THE Bathurst Panthers have pulled off a major coup ahead of the 2021 season by recruiting a hard working back rower who has represented Australia, played State of Origin and won a grand final with Manly.
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But that new recruit, Bruce Walker, won't be packing down in the scrum for the two-time Group 10 premier league defending champions given he retired from playing in 1983.
Instead Walker will use his wealth of experience as both a player and league administrator to help Panthers as a committee member.
Walker moved to Bathurst on September 15 as his working circumstance in Sydney had changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I knew Royce George because of Men of League and had spent a lot of time down here in the past few years to try and rebuild the committee and support the functions they were having," Walker said.
"There's quite a lot happening in Bathurst, there's a lot of things to do and a lot of people and it's quite a busy place but it's a lot cheaper than Sydney, so I started looking at real estate down here, made a few trips and found exactly what I wanted."
Through his role as the NSW manager of the Men of League Foundation, Walker had also met John Fearnley - a life member of both the senior and junior Bathurst Panthers clubs.
Fearnley then introduced Walker to Panthers secretary Wayne Boyd, who invited him to the Bathurst Panthers Rugby League Club's annual general meeting.
"Of course by going along all of a sudden you get elected to the committee," Walker chuckled.
"But I said I was happy to be on the committee, I don't know anything about the club but I'll see what happens and what commitments I've got next year and we'll take it from there."
But before Walker tries to help Panthers succeed in any way he can, he has his fingers crossed for another team. Come Wednesday night he will be cheering for Queensland as they take on New South Wales in game two of the State of Origin series.
While he is a Brisbane native, Walker has the distinction of playing for both New South Wales and Queensland.
He was signed by North Sydney as a 19-year-old in 1971 and four years later, was selected to play for the Blues. Back then state selection rules were based on residency rather than origin.
But in 1982 when the first three-match New South versus Queensland series using selection based on state of origin was played, Walker got his chance to be a Maroon.
In fact Walker lined up in the first match of that State of Origin series. While the Blues won that game 20-16 at Lang Park, it was a historic moment.
"In the days that I played for New South Wales, you just represented the state you were playing in, there was no State of Origin," Walker said.
"I can remember with Queensland, when State of Origin came along, they were as proud as punch.
"Queensland is instilled with a history of Queensland and New South Wales, I'm an example of what happened to Queenslanders. Because the money was in New South Wales due to all the poker machines, the better players were poached from Queensland into New South Wales.
"Players such as myself, we might be good enough to represent Queensland but we were in New South Wales. I, and many other Queenslanders, were sitting on couches in New South Wales watching Queensland get smashed.
"Artie Beeston, he was a Queensland but was brought down to Sydney because of money and he was representing New South Wales playing against his old state and smashing them.
"That's why he started State of Origin."
While he is a Maroons supporter, Walker's passion for rugby league extends beyond state allegiance - he loves the game as a whole. A look a his career reflects that.
He played for Brisbane Easts, moved to New South Wales to represent the Bears then switched to Manly in 1978 and won a premiership with them.
He played eight games for his country when touring with the 1978 Kangaroos and after retiring has spent time in various administration roles such as a stint as the chairman of the South Australian Rugby League.
Six years ago he started the Ku-ring-gai Cubs club which has grown from 30 players to 140.
Through it all, Walker has enjoyed the camaraderie that comes with league.
"When I played I just loved the game and I loved going to training because you could catch up with your mates at training and forget about any issues you had with work or problems, all you did was concentrate on training and being with your mates," he said.
"That, to me, is what playing rugby league is all about."
