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Souths rocked by Cody Walker news in massive new blow to faint hopes of finals footy

Things have gone from bad to worse for the desperate South Sydney side.

andrew reid
·4-min read

South Sydney's already slim NRL finals hopes have been dealt a crushing new blow, with star playmaker Cody Walker ruled out of Saturday night's crunch showdown away to Cronulla due to a calf injury. Interim Souths coach Ben Hornby named Walker to start in the halves against the Sharks but revealed at training on Friday that the veteran was "not right" and would take no part in the match.

The Rabbitohs halfback injured the calf during last week’s loss to Canberra and tried testing it out at Souths training on Friday, but ultimately succumbed to the issue. Walker's place in the Rabbitohs side is set to be taken by Dion Teaupa, who has played just three NRL games for Souths this year.

Souths star Cody Walker is pictured in the image on the left.
Souths' slim finals hopes have taken another blow, with Cody Walker the latest star to be sidelined with injury. Pic: Getty

Hornby confirmed the devastating news about Walker when asked about his inspirational playmaker during a press conference at Souths training on Friday. “He’s not right, he won’t play,” the interim coach said. “He hurt his calf last week. He tried to give it a go today but it’s just not right, so we’ll give it another week and go from there.

“The physio told me he’s just not right and he doesn’t feel like he can get through the game, so there’s no point putting him in that situation. It was his first session today. Dion has been training all week, so I’m happy for him to come in and get his opportunity.”

Walker leads the team for try assists this season and his absence is yet another huge blow to a South Sydney side already ravaged by injuries as they try and keep their season alive. Souths be be hoping Walker recovers in time for next Thursday night’s game against the ladder-leading Storm in Sydney, but their season could be over by then with the 15th-placed Bunnies likely needing to win all of their remaining fixtures to sneak into the top eight.

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Latrell Mitchell, Cam Murray, Tevita Tatola and Jai Arrow have all suffered long-term injuries, while try-scoring machine Alex Johnston will miss the rest of the season after he ruptured his achilles last week against the Raiders. And to make matters even more challenging for the Rabbitohs, they play matches against every one of the top-four sides in their last six games of the regular season, starting with fourth-placed Cronulla on Saturday night.

“It’s been a tough year on the injury front,” Hornby said, with Fletcher Myers set to replace Johnston and take over the goal-kicking duties from Walker against the Sharks. “We thought we stopped it for a while, but it seems to have come back again.

“They’re the cards that have been dealt, but we still have a side that’s good enough to go out and be competitive. It (the injuries) has been massive. When you’re losing Origin players for long periods, it hurts your team. But I’m not here to make excuses for where we are. We’ve just got to go out and be our best.”

Seen here, Cody Walker and Rabbitohs teammate Latrell Mitchell.
Cody Walker has joined Latrell Mitchell on the sidelines for the injury-ravaged Rabbitohs. Pic: Getty

Souths have paid the price for a horror start to the year that saw Jason Demetriou axed as coach. The Bunnies won just one of their opening 10 matches – with injuries to key personnel keeping a large chunk of their salary cap out of action. The Rabbitohs breathed life back into their finals hopes with five wins in a row on the back of some stunning displays from Mitchell, before the superstar fullback picked up a foot injury against the Eels that all but ended his regular season.

Mitchell could still return in the latter stages but Hornby confirmed that he is probably at least four weeks away from being ready. The Rabbitohs coach would surely be reluctant to risk the 27-year-old if Souths can't make the finals though, meaning Mitchell may have already played his last game of the season.

“I think ‘Trell’ has got another three weeks in the boot,” Hornby added. “He’s not going to come straight out of the boot and play the next week, so there’s going to be a build-up period to see where it’s at. We’ve got another scan and the boot for three weeks and then we go from there.”

with agencies