He famously won a premiership alongside John Sutton five years ago, now Dylan Walker wants to deny him a second as his farewell.
Walker could shatter Sutton’s dreams of a fairytale ending to his career when Manly face South Sydney in their NRL semi-final on Friday night.
The pair were teammates when the Rabbitohs broke their 43-year title drought in 2014 before Walker left the club a year later to join the Sea Eagles.
Walker described Sutton as one of the biggest influences of his career.
“‘Sutto’ was massive in my career. He was my first captain. I had some special times with him,” Walker told AAP.
“I’d like to see him end his career on a high, but I want to keep the ball rolling here as well. May the best team win.”
Walker said Sutton had stood by him during some of the lowest parts of his time in Redfern, which included almost overdosing on a prescription drug in 2015.
It’s why the former Kangaroos star was quick to reach out to his former teammate when Sutton announced his decision to retire at season’s end.
“I said congrats on the career and stuff. I said I love you, got all touchy-feely. But that’s because I’ve got some good times with Sutto there,” Walker said.
“You don’t lose those memories, especially when it’s your first title. You feel on top of the world and we’ve got those memories with us no matter what.
“But I’ve had some rough times as well, and everyone that I’ve known in rugby league reached out, including Sutto. It’s good to have that.”
Walker has quietly emerged as a long-term solution at five-eighth under coach Des Hasler, with the team winning seven of 10 games with him in the No.6.
It comes after failed stints in the halves in both 2016 and 2018, with the Sea Eagles failing to reach the finals in both campaigns.
In 2017, Walked played exclusively in the centres and they made the finals.
“I think it was just premature, really. I’ve had times there where it wasn’t the best and I was still a young kid when I first played there. I was 21,” he said.
“For me, maturity comes with it and probably being around here a little bit longer and having that look about myself to be dominant, that’s the main one as well.”
