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. His potential has been recognized by some of the game’s biggest names, and now he has the opportunity to prove himself on the big stage.
A key factor in Walsh’s elevation is the absence of regular Sea Eagles No.7 Jamal Fogarty due to a groin injury. This has created an opening for Walsh, who has only 19 minutes of first-grade experience from his debut off the bench against the Warriors last season. Despite this, he is being asked to take on the challenging task of marking Penrith’s star player, Nathan Cleary.
Good judges have long believed that Walsh was destined for bigger things. 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.”
Walsh ultimately chose to join the Sea Eagles, and now he has the chance to show everyone what all the fuss is about.
“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.”
“At home, I try to stay away from social media because whether it’s good or bad, it’s not gonna do too much good for me.”
Another admirer of Walsh is Phil Gould, who tried to recruit him before bringing Jamal Fogarty to Canterbury.
“He was a really great bloke to meet and obviously, he’s running a very successful club over there,” Walsh said of Gould in a recent interview. “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 has identified Walsh and fellow young talent Onitoni Large as their long-term halves. Interim Sea Eagles coach Kieran Foran initially did not rush Walsh into the side when he took over from Anthony Seibold, but on Saturday, he felt the time was right for the Australian under-18s rugby team captain to face premiership contenders 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 are 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.”
