Should the Roosters select Walker...even if he's not 100%?

Sam Walker is pressing his case for a spectacular return for the Roosters ahead of their preliminary final against the Dolphins.

But even if the halfback isn’t 100% fit, Ben Gardiner believes Sydney should still select him in their starting line-up.

It was against the Dolphins in Round 26 when the Queensland halfback suffered a syndesmosis injury, which he immediately had surgery on.

Typically, the recovery time from this type of injury takes between two to six weeks, which would likely see his season come to an end.

But in a miraculous turn of events, Walker appears to be on the verge of making a return for their Grand Final qualifier against the Redcliffe-based side, with coach Trent Robinson ‘pretty confident’ that he could.

But even if the 24-year-old is only 80% fit for the Tricolours come this Friday, the Perth Bears assistant coach would start Walker over Hugo Savala in the No. 7.

“Absolutely, absolutely,” Gardiner told SEN’s Front Office with Vossy.

“We're talking about the Origin halfback here. We're talking about the guy that went into the Origin matches and did it on his ear under the highest pressure.

“Now, he hasn't played for a few weeks, but there's a number of guys that may not have played for a few weeks (who) come back into the team.

“We've talked previously about guys being the number one half in their team, and then the second half is never the third-best player in the team or the second-best player.

“They're maybe the 20th best player, and that's no disrespect to Hugo Savala ‘cause he just goes back into the centres for them, no worries at all.

“The thing with Sam Walker, though, is he's their best halfback. At 80%, he's still their best halfback. He comes up with things out of nothing.

“He comes out with a grubber for himself or a grubber for Robert Toia to score a try.

“The Roosters are gonna need that. I know that they scored 46 points on the weekend, but it was against the team that wasn't at the level of what they.”

The Roosters will travel up to Suncorp Stadium this week to face the Dolphins on Friday night.

SEN League will have live coverage of the match across our radio network and on the SEN app from 7pm. Kick-off is at 7:50pm.

The winner of the match-up will play either Penrith or Newcastle in this year’s Grand Final, which will take place at Accor Stadium on October 4.