Sam Walker will be heading to NRL free agency from Sunday, 1 November, after he allegedly backflipped on signing a rich, $4-million-plus offer that the club had drawn up for him some weeks ago.
The Roosters had been very eager to re-sign the 24-year-old as a centrepiece to their impending rebuild, offering him one of the richest deals in the tricolour’s long NRL history.
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That’s now been pulled, though, after Walker’s management apparently bombed late-stage negotiations with Roosters officials. Both sides couldn’t agree on final points, The Sporting Base understands, which infuriated the club because they thought the deal had already been struck between the two parties.
In a stunning late-hour twist, chairman Nick Politis then gave club recruitment chief Joel Carbone the green light to pull the deal, and publicly state they wouldn’t be retaining the premiership halfback beyond 2027.
“The Sydney Roosters have this evening advised the management of Sam Walker that the Club’s offer for a contract extension beyond the 2027 season has been withdrawn after the parties were unable to reach an agreement on terms,” the Roosters said in a surprise club statement on Monday night.
The Roosters added: “The club remains focused on maintaining a premiership-winning roster, with all recruitment and retention decisions made to support the strength, balance and long-term success of the playing squad.”
It may be one of the worst negotiations we’ve seen in some time, considering Walker had been adamant he wanted to stay at the Roosters for the rest of his NRL career.
Walker’s management, including agent Clinton Schifcofske, flew to Brisbane on Monday for a meeting with the Kangaroos halfback after his debut in Sunday’s 36-22 win over Fiji. Fox Sports has reported that it was Schifcofske who had asked for a “slight upgrade” on the already agreed-upon payment plan.
It was that, the Daily Telegraph has suggested, which saw the deal capitulate and the entire thing collapse. The Roosters are still eager to have Walker on the books for 2027, but he may leave early if things get any worse.
Head coach Trent Robinson had also been very vocal about expecting Walker to re-sign, even declaring as much as on Channel 7’s Agenda Setters on Monday.
“These things aren’t difficult,” Robinson explained on the topic. “They’re [only] difficult because somebody is about to make their debut for Australia.
“Sammy sat down today; I’d say we’d have an answer in the next few hours about what’s going to happen. Sam just had to sit down with his management today, and I’d say there’d be a phone call this afternoon or tonight.
“It’s not difficult, it just needed time for them to sit down.”
That would have been within an hour of the release, which was released at 8.07 PM on that same evening. The general reported mood in the Bondi camp is now total disappointment that things went the way they did.
“We love Sam, and it would break the kid’s heart if he had to leave… I believe he wants to stay,” Politis had told the Telegraph a little earlier this week.
“This is the perfect club for him. He loves the eastern suburbs; this is his second home.”
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