2 weeks Ago
Journalist Paul Crawley has cast doubt over whether South Sydney should re-sign skipper and key playmaker Cody Walker. Walker, 35, is off-contract at the end of 2025 and will be 36 at the start of the 2026 season. NRL 360 host Braith Anasta and journalist Dean Ritchie were both of the opinion that Walker will be offered a new one-year deal by the Rabbitohs.
But Crawley said he didn’t agree with the idea of Walker receiving a contract extension. “I don’t get that at this stage. I thought Cody had a pretty disappointing year last year,” Crawley said on NRL 360.
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Limited-time offer. “Yes he had injuries, but he was disappointing.” Crawley wondered whether the Rabbitohs would be better served going in a different direction in 2026.
Crawley said: “Ask yourself this: Will South Sydney be a better team in 2026 when Cody Walker is 36 and he’s still their main playmaker?” “Or do they need to start looking and planning for the future? “I just look at Souths at the moment. (They) aren’t quite up with the elite sides.” Ritchie came to Walker’s defence, pointing out that he didn’t make his NRL debut until 2016, when he was 26 years of age.
“Don’t forget Cody didn’t really establish himself in the NRL until he was 27. So he’s got a few years left in him that others don’t have because of wear and tear,” Ritchie said. But Crawley wasn’t buying Ritchie’s view.
“I don’t know about that. You can’t play until you’re 100 just because you started at 26,” Crawley said. MORE NRL NEWS ‘EYE FOR AN EYE’ Cleary’s hip-drop confusion as NRL coaches vent over refs ‘NOT BACKING HIM’: DCE urged to stand down as skipper amid horror form slump RESSIES WRAP: Cleary’s little brother stuns with freakish act; Galvin’s monster outing TALKING POINTS: Wayne’s big headache as Bunnies ‘battered’; ‘buy of the year’ The Rabbitohs have other playmaking options, with Jayden Sullivan named to partner Walker in the halves for Friday night’s clash against the Storm.
Jamie Humphreys is out with a hamstring injury until round 10, while Lewis Dodd, who played his first game in Rabbitohs’ colours against the Bulldogs on Good Friday, is another option, but he has been left out of the side this week. Later on in the exchange, Crawley questioned the Rabbitohs’ premiership credentials with Walker as their key playmaker. “But if you want to be a premiership contender, I’m not certain Souths are going to be in a greater spot this time next year if Cody remains their main man,” Crawley said.
Ritchie said he felt that Crawley was too quick to declare that the Rabbitohs should move on from Walker. “You’re dismissing an elite player there pretty quickly there, Crawls,” Ritchie said. Crawley replied: “I’m not dismissing him mate, I’m saying, at the moment, I don’t consider Souths up with the top four teams.
” Later on, Crawley said age might have caught up with Walker. “I don’t think 36 (Walker’s age in 2026) is where your best football’s at,” Crawley said. But Ritchie felt the Rabbitoihs should stick with Walker unless they find a replacement who is a better player.
“There’s no point getting rid of someone if you’ve got no one better to come in,” Ritchie said..
