Jayden Walker (born 13 August 1996) is an

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

international

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who is contracted to the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Greater Western Sydney suburb of Penrith, New South Wales, Penrith that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The team is based west of the cen ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

. He primarily plays as a .

Early life

The son of former professional rugby league footballer Shane Walker, Walker played his junior rugby league for De La Salle Caringbah. He is of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

descent.

Playing career

Walker was signed by the

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Sutherland Shire of Southern Sydney, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. Cronulla compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugb ...

to play for their

S. G. Ball Cup The S. G. Ball Cup is a junior rugby league football competition played predominantly in New South Wales, between teams made up of male players aged under 19. Teams from Canberra and Melbourne, and Auckland also participate. Prior to the COVID ...

side, before moving into their National Youth Competition side in 2014. On

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet and raising of the Flag of Great Britain, Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a ...

in 2015, he was arrested for verbally abusing police and resisting arrest, having been initially approached by authorities for possessing alcohol in an alcohol-free zone. In May 2016, he admitted to using recreational drugs and was banned from playing by the Sharks for 12 weeks. Walker played 14 NYC games for the Sharks between 2014 and 2016. Walker was selected to represent Italy at the 2017 World Cup qualifying tournament in late 2016. He played in all 3 of Italy's matches, scoring a try against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. In 2017, Walker played for the Sharks' feeder team, the

Newtown Jets The Newtown Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Newtown, New South Wales, Newtown, a suburb of Inner West (Sydney), Sydney's inner west. They currently compete in the NSW Cup competition, having left the top grade after t ...

, in the

New South Wales Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

. Walker scored a try for Italy in their 24–24 draw against

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

on 8 October, and was a member of Italy's squad for the 2017 World Cup. In November 2017, Walker signed a one-year contract with the

for 2018.

International caps

References

External links

2017 RLWC profile
1996 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian people of Italian descent Italy national rugby league team players Newtown Jets NSW Cup players Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league second-rows Sportspeople of Italian descent 21st-century Australian sportsmen {{Italy-rugbyleague-bio-stub