Sam Walker leads Roosters to Anzac Day win over Dragons

Sydney Roosters halfback Sam Walker put on a scoring clinic to win his second Ashton Collier Spirit of Anzac medal and slaughter the St George Illawarra Dragons at Allianz Stadium.

Walker has become the third player to win the prestigious medal twice, after former State of Origin and Australian Kangaroo representatives Darius Boyd and Boyd Cordner.

Walker’s perfect conversion rate, 19 tackles with just one miss and whopping 354 kicking metres were just the beginning of his brilliant performance.

Walker’s short-kicking was also on point, as he forced three line drop-outs that the Dragons failed to regather. One kick led to Walker being awarded a penalty try when Dragon Fa’amanu Brown illegally contacted Walker without the ball and another saw Luke Keary find the in-goal area.

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The match started dramatically when Jared Waerea-Hargraves returned the kick-off in typically dominant fashion, leading to Dragons’ centre Moses Suli being ruled out of the match with a category-one concussion by the independent doctor.

The Dragons opened the scoring early through Jaydn Su’a’s incredible flick-pass from Zac Lomax on the right wing, which led to a Tyrell Sloan kick that ultimately brought Jack Bird into the play, who found Su’a for the try.

Sadly for the St George Illawarra Dragons fans, it didn’t take long for Walker and the Roosters to click into gear. Dominic Young was the first of the tri-colours to score in the right corner, all-be-it in controversial style.

Angus Crichton was in the right place at the right time to capitalise on a Dragons turnover and score a try on the left edge before fellow back-rower Nat Butcher made the line break that saw Walker kick for a Joseph Manu try.

The next try for the Sydney Roosters was scored in a very similar style, with another short kick from Walker leading to a penalty try being awarded in his favour.

The former Broncos junior then found halves partner Keary, who was able to scurry through the Dragons defence and score, giving Walker his third try assist for the match.

The floodgates opened for the Roosters after the Keary try, with Manu scoring his second of the match, captain and fullback James Tedesco and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii scoring their first of the afternoon, and Butcher nabbing a second for the day.

The Roosters now find themselves 6th on the NRL ladder and look forward to taking on fellow 2023 NRL finalists the Brisbane Broncos, New Zealand Warriors and Cronulla Sharks in the coming weeks as $11 chances to win the 2024 NRL Premiership.

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