South Sydney coach Jason Demetriou has declared veteran half Cody Walker ‘the best five-eighth in the game’ on the back of a sparkling performance to demolish the Dolphins 36-14.
After being down 14-6 at halftime – and struggling to get superstars Walker and Latrell Mitchell into the game – the Rabbitohs turned things around after the break, scoring 30 unanswered points.
Walker was at the heart of everything, with yet another try, three assists, and kicking sensationally for 245 metres, leading Cooper Cronk to say on Fox League in the second half: “Time basically freezes for Cody down the left edge … He is torturing the right edge of the Dolphins. Cody Walker has all the tricks. He is on fire at the moment!”
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After the game, Demetriou declared: “I’ve said it before, when he gets himself in the game like he does, he’s the best five-eighth in the game. He’s a pleasure to coach when he’s in that kind of mood.”
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Demetriou said that during the first half: “We weren’t able to get the ball into his and Latrell’s hands. That’s what we spoke about at half time.
“If we front load our energy and get field position, then we get the ball in Latrell and Cody’s hands and we get to see what they can do.”
Dolphins boss Bennett – who had said in the lead-up to the game: “Cody (Walker) is one of the most skilful players that I coached.”
After the game, he struggled to be quite as complimentary. Asked about Walker’s brilliance, he had just two words to offer: “Yeah sure.” After a lengthy pause, he added: “We done?”
But Demetriou admitted his team still has a long way to go this season.
“I think we’re lukewarm,” he said. “There’s still a fair bit to go yet … we’re building in the way we want to be but we’ve got some really tough games coming up and we’ve got some areas we need to improve in if we want to get the result in those.”
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