Thumbs down for Walker
By Daniel Pace
March 19, 2007
GOLD Coast winger Chris Walker could be sidelined for up to eight weeks after breaking his thumb in the Titans' narrow loss to St George-Illawarra on Sunday.
X-rays today confirmed the bad news for Walker, who is likely to undergo surgery on his hand tomorrow.
He suffered a Bennett's fracture - a dislocation of the metacarpal bone at the base of the thumb - early in the second half of the Titans' NRL debut at Suncorp Stadium yesterday.
But the 27-year-old, who scored two tries and booted three goals in a gold-star performance in the 20-18 loss, doesn't know how the injury happened.
"I'll have to go through the videotape," he said at the team's recovery session today.
"I went to hit the ball out of Matt Cooper's hands and I think it collected his elbow early in the second half."
Walker's loss is a big blow for the Titans because the former Queensland Origin flyer had been in red-hot form for the NRL newcomers in the pre-season trials and against the Dragons.
Judged on their spirited fightback when trailing 20-6 against the Dragons in front of 42,030 fans, Walker confidently predicted the Titans would storm into the top eight this year.
"There's 20-odd rounds to go and we're a big chance of making the top eight," he said.
"Top four, top six - not an early prediction because you don't like doing it this early in the season - but just on form and the players we've got, we'll definitely give the top eight a shake."
Dual international Mat Rogers was more circumspect when asked if the Titans had earned respect from their NRL debut against a Dragons side fielding four debutants, including two-try hero Richie Williams.
"It's hard to say," Rogers, who yesterday played his first NRL game since 2001, said.
"If you look at St George's results over the last eight years, that's only the second first round win they've had.
"I don't know if we did earn a lot of respect.
"I know within ourselves and our playing group we know we should've beaten them and that's the disappointing thing.
"It was disappointing we couldn't live up to the hype. There were so many fans and we just couldn't get the job done for them."
Coach John Cartwright said there were no excuses for the loss but he was happy the players could now focus solely on football, following the massive hype surrounding his club's debut match.
"It was a very draining week and I'm glad that game is over," Cartwright said.
"It was a semi-final type build-up but that didn't cost us the game."
Livewire Preston Campbell blamed nerves for a horror game at fullback in which he looked suspect under the high ball and made an uncharacteristic eight errors, although he often threatened in attack.
"I had a few nervous moments early," the former Penrith five-eighth said.
"I think I dropped about three or four balls.
"It was more nerves than anything else but I felt comfortable back there.
"I'll be right next week."
A former Test rugby player, Rogers said he was still finding his feet back in rugby league.
"In comparison to the game that I have been playing it's a lot faster," he said about the NRL.
"It just doesn't stop and you don't get a minute to breathe."
The Titans enjoy an eight-day turnaround between the Dragons clash and their round-two encounter against Cronulla at Carrara on Monday night.
AAP
