Cody Walker (born 10 January 1990) is an
Indigenous Australian
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
professional
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...
footballer who plays as a and for the
South Sydney Rabbitohs
The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league club based in Redfern, a suburb of inner-southern Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and are one of nine existing tea ...
in the
NRL.
At representative level he has played for the
Prime Minister's XIII,
Country NSW and
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
in the
State of Origin series
The State of Origin series is an annual best-of-three rugby league series between two Australian state representative sides, the New South Wales Blues and the Queensland Maroons.
Referred to as “Australian sport's greatest rivalry”, the ...
.
Background
Walker was born in
Nowra, New South Wales
Nowra is a city in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south-southwest of the state capital of Sydney (about as the crow flies). As of the 2021 census, Nowra has an estimated population of 22,584. Situated in th ...
,
Australia. He moved to
Casino, New South Wales
Casino is a town in the Northern Rivers area of New South Wales, Australia, with a population of 10,914 people at the . It lies on the banks of the Richmond River and is situated at the junction of the Bruxner Highway and the Summerland Way.
...
at a young age
and is of
Indigenous Australian
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
descent - from
Yuin
The Yuin nation, also spelt Djuwin, is a group of Australian Aboriginal peoples from the South Coast of New South Wales. All Yuin people share ancestors who spoke, as their first language, one or more of the Yuin language dialects. Sub-group ...
and
Bundjalung people
The Bundjalung people, also spelt Bunjalung, Badjalang and Bandjalang, are Aboriginal Australians who are the original custodians of the northern coastal area of New South Wales, Australia, located approximately northeast of Sydney, an area th ...
. He attended
Palm Beach Currumbin High School
Palm Beach Currumbin State High School (PBC High School or PBC) is an independent co-educational public school (government funded), in the Gold Coast suburb of Currumbin, Queensland, Australia. PBC is Queensland's southernmost coastal High sc ...
Walker is the younger brother of former
Penrith Panthers
The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrit ...
player
Ryan Walker and cousin of Gold Coast Titans player
Shannon Walker
Shannon Walker (born June 4, 1965) is an American physicist and a NASA astronaut selected in 2004. She launched on her first mission into space on June 25, 2010, onboard Soyuz TMA-19 and spent over 163 days in space.
She returned to space fo ...
.
He played his junior rugby league for the
Casino Cougars, before being signed by the
Gold Coast Titans
The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australia and New Zealand's national rugby league club competition. The ...
on a 4-year contract.
Playing career
Early career
In 2009 and 2010, Walker played for the Gold Coast Titans'
NYC
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
team playing 36 games and scoring 25 tries for 100 points.
In 2011, he followed his brother Ryan to the Penrith Panthers and played for their
New South Wales Cup
The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserv ...
team, the
Windsor Wolves
The Windsor Wolves are a rugby league team based in the town of Windsor, New South Wales. The club fields both junior and senior teams in the Penrith District Rugby League competitions. The club has fielded teams in semi-professional, New Sout ...
.
In 2012, he joined the
Eastern Suburbs Tigers
The Brisbane Tigers are a rugby league club based at Langlands Park, in the suburb of Coorparoo in Brisbane, Australia. Since 1996, they have competed in the Queensland Cup, having competed in the Brisbane Rugby League from 1934 to 1997, where ...
in the
Queensland Cup
The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fou ...
.
After impressing in the 2012 season, he was invited to train with the
Melbourne Storm
The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...
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
The Queensland Residents rugby league team is a representative rugby league team consisting of players who compete in the Intrust Super Cup (Queensland Cup) competition. They currently play an annual fixture against NSW Cup Representative Team, ...
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 one-year contract with the Melbourne Storm starting in 2014.
![codywalker](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Codywalker.jpg)
On 17 June 2014, he signed a two-year contract with the
South Sydney Rabbitohs
The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league club based in Redfern, a suburb of inner-southern Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and are one of nine existing tea ...
starting in 2015.
