“If you look at my career so far, the odds have been stacked against me” confessed Joey Walton.
Walton, a graduate of the NSW Waratahs pathways, attended Wadalba High School and joined the Combined High Schools team (CHS) before making it to the Australian Schoolboys Competition. Walton then made his way into the Waratahs Academy program in 2019 while representing Gordon in the Shute Shield Competition.
After bursting onto the scene for the Waratahs during their 2020 Super Rugby AU campaign, Walton was set for a breakout year in 2021 before a series of injuries and bad luck set off a tumultuous journey of setback after setback.
It all started in Round 1 of the 2021 Super Rugby AU campaign where Walton broke his ankle against the Reds at Suncorp Stadium. The ankle injury ruled him out for the season, setting off a long stint in the injury ward with the goal of getting some game time in for Gordon before the end of the year.
Unfortunately, COVID curtailed his aims for game time, playing just the one match for Gordon before the 2021 Shute Shield season was once again shut down due to the pandemic.
The bad luck continued as Walton injured his ACL later that year in the thick of Darren Coleman’s first pre-season with the side, ruling him out of the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific campaign entirely.
After his devastating ankle and ACL injuries hampered his chances of a complete season over the last two years, Walton’s luck looked to have changed when he made a welcome return to Rugby for the Bay of Plenty in New Zealand’s National Provincial Championship and played every game, helping the Steamers make it to the semi-finals.
However, the high didn’t last long as Walton injured his back late last year, suffering a herniated dish, which involved a twelve-week rehab process. He only got to make his Super Rugby return in the Waratahs round five clash against the Chiefs at Allianz Stadium last month.
For Walton to describe his career as the ‘odds stacked against him’ seems like understatement considering what he has had to endure in the past two years. But the 94kg centre is no stranger in giving understatements.
Walton described his recent back injury of a herniated disk as his lowest point of rugby while also reminding us of its ‘short’ recovery period.
“It was only twelve weeks” Walton said.
“Only twelve”.
This serves as a testament to Walton’s character. His determination and resilience is stark, coupled with his ability to bounce back and focus on the positives. When questioned on whether he ever thought of giving up, Walton vehemently shook his head and laughed in disbelief – “not for a second”.
Giving up isn’t in Walton’s nature. But resilience certainly is.
“After being angry and upset for so long, eventually it just turns”.
Walton described his seminal shift from anger to determination step-by-step: “you go from learning to walk, and then you start running, jumping, sprinting”.
“As you just slowly tick those things off, you’re building confidence and you just get excited when you know you’re going to play soon” he said.
Evidently, it was Walton’s fixation on his small milestones in rehab that helped him overcome his hardships. It was also the Waratahs identity of Tah Tough that kept him going.
“Tah Tough is about the people that do things that don’t show up on highlight reels”.
“It is also when you are putting a kick behind on a turnover and you chase back and get it, or when you are defending on a goal line where most of the players are bigger than you”.
“You just step up and be Tah Tough”.
“I just want to get on the field and I just got to do my best” he told reporters earlier this week.
Walton always does.
