Cleary and Walker will wage a war in their own heads. But only one might survive

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Nathan Cleary and Sam Walker are going off to war inside their own heads this week.

That’s what playing with an injury, or coming back from an injury, is. And the bigger the injury, and the bigger the game, the more intense that psychological warfare with yourself is.

Now, Nathan and the Panthers have been far more vague about their superstar No.7’s “stress-related bone issue” ahead of Sunday’s clash against Newcastle and how he’s travelling, though it seems he’s going to be right to play.

Sam Walker has had a month to heal after surgery on a syndesmosis injury and is closing in on a remarkable recovery to lead the Roosters in Friday’s grand final qualifier against the Dolphins.

Injuries are a fact of life in rugby league, but when they hit, you’re nothing like yourself. You’re filled with self-doubt and even guilt about letting your teammates down. Your routine and training loads are entirely different and for Nathan, I think that’s amplified because he’s the most thorough player I’ve ever seen with his preparation.

I have a couple of reservations about how Nathan handles this injury, particularly given it’s to his right kicking foot.

The talk is that he will hand the goal kicking over to Dylan Edwards and that Jack Cole (named at five-eighth) or Jack Cogger (who I think could easily start in the halves) will take on more general-play kicking. Either way, it’s not ideal on the left side of the ruck because Cole and Cogger are both right-footers, but obviously not in Nathan’s elite class.

The other issue with ankle and foot injuries is when you’re trying to get up on your toes to sprint and accelerate. This would obviously hamper Cleary’s running game. But I think it could be even more critical to his lateral defensive movements.

One of the few parts of Nathan’s game that can be targeted is that he will occasionally over-chase an attacking side’s lead runners, which we saw most famously in the 2023 grand final against Brisbane when Reece Walsh skewered Penrith.

Defending as the three-man (the third defender in from the sideline) means you have to “double defend” – where you pivot off the opposition’s lead ball-runner or decoy and cover the fullback if they’re sweeping around to the outside.

You need to be able to accelerate, and you certainly don’t need any doubts about whether you can do it.

Especially if it’s Kalyn Ponga, Francis Manuleleua and Bradman Best making a beeline for you.

Manuleleua is just the perfect young back-rower with plenty of mongrel to go after Cleary in this situation. But then again, Liam Martin is the best bodyguard Nathan could ask for, too.

So, does that change the way Penrith defend on their right edge to help out Nathan?

Blaize Talagi was fantastic against the Roosters, but he’s had his issues this year, while Luke Garner and Izack Tago are still there on Ivan Cleary’s extended bench, too.

And don’t worry. Ivan will have a plan to protect his superstar No.7 and the best defensive system in the game, but it’s a fascinating question.

Especially when we’re all wondering how much training he will do, how much movement Penrith can get into Nathan’s foot this week, and how that head noise is playing out between his ears.

As for Sam Walker, he’s coming back from surgery on his left or “plant” foot – which stays on the ground when he kicks, so that won’t affect his best asset.

Come game day, it’ll be 27 days since he went down against the Dolphins with ruptured ankle ligaments.

By all accounts, he’s been back running for a couple of weeks, easing that head noise. But then you have to ask, just how fast and how intense has that running been?

Sammy is the Roosters’ left-side half and loves stepping back off his left foot, so the obvious question there is, can he do that – physically and mentally? The question is there in the back of your mind, whether you like it or not.

“If I step, is this thing going to pop?”

But I’d say Sam is in a better place with that than Nathan, simply because he’s had twice as much time to recover. Daly Cherry-Evans does more long kicking for the Roosters than Walker anyway, but I expect him to step that up and, like Cleary, I see Sam’s injury being tested defensively.

Big Dolphins second-rower Kulikefu Finefeuiaki runs down Walker’s left-edge channel and a big part of his defensive footwork will be transferring his body weight from his back foot to his front foot, again testing out that ankle.

If either Cleary or Walker have to go off with their injury, or they don’t make it to game day, then I think the Roosters are far better placed to cope. Hugo Savala has proven himself an out-and-out NRL half, while Nathan is just so critical to everything the Panthers do. He is the game’s best player after all.

Penrith will start as deserved favourites on Sunday afternoon. But given the fast, up-tempo way both sides like to attack, I think it will take 20 to 24 points to win that grand final qualifier.

If Cleary isn’t on the paddock, can Jack Cole or Jack Cogger set up three or four Panthers tries?

At Suncorp Stadium on Friday night, meanwhile, we get to sit back and watch Walker and Isaiya Katoa go at it – the two best young No.7s in the game, and two halfbacks with a decade of footy still to play against each other.

Beyond the NRL, Walker will be playing for Queensland and Australia for years. Katoa will do the same for NSW and Tonga. I love the way they both approach their craft so differently. Sammy is old-school – he’s all-in, he’s the 1990s halfback, Alfie Langer-style gambler.

Katoa is far more measured and, in my eyes, he’s got shades of Cleary and Cody Walker in his game already. Here’s how I see them stack up.

Katoa’s composed nature will hold up in the big games – look at Cleary, no one does it better. But in the big moments, a gambler like Walker might steal the win from right under your nose.

That’s the beauty of Friday night’s clash and what promises to be another Suncorp Stadium epic. I think the Roosters just get home in a thriller. And I think it will come down to a big moment late in the contest. It could easily just be a matter of which prodigious young halfbacks seizes it.

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