Tex set to train again soon
TAYLOR Walker is expected to return to Adelaide training in early December as Crows list manager Justin Reid said there would be no need for “integration” of the former captain into the playing group.
Walker still has three matches to serve from his sixgame ban for a racial slur towards North Adelaide’s Indigenous player Robbie Young in July.
When he fronted the media for the first time since copping the ban, and having to pay $20,000 towards an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander charity, Walker said his playing future was less of a priority than repairing relationships and learning.
The 31-year-old had only weeks prior to making the slur signed a new one-year deal at the Crows.
Adelaide senior coach Matthew Nicks used his speech at the Crows club champion award to say that Walker was wanted at the club in 2022.
Reid on Wednesday said he expected Walker to be at the club next year.
“Tex is wanted and he will be at the football club next year,” he said. “There is support around the whole playing group and Tex this off-season and we expect Tex to be at the football club.”
When it first was revealed that Walker was being investigated for the slur, a number of Crows players were left very disappointed in the former captain.
Reid said he was confident no integration of Walker would be needed when he returns to West Lakes on December 6, along with the Crows’ other five-years and plus players.
“Tex has always been part of the team,” he said.
“There is no integration, he is part of the team.
“I think like all AFL players, the five-plus years ones are expected back in December across the competition.
“A lot of the younger players are expected back in November and the five-plus players will return in December.”
While Walker’s future at the Crows is a lot clearer, the future of out-of-contract Ben Davis is still up in the air.
When the investigation into Walker was first revealed, and the former captain took leave from the club, Davis trained the next day in a jumper featuring the Crows’ 2021 Indigenous guernsey – which he designed.
He then wore it while on the bench as the club’s medical substitute in the Showdown that weekend, one of his four appearances this season.
Reid said the scandal involving Walker had not affected how the 24-year-old or the club was looking at his future.
“No, we treat every individual independently when it comes to their contracts,” he said. “Ben finished the year really strongly, and he is really clear that it is a bit of a holding pattern until we get through trade period.
“So we will pick that up again post trade period.”
Davis has played six games for the Crows.