Teen star reveals why he knocked back Gus and rugby ahead of date with Cleary

To fully appreciate the hype around teenage Manly halfback Joey Walsh, who makes his starting NRL debut against Penrith champion Nathan Cleary on Sunday, consider that he has already knocked back overtures from Phil Gould and dealt with predictions he would be the Wallabies five-eighth for the Rugby World Cup had he stuck with the 15-man code.

It’s not quite the hype that met Lachlan Galvin’s entry into the big time, but it’s not far off.

A groin injury has ruled regular Sea Eagles No.7 Jamal Fogarty out of the Sea Eagles’ clash with the Panthers at CommBank Stadium, resulting in a long-awaited elevation for Walsh. At the age of 19, with just 19 minutes of first-grade experience – he made his debut off the bench against the Warriors in the final game of last season – Walsh is tasked with marking the Panthers maestro.

It is a mammoth task, but good judges have always felt he was destined for big things.

Earlier this year, Panthers legend Greg Alexander waxed lyrical after closely observing Walsh play rugby for St Augustine’s College in Brookvale.

“I thought he’s as good as any kid I’ve ever seen at schoolboy level,” Alexander told SEN radio.

“If he didn’t sign with Manly, and stayed with Manly [in rugby] where he was signed with the Waratahs, I’ve got no doubt that next year he would be the Wallabies five-eighth.”

Ultimately, Walsh chose to switch to the Sea Eagles, and will get an opportunity to show everyone what all the fuss is about.

“It’s a big call, I’m not too sure about all of that,” Walsh said of Alexander’s comments.

“Brandy’s a great bloke, I played lots of school footy with his son Beau, who’s a really good player, too. Nice to hear those things, but obviously you don’t want to read into it too much … Our club definitely provides lots of support about not letting it get to your head, so a big focus for me is honestly playing my footy and focusing on footy when I’m at training.

“But I’m taking a step away from it at home, trying not to look into social media too much because whether it’s good or bad, it’s not gonna do too much good for me, so I just try to stay away from it.”

Another admirer is Gould, who tried to poach Walsh before he brought Galvin to Canterbury.

“He was a really great bloke to meet and obviously, he’s running a very successful club over there,” Walsh said of Gould in a recent interview with this masthead.

“Hopefully, I’ll stay in contact with him throughout my career, but for me Manly’s a very local club. I grew up here, so it’s pretty exciting to be able to play for a local team.”

Manly have earmarked Walsh and fellow young gun Onitoni Large as their long-term halves. Interim Sea Eagles coach Kieran Foran opted not to rush the captain of the Australian under-18s rugby team straight into the side when he first took over from Anthony Seibold, but on Saturday felt he was ready to take on premiership frontrunners Penrith.

“He’s got endless natural ability,” Foran said in his pre-game media conference. “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.”

One of Walsh’s idols growing up was Daly Cherry-Evans. The youngster said he was fortunate to spend time with the former Manly captain while they are both at the club.

“I learned loads, he was unreal to me,” Walsh said. “He spent lots of time helping me improve my game, obviously because it was my first year coming back to league.

“He’s taught me to keep playing eyes-up footy, the structure and all that will come with games, but just try and keep your eyes up and play with your instincts, which was a very good lesson.”

With AAP