‘Skywalker’ as he is more commonly known these days after a huge speccy against Adelaide last weekend, has been in exceptional form of late.
More used to playing as a forward, Walker has been faultless down back since Harris Andrews was sidelined with
“I hadn’t played back all year. I had done all the preparation to play forward. When I saw Harris go down I knew I would be slung back,” Walker said.
“I’m feeling very confident in defence now. It takes a little bit to find the rhythm of playing at the other end, thankfully not too long.
“I quite enjoy playing down in defence. It’s a different challenge to playing up forward. You can scrap and fight your way through it – I don’t mind that part of the game.”
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Since heading north from Geelong in the 2015 AFL Trade period, Walker has played 36 games for the Lions in a variety of positions.
He started the year off in the Senior side before being dropped to the NEAFL.
After a sublime performance against Hawthorn a few weeks ago, Senior Coach Chris Fagan said, “When Josh is hungry and he’s got a point to prove he’s capable of that sort of performance.’’
“I do play my best when I’m a bit desperate and scrappy…fighting for contests,” Walker agreed.
“I got a chance and I had to make it count which has helped, but I can’t get ahead of myself and drop off.
“That’s the standard and I need to bring it every week. I know if I have a couple of bad ones I’ll be back in the NEAFL.”
Walker’s spectacular
Both were nominated for the Round 18 Mark of the Year, and Walker said he thought his mark was slightly better.
“As I’ve told Cam, they are a lot harder to take in defence as opposed to deep inside forward 50...anyone has a license to fly down there.”
“I think I would have copped a pretty big spray if I had dropped that one and they had run off with it to the other end.
“Cam’s was a great mark too. I was just hoping he would finish it off so I could get a little bit of a rest.”
Unfortunately for Walker and Rayner, Essendon’s Devon Smith was awarded the Round 18 Mark of the Year.
Walker’s form resurgence has replicated the Lions’ recent result, with the team enjoying three wins from their past four matches, with the only loss by five points to Adelaide.
“I joke around that it’s me,” Walker said.
“We’ve been playing better footy than the results suggest all year.
“It was just a matter of eventually it would all fall in place. Stats wise we have been improving, but it’s hard when fans just look at the wins and losses.
“Winning interstate gives us the belief that we can beat anyone and that’s what we will take down to Geelong this week.”
