WALKER: I’LL GET SETBACK TO MY BEST

Leeds star Jack vows to turn his injuries nightmare into a dream season

JACK WALKER is determined to bury his injury demons after a nightmare run of setbacks.

The Leeds Rhinos full-back did not play at all last season and was also dogged by problems in 2020.

But the 22-year-old, who fractured his skull and had major surgery on a foot, knee and shoulder, insists he is ready to tackle the new campaign in style.

He said: “If it takes all these operations to do your dream job then that’s what has to be done.

“It’s not a job when you enjoy it. It’s what I have wanted to do my whole life.”

Walker became the youngest player to win Super League when he helped Leeds to Grand Final glory in 2017 at the age of 18 years and 60 days.

That success, in his debut season, was all the more remarkable because just four years earlier his career plans looked doomed.

He said: “I was playing for my amateur club when I fractured my skull, got knocked out and had a seizure on the pitch. It was a scary time looking back now.

“Everyone was telling me to look at other career options and my mum thought I should stop playing - typical mum stuff.

“But my dad said I should carry on and go full out if that’s what I really wanted and that’s what I did. There’s never been anything else I wanted.”

Everything looked on track with Grand Final glory in 2017 and Walker was tipped for big things. But the following year he had knee, ankle and hamstring injuries, with shoulder operations following at the end of both 2019 and 2020.

In early 2020, Walker also broke a foot and it was that same problem that wrecked the whole of the following year.

He said: “I was out eight months after the operation but in pre-season at the end of 2020, the start of 2021, it just didn’t feel right. I needed another big operation where they shaved bone out of my heel and fused it into the middle of my foot.”

That signalled another eight-month lay-off in which Walker concentrated on adding size and power to be more battle-ready.

But even his latest planned return was delayed by a minor hamstring tear, ruling him out of the Boxing Day friendly against Wakefield.

Now he is eyeing up next month’s opening game of the season and is determined to have a good year.

He said: “I’ve got bigger and I’m in the best shape ever. I’ve always come back early from every injury before.

“I’m not going to rush this one because I can’t take being out any longer.”

‘My mum thought I should stop playing – typical mum’