THE YEAR THAT WAS | Cody Walker
In the first half of the season, Cody Walker was arguably the best player in the competition.
He was rewarded with a State of Origin debut in Brisbane, then helped the Rabbitohs go all the way to the Preliminary Finals with some sublime form at the latter stages of the season.
Walker finished the year with 16 tries, 16 try assists, 16 line-break assists and 13 forced drop-outs in a team with Adam Reynolds, the best short-kicker in the competition.
Season Highlight
Round 5 v Warriors – 28-24 W
Walker had many sublime performances in 2019 but the Warriors game was undoubtably his best and you only have to look in the try-scoring column to see why.
Four tries in any position is a truly special achievement, but it’s incredibly rare for a five-eighth to achieve such a feat. That’s exactly what Walker did.
It’s not as if the Rabbitohs put a cricket score on the Warriors either. Each of the tries were valuable given they only won the game by one of them.
Representative Highlight
State of Origin Game I – 18-14 L
Given Cody Walker made his NRL debut at the later age of 26, his State of Origin debut was just that little more special.
Now 29-years-old, Walker was called up to Fittler’s Blues for the opening game of the series at Suncorp Stadium.
He had two stints at five-eighth and was dangerous for the Blues in his second where he set the wheels in motion for a late try.
Off-field Highlight
Indigenous All-Stars captaincy
Whilst the captaincy is also technically on the field, being named the leader of the Indigenous All-Stars is no doubt one of, if not the proudest moment of Walker’s career.