Will Walker will remain in the royal blue and white stripes until at least the end of 2021, after putting pen to paper on a one-year rookie contract. 

The 21-year-old said he is looking forward to leaving his injury troubles behind him and putting his best foot forward come pre-season.

“I’m looking forward to training when we get back and being able to do some things early on,” Walker told North Media.

“Then when the boys get back in January I should be able to do everything and hopefully get right into it which will be really good and hopefully that leads to a good year … time will tell, but hopefully I have a bit of luck on my side this year.”

Walker said with numerous changes underway at Arden St he remains optimistic about what the future holds.

“There’s a whole bunch of new coaches coming on and I’m very excited about that,” he said.

“We’ve got a good group of boys that I enjoy playing with and hopefully we can do something pretty special soon.”

With a contract looming since season’s end, Walker said constant communication made the process easier.

“There was a fair bit of time where I didn’t know what was going on, I didn’t know if I was going to get one or not but I’m very excited,” he added.

“Even when I didn’t know [contract], everyone at the club, the physios, doctors, strength and conditioning staff, and the coaches kept in contact so I never felt like I was out of it which was really good.”

North GM football Brady Rawlings said it’s a testament to Walker’s hard work ethic.

“Will has had a few setbacks with injury along his journey but we’re really confident in his ability to have an impact,” Rawlings said.

“In the few games he’s played he has shown he can match it at AFL level and we’re looking forward to developing his craft and seeing what he can do with a full pre-season under his belt.”