Joey ready to step into the limelight with mates by his side

Manly halfback Jamal Fogarty has warned against putting too much pressure on the Sea Eagles rising star Joey Walsh as he steps into the organisational shoes of the injured Luke Brooks.

Brooks will undergo surgery after scans confirmed he had suffered a ruptured ACL in the 27th minute of last Saturday night's 30-4 win over Melbourne at 4 Pines Park.

The outcome means a long stint out of the game, which brings 20-year-old Walsh - with just four NRL games under his belt - into the spotlight as the new Manly No.6.

“Joey has a little bit of flavour about him,” Fogarty said. “He’s not afraid to put his body on the line and take some risks which you need.”

Walsh has long been touted as a future star and he was given an NRL debut by former coach Anthony Siebold in Round 27 last year – a 27-26 win over the Warriors.

He was mentored by former Sea Eagles halfback Daly Cherry-Evans as well as Fogarty after his arrival from Canberra this year.

“We all know Joey is a wonderful football player and is going to be the star half for the club for years to come,” Fogarty said of Walsh, who signed a new two-year deal with Manly just three days before the Storm game.

“We just need the media and others to let Joey go about his business. When you’ve got a kid coming through don’t judge him off the first 10 games. Let him get to 50 or 60 NRL games and then make a judgment.

“There will be times when he’s killing it and on fire, and everyone is loving him. But then there will be times he has a bad game and those same people will bring him down quickly.

We have full faith in what Joey can do for our squad but at the same time we’ve got to protect him

Jamal Fogarty

Walsh could follow the example of Jake Simpkin, who stepped into injured hooker Brandon Wakeham’s shoes against the Storm and reeled off two line-break assists, two try assists and 41 tackles.

Fogarty himself was a greatly improved goalkicker in the absence of centre Reuben Garrick, kicking five from six.

Just a week earlier, Fogarty had missed all three conversions and two field goals in the 13-12 loss to the Bulldogs.

“Literally I practised all week," he said. "The first session I must have kicked over 20 balls just directly in front of the goals just making sure I had the consistency of how I put the ball on the tee and adopting the same routine.

“When I kick from in front or from the side makes no difference to me. It’s about getting the same tempo, the same flow.”

Fogarty has a stellar kicking coach in former Raiders teammate Jarrod Croker, who booted 915 goals in a 307-game career with Canberra.

“He comes here once a week and he brought his own kicking tee and that was what I was using tonight," Fogarty said.

Fogarty’s immediate concern though before Manly meets Parramatta on Sunday is for Brooks.

“Gutted for him - It’s very sad and disappointing for Brooksie ... it’s just a cruel part of the game," he said.

“This is probably the best footy I think I’ve seen Brooksie play. He’s been one of our best every single week.

“It will knock him around a bit, but we’ve got a great coaching staff and playing group here, who will get around him and his family to make sure that he’s OK.

“Here we take pride in looking after our own.”