Another admirer of Walsh is Phil Gould, who tried to recruit him before bringing Galvin to Canterbury. Walsh spoke highly of Gould during a recent interview.
“He was a really great bloke to meet and obviously, he’s running a very successful club over there,” Walsh said. “Hopefully, I’ll stay in contact with him throughout my career, but for me Manly’s a very local club. I grew up here, so it’s pretty exciting to be able to play for a local team.”
Manly have identified Walsh and fellow young talent Onitoni Large as their future halves. Interim Sea Eagles coach Kieran Foran initially chose not to rush the captain of the Australian under-18s rugby team into the side when he took over from Anthony Seibold. However, on Saturday, he felt Walsh was ready to face premiership frontrunners Penrith.
“He’s got endless natural ability,” Foran said in his pre-game media conference. “On top of that, he is a wonderful student of the game, he works extremely hard. He is a tough kid and is really courageous and competitive. He just ticks so many boxes. Without putting too much pressure on him, we have high hopes for Joey’s future in this game. We love what he is about. And tomorrow night he gets to go out there and do it. And we have all the belief in the world he is going to get out there and get the job done.”
One of Walsh’s idols growing up was Daly Cherry-Evans. The youngster said he was fortunate to spend time with the former Manly captain while they were both at the club.
“I learned loads, he was unreal to me,” Walsh said. “He spent lots of time helping me improve my game, obviously because it was my first year coming back to league. He’s taught me to keep playing eyes-up footy, the structure and all that will come with games, but just try and keep your eyes up and play with your instincts, which was a very good lesson.”
