"Go hard Dylan. Can't do it, a Maroons diehard".
That was one of the messages of congratulations Dylan Walker received from family on Pitcairn Island after being named in the NSW team for Wednesday night's State of Origin.
With a population of just 65 people, there are no organised team sports on the remote British Overseas Territory in the Pacific, but as a direct descendant of Fletcher Christian, the 21-year-old utility's exploits are closely followed by the residents of Pitcairn – almost all of whom are related to Walker through the infamous mutiny on the Bounty in 1789.
"I was born on the island and all of my family who are still there keep in touch via the internet and they have been following Dylan quite closely; they all know about him," Walker's mother Judy said. "Likewise with the grassroots of Norfolk Island, because the two islands are connected.
"They are all stoked for him. I have been getting messages on Facebook from cousins on the island, but they are Queensland supporters because of the Queen."
Pitcairn Island deputy governor Kevin Lynch told Fairfax Media: "I am not aware of any Pitcairn descendants who have done something similar".
However, Judy Walker said that her great grandmother, Lily Butler (nee Warren), had been awarded a British Order of Empire medal by Queen Elizabeth II for services to midwifery after delivering 77 children on Pitcairn without any formal training.
"Dylan has links to some very top-notch people through his ancestry," she said.
Among his ancestors are Christian, the lieutenant who led the mutiny against the commander of HMS Bounty, William Bligh, and seized control of the ship before setting him and 18 loyalists adrift in the south Pacific.
Christian and eight other mutineers eventually settled on Pitcairn Island with a group of Tahitian men and women in a bid to avoid capture and their whereabouts were not discovered until 1808 –although by then only John Adams was still alive, along with nine women and 25 children.
However, the Bounty names of Christian, Adams, McCoy, Quintal and Young live on through their descendants, along with a few others, including Warren, which originated from an American who married Walker's great, great, great grandmother Agnes Christian on Norfolk Island after the entire population of Pitcairn was relocated in 1856.
"Dylan is a ninth generation direct descendent of Fletcher Christian," said Judy Walker, whose maiden name is Warren. "Agnes Christian is the grand-daughter of Fletcher Christian's son. She moved back to Pitcairn and in many ways that is where our family's story really begins.
"But because of the structure of the Pitcairn Island family line, in one way or another we are all related. For example, my parents are third cousins. The people are patriotic, independent, hard working and they look after each other."
Walker, who was born in Sydney after his parents moved from New Zealand where Judy had lived since the age of eight as her mother Barbara required medical treatment, describes himself on his Instagram account as "Pitcairn man" and the Manly international recently told Fairfax Media he wanted to visit the island with his mum.
"Dylan is very proud of his heritage and we celebrate the traditional Bounty Day, usually at the beginning of February or the end of January," she said. "It is a beautiful place, an untouched paradise and Dylan does want to go back, so that is on the bucket list. We all will go back just for a visit."
The trip would be a deserved reward for Walker's mother after the mornings she spent chasing balls in the wind and rain while he practised his kicking as a junior in the South Sydney competition.
Walker, who has seven older siblings, began playing at six years of age for the Mascot Jets, but despite his speed and skill Judy said he had to work hard to get into representative teams.
"It wasn't handed to him on a silver platter, he put the time in and he put in the hard yards," she said. "He used to get me up and he would say 'mum I want to go to practice my kicking' and we would be up at Booralee Park [Botany] in the rain and windy conditions practicising kicks so he could get his eye in in the weather and the climate.
"We would be out there in the rain and he would be booting the ball and I would be chasing it around being his ball girl because that was his determination, he wanted to be able to gauge his kick and his accuracy against the weather.
"That is what parenting is all about and it has just been a humbling experience. I have been to all of his games and in his junior days I drove him all over NSW. It has been a wonderful journey.
"Even if he didn't make it I would still go back and do the same things. There is no expectation as a parent, you just do what you can to give your children the best opportunity."
Judy and another son, Wade, were helping Dylan and Manly teammate Api Korisau move house last Sunday when Dylan got the phone call from Blues coach Laurie Daley advising him of his selection on the bench for the Origin series opener at ANZ Stadium.
"It was just a magic moment," she said. "He gathered us around and I thought he was going to thank us for all the cleaning and scrubbing, and he said 'all my closest people around me, I have got something to say. I am going to Origin'.
"We all went 'what', and we just started yahooing. The boys just hugged each other and Api said 'Dee Walks, Dee Walks. Origin. I am so proud of you bra'. It was amazing."
