The sublimely skilled small forward might think he’s back home on Bushby Street, Midvale, in Perth’s eastern suburbs, just a few houses down the road from childhood friend Chris Yarran, who now plays for Carlton.
Or maybe memories of his junior football days at Midvale might come flooding back, where he, Yarran and Jeff Garlett, also representing the Blues on Saturday, learned to play the game.
Walters could be forgiven for thinking he was back in the 2008 West Australian under-18 squad, which included himself and Yarran, along with current Freo teammates Clancee Pearce, Matt de Boer and Stephen Hill, and Carlton’s Kane Lucas.
Freo’s Pearce, de Boer, Hill, Walters and Nick Suban, and Carlton’s Mitch Robinson were all selected in the under-18 All Australian team that season.
While ‘Son Son’ will cross paths with life-long friends and former teammates at Etihad on Saturday, there won’t be any time for reminiscing on days gone by.
All the Freo goal-sneak will be worried about is helping his Fremantle team leave Melbourne with four precious premiership points.
But that doesn’t mean he won’t spare a moment or two for Yarran and Garlett.
“I’ll probably have a few words for them during the game, I might give them a tip or two,” he joked.
In all seriousness, Walters knows the damage the dynamic Carlton duo, along with fellow Indigenous small forward Eddie Betts, are all capable of.
“I know those boys well, we can’t let them get off the chain,” he said.
“Their speed and in-and-under ability is really good.
“Carlton has a lot of talls, and their small forwards crumb off their talls very well.”
Adding to the mosquito fleet show at Etihad on Saturday night will be Walters’ forward line partner-in-crime, Hayden Ballantyne, who returns from a hamstring injury.
‘Sonny’ has missed his teammate’s presence around the big sticks.
“He knows the structure and he also takes the number one small defender, which helps me out,” Walters said.
“The past two weeks that he’s been out, they’ve been coming to me.”
“He also adds more of that forward pressure, which is what we’ve been focussing on all year.”
