Has a parent of a 17 year old academy player I can see both sides of the argument,what's most worrying for me is out its ended up in the public domain.wether its the agent,Leeds or both it should have been sorted behind closed doors has like In any negotiations both parties have a starting point before meeting somewhere in the middle or you go your separate ways,at that point it goes public and not before. I now see a young lad been pulled from pillar to post by adults that should know better

Not sure but he clearly missed the point of Jerry Maguire.

many years ago Castleford had two world class halfbacks I don't need to name them and they let one of them sign for another club , but both of these players at the time were already world class unlike these two young kids who are still learning the game . I think Walker has had is head turned

Just a quick one re-SMTM he's been Mags' agent all his career & is currently Luke Gales Ben Curries & Cam Smith if you speak to him at games he comes across as a fairly decent fella & whenever ive seen Hetherington or Mc.D or players of all ages talking to him its all very friendly.

Yet if you follow him on twitter he comes across like an absolute tool.

Ha! Who do you lot think you are. You do turn it down if it is not right for you. You don't have a god given right to him. These things happen, get over it

None of us know the deal - so how can anyone say its a good deal?

Just because its Leeds doesn't mean its a great deal.

I think one of the main gripes is that he's actually got a strong chance of being the starting FB here as Golding isn't unmovable from that shirt. It's not like we've still got Hardaker at FB with the chances of displacing him would be very slim or some other teams who have Tomkins & Escare or Barba & Lomax. And going to Warrington potentially, they've got Ratchford at FB and they have other young FB's they recently taken from other clubs in Dagger (Wakey) and Edge (Widnes) along with Jack Johnston. The route to starting FB over there looks much harder.

Talk of Leeds seeing him as a HB but if he signed a 3 year deal here I'd be amazed if we picked him there in that period when we've got Myler, Moon, Lilley, Sutcliffe, is it Holroyd from the academy that is rated? Plus any other potential HB we might sign in the next three years. Apart from the odd game on the wing perhaps in case of injuries then he probably wouldn't have featured anywhere else but FB, but quite rightly Leeds couldn't assure him of that as you don't know what the future holds. I doubt Leeds 18 months ago were for a second thinking that Joel Moon would be their starting HB throughout the 2017 season.

They actually represent Ash Golding of all people, which makes it all the more intriguing that he'd go in with Walker wanting assurances about playing FB.

If you were him would you want 1 of your clients as a 2nd choice FB or have them both starting FB's at different clubs?

i think the agent talk is somewhat over-cooked. Realistically how much will an agent earn out of a player like Walker? Its not like football where millions gets squirreled away to agents on deals worth tens if not hundreds of millions of pounds.

the difference in size of deal with a player like Walker is going to be at most maybe £10k and an agents cut of that is going to be in the hundreds of pounds, and thats over the course of a year. I honestly think for the large part, it will make not a jot of difference to Walkers agent where he goes.

Why do you always take sides against the Leeds club? In this case the club were right to put their side as the player, his agent or his family have been briefing about not being offered a good enough contract with the implication that it wasn't enough money compared with offers from other clubs. Indeed you yourself were posting to this effect.

So exactly because of negative rumors spread by people like yourself has led Leeds to put their side of the argument in the public domain. It turns out that it was not just about money but about an unreasonable demand that he is played only at fullback and Jack himself has confirmed this.

For the club to clear the air on this cannot be regarded as bullying a young player and if the player now looks foolish he only has himself to blame. He has been misled and badly advised by his family and agent and I hope he soon realises the error of his ways as he has the potential to become a class player.

I would also say that despite a few excellent performances in which he showed some real class he cannot yet be regarded as in front of Golding at fullback as he too has shown some class, great bravery in defence and a much better and mature attitude.

Let's not underplay the part Walker's agent has played in this situation. You are naive beyond belief if you think Walkers destination has little to do with his agent. The agent has Walker on his books for one reason only, for financial gain. The whole scenario stinks of pounds, shillings and pence, on both the player and agents behalf.

SMTMUK has stated he doesnt take any money from players under 20. So that being true, Walkers destination and package is irrelevant. Hes also said that most of his deals have been done with Leeds incl Goldings recent contract.

Personally from what Ive seen of JW I think this is more the effects of his recent 6 match ego boost, his age and other influences (people in his ear)

If the kid "really" wanted to play for Leeds hed have signed the contract regardless and spent the next 3yrs doing whatever needed to be done to get another contract. Golding could get injured next week and spend 10mths on the sideline.

Any SL team that gives a 17 yr old, who hasnt finished developing, the no 1 shirt straight off the bat is very brave. Even Golding has got a few yrs development still in him to become the complete fullback as Zak did before him. Theyre young kids.

My opinion, he shouldve signed.

His agent might not make much/anything out of it immediately if Walker signs elsewhere, but surely much better for him long term to have two starting SL FB's rather than 1 starter and 1 backup.

Within the same year to get Golding a long term deal and then go into meetings requesting assurances which he will have known were never going to be accepted by GH with yet another FB, who then blames the length of contract Golding got for not signing his. It stinks to be fair and looks like the guy has always wanted to get Walker to another club.

18 months ago we had Hardaker, Golding and Walker at Leeds. With the same agent one has departed and another is going. As an agent why would you want one starter, one backup and one u19's at the same club fighting over 1 position when you can try and get them the starting gig at three different clubs.

Well if Walker ends up struggling at some nothing club like Leigh or Wire then that agent will have a lot to answer for.

Are you sure it is the same agent for Golding and Walker? There is more than one agent at SMTM, I know the main one represents Mags but it might not be him who represents some of the youth players.

One other thing that should be remembered is that Leeds have over the years upgraded contracts mid-term - they've done that with Watkins and Hall IIRC. Even if the headline money is about the same today, Leeds have a track record of upgrading well before contracts renew.

Anyway, Leeds have now firmly started to move into the next era. Whilst GH has probably got a lot of things wrong, one thing that must be absolutely crystal clear is that to build anything other than short term, the culture amongst the players has to be good. With Sinfield and Peacock around we could handle the odd tool like Hardaker, but those influences have left. As a result there needs to be as much focus on attitude - and in particular who really wants to play for Leeds (not RL, and not themselves).

I read Carl Ablett's piece in the YEP today, and whilst he's trying to be neutral, some of his comments about needing to fight for a spot in the team look remarkably like a dig at Walker.

Have not read Ablett,s piece but hardly surprising from a player who would play anywhere for the team,Moon in another article saying he would like to play 6 but will play wherever he is asked.
Whoever is advising Walker needs to change jobs!

Don't be surprised if young Jack hasn't already packed his suncream, hat with corks on and has the Neighbours theme tune on continuous loop on itunes in readiness for a forthcoming trip that might cause a STORM when the news is released.

On the other hand if Walker is a great success then his agent has done a good job - would you not agree?

Yes, he'll have done his job by lining his own pockets further.

Good luck to him if he's off down under. Jordan Baldwinson says it's great down there.

Good luck to him if so but i honestly can't imagine he will learn more playing youth age RL in aus than he would playing first team for Leeds.

Cameron Munster might have a chat with him about playing in other positions than fullback though.

Billy Slater will also be able to explain to Walker the benefits of specialisation