He has spent most of the season in unfamiliar territory at either fullback or coming off the bench, but seemingly out of favour Manly half Dylan Walker is set to sign a new two-year deal with the Sea Eagles.
It comes as a surprising turn of events given the way the Sea Eagles have barely used Walker this year. He played fullback during the opening exchanges of the season when Tom Trbojevic was out injured and will tonight make his first start in the halves for the season with Daly Cherry-Evans in Maroons' camp.
In between, Walker missed a stack of games (also down to a hamstring injury he suffered), and spent the last two coming off the interchange bench where he played just 53 minutes between the two games.
According to a Daily Telegraph report, Walker has been offered a new two-year deal.
The 26-year-old, who has just cracked 150 first grade appearances across his time at both the Rabbitohs and Sea Eagles, is in his eighth season as an NRL player since debuting in 2013, but has seemingly gone backwards in recent times.
Off-field dramas won't be helping Walker either, but the Sea Eagles reportedly offering him the new deal is a show of faith from the club who had seemed to be losing it in him after he played just seven games for Des Hasler's side in 2020.
Still, at his best, Walker is an asset for Manly, with his 2017 and 2019 seasons proving particularly good as he helped the club qualify for the finals on both occasions.
It's understood the deal has only been tabled in the past few days, and it may still be some weeks before a decision is made by the Walker camp. There is no other reported interest from around the competition in the off-contract utility back.
