When Taylor Walker sits back and reflects on his 299-game career, there is one thing that he holds most dear. 

It’s not the Adelaide club-record 678 goals he’s kicked.

Nor the feeling of running out onto a packed out Adelaide Oval, donning the tri-coloured guernsey he grew up admiring. 

Or belting out “We’re the Pride of South Australia…” surrounded by his mates after another stirring Crows victory. 

The highlight of Walker’s journey to 300 games, a milestone he will celebrate in Adelaide’s qualifying final against Collingwood on Thursday, has been the people he has met along the way - and shared his journey with. 

So when asked, what makes the Adelaide Football Club so special to him, his immediate answer is swift and filled with conviction. 

“The people are what make this place so incredibly special to me,” Walker told AFC Media on the eve of his 300th game. 

“When you are a player you hear the media and people externally come after people within the Club and I’ve always taken that quite personally, because they are having a crack at the people inside the four walls, and they are my people. 

“Throughout my journey we’ve always had magnificent people, whether it be in the football program, coaching program, high performance or administration, it’s always felt like one big family to me. 

“People are what make a footy Club special, and one of the key reasons why I’ve been here for so long and still love what I’m doing is the fact I’m around such great people here at the Adelaide Footy Club. 

“It takes so much more than the 23 that run out on game day to keep this place going, and I can’t wait to share this milestone with them.” 

When it comes to those special people at the Adelaide Football Club, none have had quite the impact on the soon-to-be 300 gamer, than Jacob “Legend” Milbank. 

The Crows’ chief motivator for the past 15 years, Milbank has been a constant at training sessions and around the Club throughout Walker’s career, with the pair forming an incredibly strong bond. 

“Being able to have an impact on Jacob’s life has been enormous for me,” Walker said. 

“We have a lot of fun with him, we stir him up, we have jokes, but we have so much care and empathy for him and want him to be the best person he can be. 

“He’s had his own challenges across the journey, like we all do, so to be side-by-side with him and help him along the way has been so rewarding.

“And likewise some of the things he has done for me over my time at the Club have been incredible and I will be forever grateful to him.” 

Helping others has been at the forefront of Walker’s mind throughout his career, and by his own admission, a key reason as to why he has been able to play at the top level for so long. 

When Adelaide began its rebuild under the guidance of Matthew Nicks in 2020, Walker had just relinquished the captaincy, and watched a number of his closest teammates walk out the door, as a new era began. 

It was a crossroad in the former Captain’s career, and a time where he made a decision to commit himself to nurturing the Club’s youth, and become a mentor to the young Crows who now make up the core of the 2025 minor premiers. 

“I get more of a kick out of watching them develop than anything I do out there on the field to be honest,” Walker said. 

“It’s great to see how quickly some of these guys have grown and matured into young men, and they’re now playing consistently great footy because they’ve worked out the recipe to do that. 

“I get so much satisfaction sitting back and watching them go to work, and helping them has really given me a new lease on life in a footy sense. 

“A lot of my best mates have finished up over the years, so being able to build relationships with these young kids has been super rewarding and keeps me young - my word do they keep me young.” 

Although Walker would rather keep himself and his accomplishments away from the spotlight, the magnitude of the 300-game milestone he is about to achieve is not lost on him. 

This Thursday night, he will become just the fifth Crow to play 300 games for the Club, and join legends Andrew McLeod, Tyson Edwards, Mark Ricciuto and Ben Hart. 

He said it was an uneasy feeling being put in the same company as some of Adelaide’s greats. 

“I get a bit uncomfortable thinking about it to be honest, I grew up barracking for the Club, so to be able to play 300 games here it is hard to put into words what that means to me,” Walker said. 

“Sitting with those guys as 300 game players for this incredible footy club it is surreal and part of me does think I shouldn’t be up there with those absolute legends of the game. 

“In saying that though, I’m just going to enjoy the whole occasion and celebrate with all the people that have made the ride so special. 

“I think it is a celebration of a lot of hard work from a lot of people that have allowed me to do what I love for so many years.” 

Throughout his 18 years as a Crow, Walker has achieved almost everything he would have dreamed of when he first walked through the doors as a skinny kid from Broken Hill. 

The one thing that has eluded him however, is premiership glory, having fallen at the hurdle in 2017. 

This year, the Crows’ all-time leading goalkicker has a chance to tick that all-important last item off the list, with his teams placed nicely for a strong finals tilt. 

“We’ve just hit the start line and we’re about to get ready to rev it up and enjoy the next part of the season,” Walker said. 

“It’s the business end now, we haven’t been here for a long period of time so it’s super exciting to be back with this group. 

“I can’t wait to just enjoy the challenges that present us and see where it takes us.”

Adelaide takes on Collingwood in a qualifying final at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night, with the first bounce at 7.10pm ACST.

For more information on the Crows’ 2025 Toyota AFL Finals Series, head to the Club’s finals hub here.