500 and still counting: Walker set for milestone spanning five decades

One day after celebrating his 50th birthday, Walker will line up for another milestone moment.

The reserves game between Northern Jets and North Wagga at Ardlethan Sports Ground on Saturday will be the 500th time he's taken to the field.

Spanning across five decades, 332 of his games have been for the Jets or one of their precursors Ariah Park-Mirrool including 168 in seniors.

The other 168 were during his stint in West Wyalong.

A love of the game and the community it provides has kept Walker on the field.

He's proud to bring up such a milestone.

"There's not too many good ones in there, probably more bad than good I think," Walker said.

"I just really love my footy.

"I've been very passionate about the game and I've met a lot of really good people through my journey in footy at a couple of different clubs.

"It helps me stay somewhat fit and I just think it does you the world of good to be out there exercising, playing a team sport and mixing with your teammates is the thing I'll miss the most when I stop.

"There's a real camaraderie."

Walker played his first game in 1988.

The then 13-year-old thought he was heading over to Griffith to be a boundary umpire but got a little more than he bargained for.

"We were very, very short," Walker said.

"I went on the footy bus with my dad and I was supposed to be boundary umpiring but we were that short the bus driver and I played.

"That was game number one three or four weeks short of my 14th birthday."

Walker has seen a lot of changes since he first started playing.

He feels the game is much more centred around athleticism with players looking to be leaner rather than more physical.

"It's more a running, open game than what it was back in the 90s and 2000s," Walker said.

Walker is particularly proud to have played across five decades.

He also now boasts a higher number of games than a number of his family members.

"I don't know what it is but my cousin Terry Walker played 400 games and my old man (Bluey) played over 400 games," he said.

"Maybe we're stupid, or mad or both."

While he feels he's gotten off pretty lucky on the injury front over the years, with a couple of broken arms his biggest issue, Walker believes his time is almost up.

While still coaching, he first stepped away from playing in 2017 only to be back into it by the end of the following season.

However now that he's 50, even if there are some older than him still playing across the league, Walker feels this season will be his last.

"This will be my last year and from now on I'll just play when the numbers are a bit lacking," he said.

"We've got a couple of guys in their 40s who do that, they play when there's a couple of injuries and I'll probably jump in the queue from now on."