Cody Walker (rugby league)


Cody Walker is an Indigenous Australian and state representative professional rugby league footballer who plays as a and for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL.
He played for Country NSW and New South Wales in the 2019 State of Origin series and the Prime Minister's XIII.

Background

Walker was born in Nowra, New South Wales, Australia. He moved to Casino, New South Wales at a young age and is of Indigenous Australian descent - from Yuin and Bundjalung people. He attended Palm Beach Currumbin High School
Walker is the younger brother of former Penrith Panthers player Ryan Walker and cousin of Gold Coast Titans player Shannon Walker.
He played his junior rugby league for the Casino Cougars, before being signed by the Gold Coast Titans on a 4-year contract.

Playing career

Early career

In 2009 and 2010, Walker played for the Gold Coast Titans' NYC team.
In 2011, he followed his brother Ryan to the Penrith Panthers and played for their New South Wales Cup team, the Windsor Wolves. In 2012, he joined the Eastern Suburbs Tigers in the Queensland Cup.
After impressing in the 2012 season, he was invited to train with the Melbourne Storm in the 2013 NRL pre-season, before returning to the Titans for the 2013 season.
On 17 July 2013, he played for the Queensland Residents against the New South Wales Residents. At the conclusion of the 2013 season, he won the Queensland Cup's Best and Fairest award as well as topping the competition for points scored.
In September 2013, he signed a 1-year contract with the Melbourne Storm starting in 2014.
in 2015
On 17 June 2014, he signed a 2-year contract with the South Sydney Rabbitohs starting in 2015.
In 2015, Walker played for the North Sydney Bears in the NSW Cup. With Walker in the side, Norths made the finals series at seasons end. Walker collected two awards for his contributions winning Best & Fairest and Players player at Norths' end of the year presentation.

2016

In Round 1 of the 2016 NRL season, Walker made his NRL debut for the Rabbitohs against the Sydney Roosters, at. He was one of the most influential players in his side's 42-10 win at Allianz Stadium. Whilst in that match, he was filling in for the suspended Luke Keary, an injury to halfback, Adam Reynolds saw Walker maintain his position. In Round 5, Walker scored his first career try against the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the Rabbitohs' 16-12 win at Brookvale Oval. Despite multiple strong performances for Souths, Reynolds' return in Round 7 would push Walker out of the line-up. In Round 11, Walker was brought back into the side at the surprise position of fullback. Despite having never played the position since his teen years, he managed to set-up and score a try in his team's 34-24 win over the St. George Illawarra Dragons. Afterwards, on 1 June, he re-signed with the Rabbitohs on a 2-year contract. However, it was later revealed that he never put pen to paper before the Rabbitohs made the announcement, leaving the contract up in the air. In July, he officially signed a 3-year contract with the Rabbitohs until the end of 2019. He finished the 2016 season playing 20 games, scoring 8 tries and making 12 try-assists.

2017

Walker was named in the Rabbitohs squad for the 2017 NRL Auckland Nines. On 1 May 2017, Walker was named in The NSW Country representative side to take on The NSW City representative side in the last ever City vs Country game. Walker alternated between and throughout the year as the Rabbitohs struggled to cope with a season ending injury to Captain Greg Inglis in the opening round of the season. Walker finished the year playing all 24 games and not missing a single minute. He scored 6 tries while topping the Try Assists, Line Breaks and Line Break Assists charts for all Five-eighths.

2018

Walker played every game for Souths in 2018 scoring 12 tries as the club finished third on the table and qualified for the finals. Souths went on to reach the preliminary final against arch rivals the Sydney Roosters but lost the match 12-4 at the Sydney Football Stadium in front of a ground record crowd of 44,380.

2019

In Round 5 against the New Zealand Warriors, Walker scored 4 tries as Souths won the match 28-24 at the Sunshine Coast Stadium.
On 27 May, Walker's good form at club level earned him selection for New South Wales against Queensland in the 2019 State of Origin series. Following New South Wales defeat in Game 1, Walker was one of the players dropped from the team for Game 2 by coach Brad Fittler. Walker was also one of the New South Wales players who refused to sing the Australian National Anthem before the start of Game 1.
Walker made a total of 25 appearances for Souths in the 2019 NRL season as the club finished third on the table and qualified for the finals. Walker scored a try in the club's elimination finals victory over Manly-Warringah at ANZ Stadium. Walker played in the club's preliminary final defeat against the Canberra Raiders at Canberra Stadium. During the first half of the game, Walker failed to ground the ball over the line, knocked out of his grasp by a try saving tackle from Canberra player Josh Hodgson.
On 30 September, Walker was named at 5/8 for the Australia PM XIII side. On 7 October, Walker was named in the Australian side for the 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s. On 18 December, Walker signed a contract extension to remain at South Sydney until the end of the 2022 season.

2020

In round 12 of the 2020 NRL season, Walker scored two tries for Souths as they defeated St. George 32-24 at Kogarah Oval.

Controversy

On 22 May 2020, Walker was given a two-match ban by the NRL and also a $15,000 suspended fine after a video emerged of Walker kung-fu kicking a man who was involved in a fight with another person. The video was recorded in December 2019 but it only became public knowledge after one of the men threatened to blackmail Walker for $20,000.
South Sydney were also fined $20,000 for not informing the NRL of the incident.