NRL news: Sam Walker run, video, Roosters vs Bulldogs, last play, coach Trent Robinson

Roosters coach Trent Robinson looked absolutely filthy, retired captain Boyd Cordner shook his head, and injured star Luke Keary could only laugh in disbelief.

Even the Chooks had no idea what teenage halfback Sam Walker was thinking when he ran 90 metres backwards as the clock wound down to finish their win over the Bulldogs at Bankwest Stadium on Saturday night.

The Chooks were up 22-16 and had the ball deep in their attacking end.

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It was the last play with about 20 seconds left in the game, when the ball was flicked back to the 19-year-old maestro.

Rather than accept the tackle or go for more points, Walker simply turned on his heel and sprinted the wrong way up the field, pursued by Bulldogs defender Lachlan Lewis.

“Walker’s running the other way! He’s got to run for 20 seconds,” Fox League caller Andrew Voss said.

“This is ridiculous. Now he’s in the corner, Lewis should go up and smash him.

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Rooster press conference | 08:17

“He’s run 90 metres backwards, I don’t know if Trent Robinson is all that impressed with that. That is a little arrogant… taking a bit of you know what out of the effort that was put in by the two sides tonight.”

The Fox League cameras panned up to the Roosters coaches box.

Robinson looked absolutely livid at his young halfback, while Cordner and Keary looked simply bewildered at what had just happened.

The coach, though, had cooled down by the time he was asked about it in his post-game press conference.

“Sammy, he’s smart. So, he knows the time on the clock, and he knows all of that,” Robinson said.

“It’s a different play and I think everybody will have their opinion on it. I think it’s great learning from Sammy about knowing how – he knows how to manage everything.

“He’s learning how to play all the tough parts of the game and all the smart parts of the game can back on the back of that.”

Robinson was asked if the Walker tactic is un-Roosters like.

“It’s smart to manage the clock, but it goes against, I guess, what some purists would say ‘owning the game’. But you know, he took the risk out of the last play and finished the game off.”

His Roosters teammate, Joey Manu, was at a loss when asked why Walker had done it.

“I’m not sure. It was a long way to run. I wouldn’t run that far. I’ll see what coach has to say,” Manu told Fox League.

Social media was equally bemused at the incident.