The $1m gap between the Roosters and a new deal for Sam Walker

August 16, 2026 — 5:00am

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.

Remove items from your saved list to add more.

Queensland and Roosters half Sam Walker plays with the spirit of a wild west gun slinger, and he’s taking that attitude into his contract negotiations as his agents look for an extra $1 million in his deal at the NRL high-flyers.

The Roosters made a well weighted offer worth about $5.6 million over four years with ratchet clauses which will ensure Walker’s pay goes up when the cap increases over the next few years. But contract talks were put on hold this week, and Walker could hit the open market on November 1.

The premiership frontrunners believe Walker’s camp wants closer to $1.7 million a year at the Roosters, or $6.8 million over four years. This figure would be higher at a rival club. So there is a gap of about $1 million between the parties.

It’s not an insurmountable amount.

Walker showed maturity when he suggested putting negotiations on hold this week. It was a show of strength and brought clarity to a process that has been full of uncertainty. The Roosters were left wondering why they had to attend a meeting at all.

About two months ago, there was a quiet ring-around to gauge how serious the Roosters’ interest in Panthers champion Nathan Cleary was. It wasn’t conducted by Cleary’s agent, but instead by those who are close to Walker. They wanted to know if the Roosters were looking to move on from Walker.

There is no club in the NRL who wouldn’t want Cleary. But loving the one you are with isn’t hard when they are of Walker’s calibre.

It was a sign that while Walker is secure at the club, some of those around him have not been as confident about his future at Bondi.

There has been a quiet uneasiness in the relationship. That has come more from those outside the club than Walker himself. But it was all thrown up again when Walker decided to put the brakes on contract talks.

With $5 billion floating around, the NRL player market has gone wild

At the meeting with his agents, Clinton Schifcofske and Steve Gillis, Roosters board member Andrew Jolliffe, club general manager Mitch Aubusson and head of recruitment Joel Carbone, Walker took the lead and explained to the group that it was the wrong time to negotiate.

There was no discussion about the contract details. The Roosters would have entered that meeting hoping to walk out with a deal, so they would have been somewhat displeased. But Walker’s desire to put the focus on football was music to their ears.

They may be sitting down with a premiership winner in a couple of months, and their initial offer will definitely be upped. It’s a........

© Brisbane Times