Andrew Walker and other notable sporting comebacks

The dual international reckons he's only lost about 10 per cent of the speed that helped him become a rugby league and rugby union star.

The Brumbies have not spoken to Walker about offering him a contract, but the situation got us thinking about the best comebacks in Australian sport.

The former St George, Roosters and Manly rugby league playmaker joined the Brumbies in 2000 and helped the club win its first Super Rugby title.

He ended his at-times controversial career in 2008, but still plays first-grade rugby league in Brisbane.

Walker joined the Brumbies for the Brisbane 10s and showed he still has some magic in the old legs, but he was left drenched in sweat after his cameo appearance.

Could he still play Super Rugby? That's the question Brumbies coaches posed to themselves as they deal with serious injuries to Tomas Cubelli and Lausii Taliauli.

Walker thinks he could, but the Brumbies might opt to go with some younger legs to bolster their squad.

This one's technically not a comeback yet. But former State of Origin powerhouse Dave "Coal Train" Taylor is on the verge of joining the Canberra Raiders this year.

Taylor left the NRL at the end of 2015 after a drugs controversy while playing for the Gold Coast Titans.

He is widely regarded as one of the most powerful players in rugby league, but consistency has been his biggest hurdles since making his debut 11 years ago.

Taylor is still just 28 years old and will play for the Raiders in their trial match against the Newcastle Knights on Saturday night.

If Taylor impresses, he'll win an NRL contract with the Green Machine and take another step to resurrecting his Australian career.

It's been a turbulent 24 hours for the three-time Olympic gold medallist after he was arrested on the Gold Coast and then claimed his brother gave him a black eye.

Hackett was the best 1500 metre swimmer in the world at the peak of his powers and went to three Olympic Games before announcing his retirement when he was 28.

He attempted a comeback seven years later, but failed in his bid to make the Australian team for the Rio Olympics.

Hackett announced his retirement again, but his life away from the pool has been plagued by controversy.

How good was Plugger in full flight, leading out of the goal square and booting goals for the Sydney Swans and St Kilda Saints?

Tony Lockett was a champion of the AFL and retired in 1999 as the all-time leading goal-kicker in AFL history.

However, there was something stirring in the big fella and he made a comeback in 2002. It lasted three games and he added three more goals to his tally.

But everyone, including Plugger, agreed that was enough. "Obviously I was wrong. But I got it out of my system ... I have no regrets at all."

Swimming comebacks seem to happen more often than not. Athletes break on the scene as teenagers and are burnt out by the time they reach their mid 20s.

Ian Thorpe is the perfect example of that. He was Australian swimming's golden child and won five Olympic gold medals at his two Games.

Thorpe emerged as a 14-year-old and won his first Olympic medal as an 18-year-old before leaving the sport in 2006.

He made announced his comeback at a much-hyped media conference in 2011 but failed to qualify for the London Olympics in 2012.

While most comebacks fall flat on their face, we're putting Huegill down as a tick for the win column.

The two-time Olympic medallist dropped 40 kilograms when he announced his return in 2008, four years after he quit. Huegill went on to win a silver and bronze medal at the 2011 world championships.

Bob Simpson was a champion cricketer who captained Australia and then coached some of the greatest players in the sport's history.

But it was his comeback at the age of 41 during the World Series Cricket war that raised eyebrows.

Simpson retired in 1968 but was lured back out to the middle in 1977 to captain NSW and Australia. Age didn't really trouble him, he scored 89 in his first innings back and then notched 176 against India.

Simpson put his bat in the bag for good at 42 years old.

The sight of the little blonde Queenslander will make the blood boil of any NSW rugby league fan.

The Blues thought they'd seen the last of 'Alfie' when he moved to England at the end of 1999.

But the Queenslanders had something up their sleeve and called the crafty Langer back for the deciding game of the 2001 State of Origin series.

The diminutive halfback was 35 at the time and was hammered by NSW media and fans. But he was man of the match and led Queensland to a series win.

It went down as a masterstroke by Queensland and Langer rejoined the Brisbane Broncos a year later to become the oldest player in the NRL in 2002.