Rabbitohs boss Shane Richardson says the club has done as much as they can to secure the services of former NSW representative Cody Walker by putting on a $1.3 million dollar deal on the table.
Coach Wayne Bennett says Walker will remain at Redfern until at least the end of 2020.
“Cody isn’t going anywhere – he will stay at Souths,” Bennett told The Courier-Mail.
“We just have to do a deal and the deal is close to being done.
“We won’t lose a bloke like Cody Walker. You can’t easily replace a player of his ability. There’s now an offer on the table so it will be finalised soon.”
Walker bloomed late in his career as before he became an integral part of the Rabbitohs, he floated around clubs such as the Titans, Storm and Panthers.
Walker's Manager Matt Rose says the 29-year-old will close on a deal soon as talks are positive, “We have an offer from Souths now and we are working through it."
“Hopefully we come to an agreement in the next fortnight but it’s all looking positive.
“At this stage, everything is moving towards a deal with Souths. They had to look at their cap situation with Sam Burgess retiring, so we were happy to wait and see how they landed. Now we have picked up talks and we should get something done.
“I believe in the next two to three weeks we will get something done. Cody isn’t off-contract until the end of next year, so there’s been no need to rush the process.
“He’s had quite a bit of interest. Cody could earn more money elsewhere but there’s other factors. He really enjoys playing under Wayne and I believe he could sign one more deal after his next contract.”