In 2015, Walker played for the
North Sydney Bears
The North Sydney Bears is an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. The club competes in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 90 years in t ...
in the
NSW Cup
The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserv ...
. With Walker in the side, Norths made the finals series at seasons end. Another grand final win for Walker. He 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
The 2016 NRL season was the 109th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 19th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, w ...
, Walker made his
NRL debut for the South Sydney club against the
Sydney Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen Ne ...
, 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
Luke Keary (born 3 February 1992) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Sydney Roosters in the NRL and Australia and Ireland at international level.
Keary previously played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, with ...
, an injury to halfback,
Adam Reynolds
Adam Reynolds (born 10 July 1990), is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who captains and plays as a for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL.
Reynolds played at representative level for the NRL All Stars, City New South Wales, ...
saw Walker maintain his position. In round 5, Walker scored his first career try against the
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...
in the Rabbitohs' 16-12 win at
Brookvale Oval
Brookvale Oval (also known by the commercial sponsorship name 4 Pines Park) is a sporting ground located within Brookvale Park at Brookvale, New South Wales, Australia. The ground is owned by Northern Beaches Council and is primarily used by th ...
. 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 South Sydney side on a two-year contract. However, it was later revealed that he never put pen to paper before South Sydney made the announcement, leaving the contract up in the air. In July, he officially signed a three-year contract with the Rabbitohs until the end of 2019. He finished the 2016 season playing 20 games, scoring eight tries and making 12 try-assists.
2017
Walker was named in the South Sydney squad for the
2017 NRL Auckland Nines
The 2017 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Downer NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the fourth NRL Auckland Nines competition. It was held on 4–5 February 2017 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. Just like previous tournaments, it ...
.
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 South Sydney struggled to cope with a season ending injury to Captain
Greg Inglis
Gregory Paul Inglis (born 15 January 1987), also known by the nickname of "G.I.", is a retired Australian professional rugby league footballer. His regular playing positions were Centre, Fullback, Five-eighth and Wing.
From 2011 to 2019 he pl ...
in the opening round of the season. Walker finished the year playing all 24 games and not missing a single minute. He scored six tries while topping the Try Assists (18), Line Breaks (16) and Line Break Assists (20) 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
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen Ne ...
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
The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...
, 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
The 2019 State of Origin series was the 38th annual best-of-three series between the Queensland and New South Wales rugby league teams. Before this series, Queensland had won 21 times, NSW 14 times, with two series drawn.
For just the second t ...
. 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
Bradley Scott Fittler (born 5 February 1972), also known by the nickname of "Freddy", is the head coach of the New South Wales State of Origin team, a commentator and a television presenter. Fittler has previously coached the Sydney Roosters i ...
. 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
The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...
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
ANZ may refer to:
People
* Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician
Banks
* ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia
** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand
* ...
. Walker played in the club's preliminary final defeat against the
Canberra Raiders
The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...
at
Canberra Stadium
Canberra Stadium (GIO Stadium for commercial reasons) is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sports ven ...
. 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
The 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s was the first staging of the Rugby League World Cup 9s tournament and took place on 18 and 19 October 2019 at Sydney's Bankwest Stadium. The tournament featured teams from 12 International Rugby League member ...
. 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
The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League.
Teams
The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year.
; Notes
:
:
:
Pre-seaso ...
, Walker scored two tries for Souths as they defeated St. George 32-24 at
Kogarah Oval
Jubilee Stadium, also known as Kogarah Oval or by its sponsored name Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, is a multipurpose stadium in Carlton, New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. The stadium is mainly used for rugby league and the A-League, and is one ...
.
In round 20, Walker scored two tries and was man-of-the-match in South Sydney's 60-8 victory over arch-rivals the
Sydney Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen Ne ...
at
ANZ Stadium
ANZ may refer to:
People
* Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician
Banks
* ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia
** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand
* ...
.
Peter Sterling described Walker's contribution to the unexpected victory as "the best individual performance I have seen this year" and "as near perfect as I have seen."
