He was a strange signing for us to make at the time with us having Hoy and Litten.

We signed and then released Treigh Stewart this season, then signed Rapana. The writing was on the wall for a while.

You'd imagine he'd be on a decent wedge and we've got Moy, Litten, Hardaker plus Rapana for this year. All of those players can play other positions, Walker is an out and out fullback. From a salary cap position it makes sense to move him on.

He was dropped by Grix after the London away game because of his attitude too.

I can see it from both sides to be honest. Unfortunately that’s sport in most cases when a new coach comes some players don’t fit or in our case a total change.

Walker came to an agreement and was paid off so not like he’s just been dumped either. It’s unfortunate he’s still without a club but for me that in a way supports the decision made by Myler to release him.

I would say a factor in the decision would likely have been the progress in Moy and the club belief in him to progress coupled with Litten and the arrival of Rapana & Hardaker he was always going to down the pecking order.
He likely won’t have been on a bad contract either and in a salary cap sport you can not afford to have a player on the cap that’s unlikely to play.

For far too long we’ve been way to sentimental and to be successful you have to be more ruthless in that aspect.

I think ability wise Walkers a good player but as he has shown physically there are question marks over his durability. I’m surprised no Championship teams have taken any interest though.

Something more to this. Don't just get told to not train with the first team squad and told your 5th choice full back for nothing.

His ability is clearly there so there is something more for me..

i guess the rumour of Walker wanting to move back west during 2024 was just that...

Club have been accused of not been ruthless enough, but since Myler has come in we have certainly have, some decisions might be harsh but have needed to happen, Wlker would have been behind Rapana and Moy for me so its understandable.

I don't disagree with the decision but I'm not sure we should be allowing a player to start pre season then paying him off. We surely knew some time before he wasn't in our plans so why not let him know early before everyone else spent on other players

Maybe we did. Let's not forget that this is just Walker's side of the story we're hearing at the moment. I think we heard from Myler at the time talking about it being a difficult and hard decision to make. And wasn't his agent talking months before hand about not expecting him to be at FC in 2025? If I was to hazard a guess, we probably told Walker and his agent months ago that he was free to find another club (probably the same with Morgan Smith and Liam Tindall) and when no offers presented themselves, Myler's then had to take the decision to pay off their contracts.

Someone also mentioned that they are surprised that no Championship club has come in for him, but Walker himself says he's confident he can play Super League so perhaps he's been holding out for a contract offer from one of the other clubs and will have to adjust his sights going forward.

I do have sympathy for his situation. It's harsh. But I have to echo what a lot of others are saying in that I fell that it's the right decision for the club and one that the club wouldn't have taken previously.

Walker has been at four clubs in the last three seasons and none seem to require his services.

If he's as good as his agent seems to think he is , Then He'll be signing for Penrith anytime soon !!
Personally , I think he's a decent player but not the player his agent seems to think he is , Maybe Walker needs to stop reading his headlines .
As COYH says , 4 clubs and nobody wants to sign him , They must be something there keeping the clubs from going anywhere near him .
I hope he sorts a club out soon though .

You would have to assume his track record injury wise won't be helping his cause. Squad management is so important these days, players being unavailable for whatever reason can have a major effect on how a club's season may pan out. The clubs who get these kind of decisions right tend to the ones who have the successful seasons. Squad recruitment/management has been one of our (many) failings over recent years.

I feel for Walker as he is still more than capable of being a decent SL player, he showed it for us on occasion even through the mayhem of last year, but I have a feeling club's are viewing him as too big a risk especially if he's angling for a sizable salary. If he continues spending as much time on the treatment table as he does on the pitch it can become a hindrance to a club's hopes and ambitions.

It's hardly his fault that he's developed a habit of breaking down at inopportune moments but, unfortunately for him, elite sport is a fairly ruthless business today, those that take the hard decisions even when they may be unpopular are the ones who tend to thrive as hard as it may sound and appear. Walker (and his agent) may find they have to lower their sights, and demands, in order to secure a deal with someone. Like I said, it's become a brutal business with little room for sentiment these days.

To be fair I think it was obvious he was told he was free to find a new club a long time ago along with Sutcliffe and Trueman. It’s still not nice for the lad the situation he’s in as he comes across as a good lad and pro but there’s no way it was out the blue to him, his agent publicly said so months ago. There’s always loads of examples of contracted players looking to make moves like Clifford last year, so it can work both ways.

Sure he will get a club, probably SL for me.

Think his agent has done him a disservice, sure he will have had offers - at least top end championship ? All a negotiation, just as his 'settlement' was.

No doubt talented - I wouldn't rule out Hudds to replace Jakey boy, only certainty is he will rip it up when he next runs out against us.