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Luke Keary has likened Sydney Roosters halves partner Sam Walker to Johnathan Thurston, hailing the teenager's mindset to bounce back from adversity.
Luke Keary says he's never seen an NRL playmaker as gifted and as confident as Sam Walker, describing the five-eighth's natural instinct to attack without fear as an exceptional quality.
Walker's off-the-cuff style is born and bred because his father Ben and uncle Shane once coached Queensland Cup side Ipswich with a focus on attacking with freedom and taking risks.
The Sydney Roosters have four wins to start the season with Keary adjusting to the shift to halfback to accommodate Walker at five-eighth.
Walker is 19 years old but the UK-born playmaker demonstrated his wares in the Roosters' gritty win over the Warriors on Sunday when he kicked five goals, scored a try and picked up all three Dally M points.
Keary likened Walker to a young Johnathan Thurston and said he relishes playing with the teenager.
"I haven't played with a half with (his) skillset and talent," Keary said.
"I think he's been blessed with the family he's grown up in; around his dad and uncle who coached that Ipswich team, which we all know had a different style of footy.
"He's grown up around that environment where he's been able to express himself and play free-flowing football.
"The mindset he goes in with is definitely rare."
While the pair's combination is still growing, Keary said he admired Walker's ability to take a risk and brush himself off if it didn't come to fruition.
"You want a kid with confidence like that," Keary said.
"You don't want to go the other way where you're trying to instil confidence in him.
"He's going to take the game (on) and you've seen that in big moments.
"My job is to kind of help control the team a little bit and let him do his thing when he's feeling it and he's on."
Keary and Walker will face St George Illawarra on Monday in the club's traditional Anzac Day game and the Roosters halfback rated the contest as "the biggest club game of the year".
"You get that semi-final atmosphere (but) I think it's got a different aura about it," he said.
"The finals are all about footy but it's about Australia and New Zealand and what we went through as countries."