Sea Eagles centre Dylan Walker will take his place at the 2017 Downer NRL Auckland Nines, replacing the injured Matthew Wright in the Manly squad for the two-day tournament.
Despite being initially selected, Wright was ruled out last week with a broken hand but will be fit and available for selection for Round 1, with the utility expected to be sidelined for four weeks.
Walker, 22, spent the majority of his first season at Manly playing in the halves, but with Blake Green, Cameron Cullen and Jackson Hastings now at the club looks set to return to the centres.