Wayne Bennett once described Cody Walker as one of the greatest players he’s ever coached. It’s a fair compliment from a man who has presided over the careers of Darren Lockyer and Allan Langer.
It’s why Walker’s 19-minute second-half attacking blitz that that took the game away from the Dolphins would have come as no surprise to the master coach, who could do nothing as his old playmaker picked apart tired Dolphins defenders to lead the Bunnies to victory on Thursday night.
Walker, the forgotten man in what appears to be a two-way battle between Nicho Hynes and incumbent Jarome Luai for the NSW No.6 jersey, turned on an attacking masterclass to hand a reality check to his old mentor and his Dolphins.
It was the controversial try to Campbell Graham in the 44th minute that seemed to spark the five-eighth into action. The Rabbitohs five-eighth scored a try and set up three others in a period of dominance that was in complete contrast to what South Sydney dished up in the opening half.
The sin-binning of Kenny Bromwich for a high shot on Taane Milne acted as a shot of adrenalin for the excitable Walker, who began dissecting a reduced Dolphins defensive line with a number of selective passes that contributed to his teammates adding to the scoreboard.
Bennett, once so eager to answer questions about his No.6, was not so talkative after the game when a journalist began singing the praises of Walker.
Cody Walker and Wayne Bennett during their time together at the Rabbitohs.Credit: Getty
“Yeah sure … we done?” Bennett said before getting up and leaving the press conference.
Moments later, South Sydney coach Demetriou delivered the words that Bennett couldn’t, or wouldn’t, find.
“I’ve said it before. When he gets himself in the game like he does, he’s the best five-eighth in the game,” Demetriou said. “He’s a pleasure to coach when he’s in that kind of mood.
“We were coming deep out of our own end for large parts of that first half. We weren’t able to get the ball in his and Latrell [Mitchell]’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 Cody and Latrell’s hands and we get to see what they can do.”
While Bennett didn’t want to talk about Walker, he voiced his displeasure over a controversial decision of the bunker to confirm a try to Graham that sparked the second-half South Sydney resurgence.
Bennett, squaring off against his old club for the first time since departing the Rabbitohs at the end of 2021, said he was left “confused” by the ruling around South Sydney’s first try of the second half.
Bennett didn’t agree with the decision to award Graham’s try in the 44th minute, given replays showing Dolphins centre Euan Aitken was bumped to the ground as Graham moved to catch a cross-field kick from Lachlan Ilias.
The Dolphins, who were leading by eight points before Graham’s try, never recovered and conceded five straight tries in the second half of the clash at Suncorp Stadium to register their third loss of the season.
“It left me confused,” Bennett said in the post match press conference. “It was a push in the back. Euan [Aitken] is allowed to run the line he was running. He was going towards the ball.”
Bennett didn’t blame the decision for his team’s second-half capitulation. “We are all big enough to overcome that stuff. If that’s the call, that’s the call,” he said. “Decision made, move on.”
The NRL won’t hand down its position until after the Monday morning football review meeting.
The NRL’s head of football, Graham Annesley, made it clear that players are entitled to make incidental contact with a defending player while attempting to get to the ball.
“At this stage, I’ve only seen the broadcast coverage like everyone else, so I will reserve my final opinion until I’ve had a chance to review all available camera angles,” Annesley told the Herald the morning after Bennett’s Dolphins went down 36-14 to the Rabbitohs.
“But there a couple of relevant points worth making in general about incidents like this. Firstly, a player who is not in possession of the ball cannot deliberately interfere with another player who is also not in possession of the ball.
“However, an attacking player who is chasing a kick is entitled to attempt to get past defenders to contest the ball. In the process of doing so, there may at times be contact between opposing players in the chase for the ball. The real question is, was the contact avoidable or unavoidable, accidental or deliberate. I will be prepared to make a call on that once I’ve seen all the available footage.”
If Bennett watches it back, don’t expect him to continue past that moment. He appears to have unsubscribed to the Cody Walker Show.
Stream the NRL Premiership 2023 live and free on 9Now.
Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
