Born in the northern New South Wales town of
Collarenebri, Walford was raised by his grandparents in the larger nearby town of
Walgett. He was selected from
Walgett as an Australian schoolboy representative and toured New Zealand in 1981. In 1982 Walford moved to Sydney, joined
Eastern Suburbs Roosters and made thirteen appearances for the tri-colours in
1982 and
1983. He made his first grade debut in round 2 of the 1982 season and kicked two goals coming from the bench, going on to score three tries and kicking four goals in seven appearances. Walford played in only six games in 1983 for the Roosters, scoring no tries or goals. He then moved north of
Sydney Harbour in
1984 and played 11 games for the
North Sydney Bears, scoring eight tries and kicking 21 goals. In his day Ricky Walford was one of a dying breed of 'toe poke' goalkickers in top-line rugby league. He was an old style direct kicker of the ball rather than using an 'around-the-corner' style that gives the kicker greater accuracy, and has proved popular since
Englishman John Gray introduced the style to Australia when he joined the Bears in
1975.
St. George Career Walford joined the
St. George Dragons in
1985 but only played two games for the season and missed out on the Dragons' 6–7 loss to
Canterbury-Bankstown in the Grand Final at the
Sydney Cricket Ground. He cemented his place on the wing for St. George in the
1986 season and scored nine tries in 17 games to be the club's leading try scorer. After an injury interrupted
1987 season where he only played 14 of the Dragons' 26 games, Walford enjoyed some of his best form and his best ever points haul in
1988. Playing 22 games he was the club's leading try and point scorer with 15 tries and 52 of 89 goals kicked for a total of 164 points scored. Walford was also a member of the victorious
St. George Dragons team that won the
1988 Panasonic Cup. In an 11-year career with the famous St. George club Walford played 207 games. He scored 104 tries and kicked 229 goals. He played on the wing in both of the
1992 and
1993 Grand Final losses to the
Brisbane Broncos at the
Sydney Football Stadium and was the NSWRL's leading point scorer in
1989 when he scored 146 points (equal with
Balmain's English import
Andy Currier). Walford crossed the line for 13 tries and kicked 47 goals from 75 attempts. Walford had his biggest point scoring day in round 19 of 1989 at the Dragons' home ground
Kogarah Oval when he crossed for four tries and kicked five goals against Canterbury in a 32-2 romp over the reigning premiers. Walford's 874 career points for St. George stood in second place behind
Graeme Langlands on the club's all-time highest score tally. He retired from St. George at the end of the
1995 season but made himself available to play for the Red V in the
1996 season as a result of troubles during the
Super League war. He subsequently retired again at season's end. Walford's final game for the club was their 16-14 upset victory over
Canberra in the 1996 qualifying final. ==Representative career==