Cody Walker (rugby league)

Cody Walker
Walker playing for the North Sydney Bears in 2015.
Personal information
Born (1990-01-10) 10 January 1990
Nowra, New South Wales, Australia
Height 179 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight 90 kg (14 st 2 lb)
Playing information
Position Five-eighth, Halfback, Fullback
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2016– South Sydney Rabbitohs 20 8 10 0 52
As of 31 July 2016
Source: [1]

Cody Walker (born 10 January 1990) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the National Rugby League. He primarily plays at five-eighth and halfback, but can also fill in at fullback.

Background

Born in Nowra, New South Wales, Walker moved to Casino, New South Wales at a young age[2] and is of Indigenous Australian descent.[3] He attended Palm Beach Currumbin High School[4] and played his junior rugby league for the Casino Cougars, before being signed by the Gold Coast Titans on a 4-year contract.[2]

Walker is the younger brother of former Penrith Panthers player Ryan Walker[2] and cousin of Gold Coast Titans player Shannon Walker.[5]

Playing career

Early career

In 2009 and 2010, Walker played for the Gold Coast Titans' NYC team.[6] In 2011, he followed his brother Ryan to the Penrith Panthers and played for their New South Wales Cup team, Windsor Wolves.[2] In 2012, he joined the Eastern Suburbs Tigers in the Queensland Cup.[7] After impressing in the 2012 season, he was invited to train with the Melbourne Storm in the 2013 NRL pre-season,[8] before returning to the Tigers for the 2013 season. On 17 July 2013, he played for the Queensland Residents against the New South Wales Residents.[9] At the conclusion of the 2013 season, he won the Queensland Cup's Best and Fairest award as well as topping the competition for points scored.[5] In September 2013, he signed a 1-year contract with the Melbourne Storm starting in 2014.[10] On 17 June 2014, he signed a 2-year contract with the South Sydney Rabbitohs starting in 2015.[11]

2016

In Round 1 of the 2016 NRL season, Walker made his NRL debut for the Rabbitohs against the Sydney Roosters, at five-eighth.[12][13] He was one of the most influential players in his side's 42-10 win at Allianz Stadium. Whilst in that match, he was filling in for the suspended Luke Keary, an injury to halfback, Adam Reynolds saw Walker maintain his position. In Round 5, Walker scored his first career try against the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the Rabbitohs' 16-12 win at Brookvale Oval. Despite multiple strong performances for Souths, Reynolds' return in Round 7 would push Walker out of the line-up. In Round 11, Walker was brought back into the side at the surprise position of fullback. Despite having never played the position since his teen years, he managed to set-up and score a try in his team's 34-24 win over the St. George Illawarra Dragons.[14] Afterwards, on 1 June, he re-signed with the Rabbitohs on a 2-year contract.[15] However, it was later revealed that he never put pen to paper before the Rabbitohs made the announcement, leaving the contract up in the air.[16] In July, he officially signed a 3-year contract with the Rabbitohs until the end of 2019.[17] He finished the 2016 season playing 20 games, scoring 8 tries[18] and making 12 try-assists.

References

  1. ↑ "Cody Walker - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. 1990-01-10. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Michael Carayannis (2016-02-22). "South Sydney Rabbitohs young gun Cody Walker set to make NRL debut". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  3. ↑ "Nocookies". The Australian. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  4. ↑ "Arrive alive Cup Grand Final 2008 - Matraville SHS Vs Palm Beach Currumbin - Action Photo Gallery". Ourfootyteam.com. 2008-09-26. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  5. 1 2 "Casino's Cody Walker takes out QRL Best and Fairest award". Northern Star. 2013-09-12. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  6. ↑ "W". Nyc Database. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  7. ↑ "Walker, Kauffman big winners at Tigers' awards night". Couriermail.com.au. 2012-10-05. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  8. ↑ "Easts duo Thompson and Walker training with Melbourne Storm NRL's top squad during the off-season". Couriermail.com.au. 2012-12-13. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  9. ↑ NRL. "XXXX Queensland Residents team". QRL. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  10. ↑ Zero Tackle (2013-09-11). "Walker signs with the Storm". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  11. ↑ Rabbitohs.com.au (2014-06-17). "Cody Walker signs with Rabbitohs". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  12. ↑ "Updated: Round 1 NRL team lists". NRL.com. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  13. ↑ NRL. "Late Mail: Round 1, 2016". Rabbitohs. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  14. ↑ "NRL Match Centre 2016". matchcentre.nrl.com. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  15. ↑ "Rabbitohs re-sign Cody Walker". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
  16. ↑ "Contract bungle points Bunny to Broncos". Zero Tackle. 2016-07-08. Retrieved 2016-07-12.
  17. ↑ "South Sydney on Twitter: "Cody Walker dropped by Rabbitohs HQ today to put pen to paper on those next three years! #GoRabbitohs"". Twitter.com. 2009-07-05. Retrieved 2016-07-12.
  18. ↑ "Cody Walker - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. 1990-01-10. Retrieved 2016-09-03.

External links

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