South Sydney star Dylan Walker has emerged as a NSW Origin bolter in the right centre spot vacated by injured Bulldogs centre Josh Morris, after a sharp display in the Rabbitohs' 29-10 win over St George Illawarra on Monday night.
With Morris facing six to eight weeks on the sideline and subsequently being ruled out of the remainder of the Origin series, Walker has put his hand up after scoring a try, making two line-breaks and running for 116 metres against the Dragons.
While in attack he is proving more than capable, Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire has given his nod of approval for the 19-year-old to make his Origin debut after Walker further impressed his mentor with other facets of his game.
"He's definitely improved as a kid. Obviously from the start of the season to where he is now it's an enormous improvement. I know he'd do a good job if he had the opportunity (in Origin).
"It's just a matter of getting that chance. He's definitely going to be a future centre in that arena, without a doubt with the way he's playing, and if they gave him the chance he'd take it."
Souths captain John Sutton has agreed with his coach and then some, brushing concerns over Walker's capabilities of defending against Queensland centre and teammate Greg Inglis.
"He gets a lot of practice in at training," laughed Sutton.
"I think Dylan's been one of our best this season. He's come a long way in a short amount of time and if he got his chance he'd do really well. He has speed, defends really well and he's good with the ball, so I think he'd do well."
With Walker playing a big part in the game's proceedings, the Rabbitohs appeared happy after backing up their 18-0 shutout against the Sharks last Monday night with a more competent attacking display against the Dragons.
"I thought in the first half we were quite thorough with the way we went around with our attack. Obviously in the second half we were a little bit messy at times but we're coming together with our attack," Maguire said.
"I thought we put some good plays on and we were able to build a lot of pressure. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves though in the second half just through errors.
"We just need to keep getting stronger and stronger."
With Morris facing six to eight weeks on the sideline and subsequently being ruled out of the remainder of the Origin series, Walker has put his hand up after scoring a try, making two line-breaks and running for 116 metres against the Dragons.
While in attack he is proving more than capable, Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire has given his nod of approval for the 19-year-old to make his Origin debut after Walker further impressed his mentor with other facets of his game.
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"He's definitely improved as a kid. Obviously from the start of the season to where he is now it's an enormous improvement. I know he'd do a good job if he had the opportunity (in Origin).
"It's just a matter of getting that chance. He's definitely going to be a future centre in that arena, without a doubt with the way he's playing, and if they gave him the chance he'd take it."
Souths captain John Sutton has agreed with his coach and then some, brushing concerns over Walker's capabilities of defending against Queensland centre and teammate Greg Inglis.
"He gets a lot of practice in at training," laughed Sutton.
"I think Dylan's been one of our best this season. He's come a long way in a short amount of time and if he got his chance he'd do really well. He has speed, defends really well and he's good with the ball, so I think he'd do well."
With Walker playing a big part in the game's proceedings, the Rabbitohs appeared happy after backing up their 18-0 shutout against the Sharks last Monday night with a more competent attacking display against the Dragons.
"I thought in the first half we were quite thorough with the way we went around with our attack. Obviously in the second half we were a little bit messy at times but we're coming together with our attack," Maguire said.
"I thought we put some good plays on and we were able to build a lot of pressure. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves though in the second half just through errors.
"We just need to keep getting stronger and stronger."