South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett has thrown his support behind under fire five-eighth Cody Walker, declaring the NSW debutant was ''the star of the show'' despite his shock second half axing.
Walker was sensationally hooked after his left edge was exposed in defence and shut down in attack as a result of one of the great Origin performances by Maroons centre Will Chambers.
He was given a second chance with the game slipping away from New South Wales, conceding 18 straight points after an 8-0 lead, but it was dead and buried by the time he returned.
Asked on whether he was surprised by Brad Fittler's decision to bench Walker, Bennett said: “I’d have to say I was, yeah.”
Bennett couldn't offer an explanation for Walker's demotion but believes the 29-year-old needed to be on the field at such a crucial point of the game.
''They were on even points and they weren’t going to win with the amount of points they had. And that’s what (Walker) does really well,'' he said.
“That’s the coach’s decision. We don’t always understand why they do it.”
Walker, who made a line break and two line break assists on the night, almost turned the result on its head in a final eight-minute cameo, setting Jake Trbojevic up in a breath of life in the 75th minute before sending Latrell Mitchell into space in their final attacking chance.
“I thought at the end, he was probably the star of the show,” Bennett said.
“In the last 10 minutes there he set up one try, and they scored another one through good lead-up work that he did.
“Origin can take you that long to get into rhythm. He’s never played before. It’s a different standard of playing in the NRL and he hasn’t played a lot of finals games.
“So I thought he did a pretty good job considering it was his first game and the way the game was played.”
Bennett believes he deserves a second chance.
''He’s a first-gamer. He wasn’t the reason they lost,'' he said.
“There’s a lot more upside in him. I think he showed that in the last 10 minutes of the game where he was starting to get into the groove a little bit.
''Opportunities came and he grabbed it.”
Fittler explained that Walker simply didn't get into the groove of the game, prompting him to wield the axe.
“I just felt like they (Queensland) had won a big chunk of that second half and I felt like Cody was just struggling to get into the game,” Fittler said.
Walker showed maturity after the game and was accepting of the decision.
“(Coming off) wasn’t planned but whatever the coach needs I am happy to do,'' he told Sporting News.
“They needed to give Jack an opportunity and for me to get some air back in the lungs.
“I’m old enough to accept it and move on.''
