Manly utility back Dylan Walker has signed a one-year extension with the club.
The 27-year-old has played 167 NRL games, including 101 with the Sea Eagles, and had come out of contract at the end of this season.
He had reportedly been holding out on getting vaccinated, part of the reason for the holdup, however The Daily Telegraph’s David Riccio confirmed Walker has now received the jab.
“I think even his management company had the exact same conversation (with him about vaccination),” he told SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“My understanding is that he did get the jab last week, so some credit there.
“The negotiations for the Dylan Walker deal at Manly have been ongoing for some time and finally that was rubber-stamped yesterday.”
However, he’s intrigued by the nature of the deal, suggesting the league might be seeing a “window to the future”.
“Interestingly, and just clearing up the vaccination stuff that he got the jab last week, the deal was done and paperwork is done, but aside from that, I found an interesting element of this re-signing that it was only for 12 months,” Riccio continued.
“It’s only a one-year extension for Dylan Walker.
“Now I just wonder, with the inclusion of the Dolphins, this is a path that player agents and players may look to go down.
“I’m probably talking about the veteran players, the guys at the back-end of their career, that just might be able to pick up another one or two-year deal when the market strikes hot due to the fact the Dolphins are in the market.
“I just wonder if we’re seeing a little bit of a window to the future here to the next 12 months, more one-year deals being done by players and agents.”
Walker transformed his game in 2021 to flourish in a new bench utility role.