Ryan Walker remembers the backyard games in Casino like they were yesterday.
Middle brothers Ryan and Luke up against eldest brother Dane and the youngest of the four Walker boys, Cody.
"Luke and I would win more often than not too," Ryan says. "We always used to target Cody and try and run over him. He was a bit sooky back then."
Stands to reason given Cody [now 31] was just five or six and trying to tackle a nine or 10-year-old Ryan.
"No-one held back either," Ryan says. "I reckon it's part of the reason why Cody has no fear now. He was always playing against us kids, bigger and older than him and he had to learn from a young age how to handle it.
"The same when I'd come home on holidays from boarding school at St Gregs in Campbelltown when I was 14 or 15, I'd run at Cody and Luke full-on and make them tackle me."
It's no surprise to the 35-year-old Wests Rosellas veteran that his brother is now in the top echelon of players in the game and will spearhead South Sydney's quest for an NRL premiership title against Penrith on Sunday. That's despite the fact he didn't debut in the NRL until he was 26.
"Cody always had the drive and repped at junior level and was Q Cup player of the year in 2013," he said. "But until he went to Melbourne in 2014, he'd never done gym work. Going down there was big for his career.
"And he's thrived at Souths with their culture and the boys there. They know each other so well and that's allowed him to play his natural, instinctive game."
The only downer for Ryan, who himself played three NRL games for Penrith back in 2011, is he won't be at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium to witness it and return the favour.
Two years ago, Cody was at McDonald Jones Stadium to see Ryan play a leading role in the Rosellas' 36-0 trouncing of Cessnock in the Newcastle grandfinal.
"Yeah, it won't be the same not being there, but with Covid, it is what it is I suppose," he said. "I've got the weekend off work, dad and Luke are in Casino so I'd say dad will be watching it at the Casino RSM where there'll be a bit of a crowd and Dane is in Grafton.
"We'll all be hoping Souths can get it done."
