With star playmaker Cody Walker ruled out of Saturday night’s crucial matchaway against Cronulla due to a calf injury, South Sydney’s already slim hopes of making the NRL finals have taken a devastating new blow. Walker was selected to start in the first half of the Souths’ match against the Sharks by interim coach Ben Hornby, but the veteran was “not right” and would not participate in the match, Hornby disclosed at training on Friday.
The Rabbitohs halfback hurt his calf during the team’s loss to Canberra last week. He attempted to test it out at Souths training on Friday, but he eventually gave in to the pain. Walker will be replaced in the Rabbitohs lineup by Dion Teaupa, who has only appeared in three NRL games for the Souths this season.
When asked about his inspirational playmaker during a press conference at Souths training on Friday, Hornby confirmed the tragic news about Walker. The acting head coach declared, “He’s not right, he won’t play.” He had calf pain last week. He attempted to try it today, but it’s simply not working. We’ll give it another week and proceed from there.
“It’s not worth putting him in that situation, the physio told me; he’s just not right and doesn’t feel like he can finish the game.” Today was his first session. Dion has been working out all week, so I’m glad he was able to get this chance.
Cody Walker’s calf injury will keep him out of the Sharks game, according to Ben Hornby. He will be replaced at halfback by Dion Teaupa ❤️💚.
Walker leads the team in try assists this year, so his absence will be a severe blow to a South Sydney team that is already struggling to survive due to injuries. While Souths is hoping that Walker will be well enough to play against the top-seeded Storm in Sydney on Thursday night, their season may already be finished by then, as the Bunnies, in 15th place, will probably need to win their final games in order to finish in the top eight.
Long-term injuries have befallen Latrell Mitchell, Cam Murray, Tevita Tatola, and Jai Arrow; try-scoring maestro Alex Johnston, on the other hand, will be sidelined for the remainder of the season following an achilles rupture sustained last week against the Raiders. The Rabbitohs’ final six regular-season games, which begin on Saturday night against fourth-place Cronulla, pit them against all four of the top-four teams, further complicates matters.
Ben Hornby regrets the Souths’ injury-plagued season.
“The injuries have been tough this year,” Hornby remarked. Fletcher Myers will start in place of Johnston against the Sharks, taking over Walker’s goal-kicking responsibilities. “It appears that we have temporarily stopped it, but it seems to have returned.
“These are the cards that have been dealt, but our team is still strong enough to play competitively.” The injuries have been severe. Your team suffers when Origin players leave for extended periods of time. To be clear, I’m not here to justify our current situation. All we need to do is put forth our best effort.
Due to a disastrous start to the season that resulted in Jason Demetriou’s dismissal as coach, Souths have had to pay a price. With a significant portion of their salary cap sidelined due to injuries, the Bunnies managed just one victory in their first ten games. After Mitchell put on some incredible performances that gave the Rabbitohs hope for the finals, the team won five straight games. However, against the Eels, the superstar fullback suffered a foot injury that nearly ended his regular season.
Mitchell may still make a comeback in the closing stages, but Hornby stated that he will most likely need at least four weeks to recover. Mitchell might have played his final game of the season, though, as the Rabbitohs coach would undoubtedly be hesitant to take a chance on the 27-year-old if Souths are unable to advance to the finals.
“I believe ‘Trell’ still has three weeks left in the boot,” Hornby continued. It will take a build-up period to see where it is at because he won’t play the next week right out of the boot. After three weeks and another scan, we’ll decide what to do next.
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