Scott Bailey
Kieran Foran has made the biggest call of his rookie coaching career, declaring teenager Joey Walsh is ready to start as an NRL half against four-time Penrith premiership winner and NSW Origin champion Nathan Cleary.
Regular Manly half Jamal Fogarty was ruled out of the Sea Eagles bumper round nine clash against Penrith at CommBank Stadium on Sunday evening with a groin injury.
It means, Walsh will be handed one of the toughest starting debuts in the game, set to go head-to-head with Cleary.
“He’s got endless natural ability,” Manly’s interim coach Foran said of 19-year-old Walsh.
“On top of that he is a wonderful student of the game, he works extremely hard. He is a tough kid and is really courageous and competitive.
“He just ticks so many boxes. Without putting too much pressure on him, we have high hopes for Joey’s future in this game. We love what he is about.
“And tomorrow night he gets to go out there and do it. And we have all the belief in the world he is going to get out there and get the job done.”
The Sea Eagles had given Fogarty until yesterday’s captain’s run to prove his fitness and are hopeful he will face Brisbane next week after limping off late against Parramatta.
Walsh is viewed as Manly’s future, with the former Australian schoolboys rugby union representative playing 19 minutes off the bench in his NRL debut in Daly Cherry-Evans’ farewell game at the end of last season.
Former Manly coach Anthony Seibold had opted to leave Walsh to develop in NSW Cup at the start of this year, before Foran adopted a similar approach after Seibold’s axing.
Teenage playmaker Onitoni Large is also viewed as a long-term prospect.
The Sea Eagles have five-eighth Luke Brooks on their books until the end of next year, while Fogarty is signed until the end of 2028.
Fogarty has been one of Manly’s best this year, while Brooks has improved significantly through the Sea Eagles’ four-straight wins since Foran took over.
“He has been knocking on the door for some time and has known he’s thereabouts,” Foran said of Walsh.
“It was really important he kept working on his game in NSW Cup and building parts of his game we wanted him to work on.
“He’s been playing really well. I said to him a few weeks back your opportunity will come at some point through injury or what not, and it’s come this week.”
The other aspect of Manly’s future is their next coach, with Foran yet to start talks on taking over full-time after his faultless start.
The Sea Eagles have the Panthers, Brisbane and Wests Tigers in the next three weeks, in what looms as their biggest tests so far under the Manly great.
“I’ve got a bit of a beef with ‘Foz’ there, he’s making our job look very easy, when we’re always trying to tell everyone how hard it is,” Penrith coach Ivan Cleary quipped this week.
“It’s an amazing achievement, isn’t it?
“It’s obviously early in his coaching journey but clearly he knows what he’s doing and has got the full respect of the team.”
AAP
