RABBITOH RILED UP
Walker looks to write wrong
RABBITOHS playmaker Cody Walker has demanded a rewrite for the The Book of Feuds’ latest chapter, insisting he never called Roosters backrower Angus Crichton “a traitor”. On the eve of tonight’s NRL finals blockbuster at the SCG, Walker has revealed it was an unsavoury tackle by Crichton – rather than anything the Bunnies No.6 said – that ignited the now highly-publicised rivalry between himself and Roosters stars Luke Keary and Cooper Cronk. Back in round one, all four players were involved in a fiery season-opener, with Keary later labelling the South Sydney five-eighth “disrespectful”. It has since been written, and taken for fact, that the fireworks started after Walker branded Crichton a traitor, a direct reference to the NSW Origin backrower switching to the reigning NRL premiers after three seasons at Souths. “But I don’t know where that came from,” Walker said this week. “The word ‘traitor’, it’s never even been in my vocabulary. I don’t say it. “So while I know a lot of people now think that’s what was said, it’s definitely not the case. I have no idea where that came from.” Crichton drew a blank when asked about the incident but he did have a warning for Walker: This time, he won’t be backing down from any confrontation. “Cody Walker can get a bit fiery but that’s about it, there are no sledges really, no more than usual. I actually can’t remember what happened there or what he said. But yeah mate, if I get the chance to go again this week we will be,” Crichton said. So as for revealing what did ignite his showdown with Keary and co? “Nah, I won’t repeat what was said,” Walker said. “But it was more about a tackle. “I sort’ve thought Gussy (Crichton) was giving it to me in a tackle, so I said ‘don’t do that, don’t do that sort of stuff’. “And it did cause a stir. “But there was definitely no ‘traitor’.” While Keary was sidelined when the club’s met last week, Walker said he expected the playmaker’s return to bring a different edge to tonight’s clash. The 29-year-old also said Souths would not be looking to verbally target star centre Lattrell Mitchell, who was also involved in several confrontations during the round one clash. “I think you’ve just got to try and shut Latrell down,” Walker said. “And I say ‘try’ as the key word because he is so hard to handle. “Keary also adds a bit more class to their attack. “So it’s up to us, we can’t let them inside our half with silly errors and penalties.”