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THE CLEARY RUMOUR THAT WON’T GO AWAY

Despite wanting to stay at the Roosters, the news of the contract breakdown only lifts the odds of Walker leaving the club and if it did happen, the Roosters would have at least $1.3 million to spend on a replacement.

For months, there’s been rumours that the Roosters were looking at poaching Nathan Cleary from the Panthers.

“We know the Roosters, they love a glamour signing and we’ve spoken about it that Nathan Cleary will go to November 1 and see what’s out there,” reporter Brent Read said on NRL 360 in April.

NRL 360 host Braith Anasta added at the time: “That’s an interesting one actually because Nathan’s going to market, Sam Walker can go to market November 1, (Daly Cherry-Evans) might be done by then.

“So there’s actually a chance of that happening. That could be a possibility that the Roosters have a lash at Nathan and Ivan Cleary at the same time.”

Gorden Tallis said: “It is common sense for a club like the Roosters and they are a marquee organisation to try and get the best player. I think every club would be interested in Nathan Cleary.”

The champion halfback is likely to go to market on November 1. Read has said that he doesn’t see Cleary going to PNG.

But if the Roosters come knocking, a move to the beach wouldn’t be out of the question.

It’s hard to imagine Cleary playing against Penrith — but if he’s keen to stay, why hasn’t he signed?

WALKER’S BUMPY RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ROOSTERS

The Roosters are known for being ruthless when it comes to personnel and there’s been no bigger illustration of this than when they let premiership-winning halfback Mitchell Pearce go so they could get Cooper Cronk.

Walker’s time at the Roosters, and his relationship with the club, has been interesting.

He has been dropped from the NRL side before. There have at times been questions over his future at the club, and whether he was in fact their long-term halfback, given his off-the-cuff style.

There were fresh questions asked earlier this year as to why the club hadn’t made a move to re-sign Walker before other clubs could talk to him.

“I still think Sam is an immense talent, who is going to be a great footballer in this game for a long time, but at the Roosters if you don’t aim up the spotlight is on you,” Read said in April.

The Roosters didn’t want to re-sign Walker to a multimillion-dollar deal until they saw how he handled his first State of Origin series.

That was because there was a view within the game that while Walker was a great player, he might not be good enough to steer a team to a grand final win.

They didn’t have complete faith in the 24-year-old to be the club’s next Cronk.

They even brought in 37-year-old veteran Daly Cherry-Evans to give Walker a hand.

But he proved he was a big-game player at the highest level with a Player of the Match award in Game II of this year’s Origin series.

And had Queensland won the decider he likely would have won the Wally Lewis Medal as player of the series.

“That Origin series was massive for him. It gave him the confidence that he’s one of the best halfbacks in the game,” teammate Connor Watson said on NRL 360 on Tuesday.

Roosters billionaire chairman Nick Politis recently said he wanted Walker at the club “for life”.

“Sammy has been fantastic for us. We have a great relationship and we want him to stay. I’m confident we can get a deal done,” Politis said last month,

Since then, Walker has had some big games at NRL level, including a starring show in the 82-12 win over the Cowboys.

But he didn’t back it up last week with a top performance against the Bulldogs.

The fact the two parties are at an impasse in negotiations creates an awkward tension for the Roosters leading up to the finals series.

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“Sam Walker and the Roosters need to resolve their contract. I think it’ll take a lot of noise out of the discussion and a lot of noise out of Sam’s head,” journalist Dave Riccio said on Tuesday night’s episode of NRL 360.

“They need to get it down, because that’ll free up his mind heading into the finals series.”

Fellow journalist Paul Crawley thinks it may already be affecting Walker’s mindset.

“He has been hot and cold,” Crawley said on NRL 360 on Tuesday night.

“He had such a great game the week before against the Cowboys and he was nowhere near his best against the Bulldogs.

“The hot and cold between Sam is what he’s got to correct because at this time of the year you want to see him performing at least at an eight every week.”

BRISBANE HOMECOMING?

With Adam Reynolds retiring, the Broncos could now come into the picture and offer to bring Walker back to his home state.

Walker was signed to a development deal at the Broncos while he was in high school.

When he left the Broncos in 2019 to go to the Roosters, at least 10 other NRL clubs were keen on securing his services.

The Broncos have signed Jonah Pezet to replace Reynolds, but he’s hardly set it alight this year at Parramatta.

Tom Duffy has impressed late in the season at Brisbane as a fill-in for the injured Reynolds, but the club’s halves pairing next season is looking weak on paper given that Ezra Mam has been out of form this year.

The opportunity to play with Reece Walsh would be exciting for Walker.

BULLDOGS TO MAKE A PLAY?

Another club that could go after Walker is the Bulldogs.

They would love to give Lachlan Galvin a genuine halfback to play alongside so Stephen Crichton could go back to his favoured centre position.

The club’s general manager Phil Gould is a master at signing players and reshaping a roster.

He basically changed the whole playing squad within two years after arriving at the club in 2021.

Matt Burton’s big deal ends next season and the Dogs would no doubt have the salary cap space to fit Walker in.

Getting Walker into the club would basically complete the footy side.

They’ve got most positions covered but don’t have a genuine top halfback, and with boom No.7 Mitchell Woods struggling to get on the park due to chronic hamstring issues, it would make sense for Canterbury to go after Walker.

WHERE DOES WALKER END UP?

Despite the broken down contract negotiations, the Roosters are still the favourites to retain Walker given he wants to stay there and the club wants him as part of their long-term goals.

If they can’t come to an agreement and he decides to move on, the Chiefs would be favourites to get him, followed by the Bulldogs, Bears and Broncos.

If Walker does go to market on November 1, Roosters fans will be nervous knowing he will be offered more money by the two new franchises.

They also won’t be underestimating Gould’s smarts.

And if Walker does leave the Roosters, all of a sudden Penrith fans will get worried about the Bondi club’s potential Plan B – Nathan Cleary.