Walker made a total of 21 appearances throughout the season and scored ten tries. He played in South Sydney's preliminary final defeat against Penrith as the club fell short of a grand final appearance for a third year in a row.
Walker was selected by New South Wales for the
2020 State of Origin series
The 2020 State of Origin series was the 39th annual best-of-three series between the Queensland and New South Wales rugby league teams. Before this series, Queensland has won 21 times, NSW 15 times, with two series drawn.
Originally, the series ...
. He played in all three games as Queensland upset New South Wales winning the series 2-1.
2021
In round 3 of the
2021 NRL season
The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League.
Teams
The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year.
Regular season
Ladd ...
, Walker scored two tries in a 26-16 victory over arch rivals the
Sydney Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen Ne ...
.
The following week, he scored two tries in a 38-0 victory over Canterbury-Bankstown in the traditional
Good Friday game.
In round 10, Walker scored two tries for South Sydney in their 32-22 victory over Cronulla-Sutherland.
In the 2021 Finals Series, Walker scored two tries for South Sydney in a 36-16 victory over Manly in the preliminary final.
On 27 September, Walker was named Dally M Five Eighth of the year.
Walker played a total of 25 games for South Sydney in the
2021 NRL season
The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League.
Teams
The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year.
Regular season
Ladd ...
and scored 16 tries including one try in South Sydney's
2021 NRL Grand Final
The 2021 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2021 National Rugby League season in Australia. It was contested between the Penrith Panthers and the South Sydney Rabbitohs on Sunday 3 October at Suncorp Stadiu ...
loss against
Penrith. In the second half, Walker threw a long pass which was intercepted by Penrith player
Stephen Crichton who raced away to score a try when both teams were locked at 8-8. Walker later redeemed himself by setting up a try late in the second half but South Sydney fell short losing 14-12.
On 1 November, Walker signed a one-year contract extension with South Sydney which would keep him at the club until the end of the 2023 season.
2022
In round 12 of the
2022 NRL season
The 2022 NRL season is the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League.
Teams
The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest s ...
, Walker scored two tries for South Sydney in a 44-18 victory over
Wests Tigers
The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West and South West Sydney. They have competed in the National Rugby League since being formed at the end of the 1999 NRL season as a joint-venture ...
.
Walker played 27 games for South Sydney in the
2022 NRL season
The 2022 NRL season is the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League.
Teams
The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest s ...
including all three of the clubs finals matches as they reached the preliminary final for a fifth straight season. Souths would lose in the preliminary final to eventual premiers
Penrith 32-12.
In December, Walker signed a two year contract extension, keeping him at South Sydney until the end of the 2025 season.
2023
In round 4 of the
2023 NRL season
The 2023 NRL season is the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League.
Teams
For the 2023 season, the number of teams in the NRL has increased from sixteen to seventeen with the ...
, Walker scored two tries for South Sydney as they defeated Manly 13-12 in golden point extra-time.
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 him kung-fu kicking a man who was involved in a fight with another person in
Casino, New South Wales
Casino is a town in the Northern Rivers area of New South Wales, Australia, with a population of 10,914 people at the . It lies on the banks of the Richmond River and is situated at the junction of the Bruxner Highway and the Summerland Way.
...
. The video was recorded in December 2019, but it only became public knowledge after one of the men threatened to release it by blackmailing Walker for $20,000.
South Sydney were also fined $20,000 for not informing the NRL of the incident.
References
External links
South Sydney Rabbitohs profileNRL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Cody
1990 births
Living people
Australian rugby league players
Bundjalung people
Indigenous Australian rugby league players
Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players
New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players
Eastern Suburbs Tigers players
North Sydney Bears NSW Cup players
Rugby league five-eighths
Rugby league halfbacks
Rugby league fullbacks
Rugby league players from Nowra, New South Wales
South Sydney Rabbitohs captains
South Sydney Rabbitohs players
Windsor Wolves players