Jack Walker is facing up to the possibility of starting pre-season without a club for the second year running.
The last 12 months have been turbulent to say the least for the former Leeds Rhinos man, who ended the season with the now relegated Salford Red Devils. Walker was initially contracted to spend last season with Hull FC, but he was one of three players, alongside Liam Tindall and Morgan Smith, to be released halfway through November 2024.
Pre-season had just started in East Yorkshire and with the club going through plenty of change on and off the field, Walker was one of the unfortunate players to be cut loose. That plunged him into a period of uncertainty as he searched for a new club to play out the 2025 season with.
He spoke to a couple of Super League clubs, including Leeds, before ultimately joining Sheffield Eagles in January on a monthly rolling deal.
The 26-year-old made 18 appearances for the second tier outfit under Craig Lingard, scoring three tries along the way, but in August, with the Championship season almost at an end, he decided to roll the dice.
Despite their financial difficulties, Walker made the jump to join Salford Red Devils for the final four games of the Super League season. The hope was that his performances would lead to another deal either at Salford or elsewhere.
The full-back did reach an agreement with the Red Devils, but he now finds himself waiting patiently to hear the verdict from the club’s winding up hearing on December 3.
“I signed a deal in September when I joined Salford, it was two weeks in and that was on the basis of them staying up in Super League and everything being alright,” Walker told Serious About RL. “I kind of just left it at that hoping they’d stay up.
“I don’t know what’s happening with them, everyone is a little bit in the dark with it all and there’s been no other clubs really that have been interested which is a bit disappointing.
“It’s kind of the same situation I was in last year when I got released by Hull. I got released around the same time and everyone is spent up and everyone has got the team they want for the year.
“It’s the unknown that’s frustrating. I’m kind of just sat waiting around.
“I’ve not been paid this month, so there’s that as well.”
Of course, Walker knew what he was walking into at Salford, but at the time he felt as though it was a gamble worth taking.
“It was a bit risk,” he added. “I’ve had a lot of comments on my TikTok, with everyone saying why would you go and put yourself in that situation knowing what’s happening?
“The situation I was in was I was at Sheffield on a monthly rolling deal and the season was going to end, there was around three or four weeks left and after that last game, I would have stopped getting paid. I wouldn’t have been paid for the off-season, I had to sign a new deal and the deal they offered me wasn’t the best.
“I took it as a great opportunity to put myself in the shop window for other Super League clubs to show them I’ve still got it and I can still play Super League.
“I thought I did really well in those four games. I know I got in the team of the week in the first week when we beat Warrington. I must have done something right. I’m a little bit disappointed that I’ve had nothing off the back of that, but hopefully Salford pull through and this is all for nothing and I can stop worrying.”
The Rhinos academy graduate has kept himself fit in the off-season, working hard in the gym and he has even competed in a Hyrox event in Dublin. But, he is now starting to look at other potential opportunities away from rugby league, with the 15-man code something he has thought about.
“I’d love to give R360 a go, whether its coaching the younger lads and playing or just being a squad member, I don’t know,” he said. “I’d love to get my foot in the door so I think my agent is trying to get a contact over there and see if there’s any potential.
“I’d give it a good crack. I’m eager to learn. I’ve never played union before but I’d love to give it a go.
“Me and my partner would love to move to Dubai, it’s something we’ve always talked about. I’ve recently been looking at jobs I could do over there and with rugby not really working out, it’s been the past few years now where it’s not really working out, rugby.
“I’ve just been scraping the bottom of the barrel for clubs that want me on one-year deals. I’m just fed up of it and I want some kind of security.”
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