Veteran Adelaide forward Taylor Walker says he noticed a different trend in Collingwood’s game plan after studiously watching the Crows’ Round One opponent on Sunday night.

Walker took advantage of Adelaide not featuring in last weekend’s Opening Round by sitting down and dissecting the Magpies as they defeated St Kilda by 12 points at the MCG.

Speaking to Roo, Ditts and Loz on Triple M Adelaide Breakfast, Walker explained what he believed to be the key change to Collingwood’s gameplan and how that would affect how the Crows prepared.

“They (Collingwood) were certainly impressive on Sunday night, I got to sit down and watch that and got a fair bit out of it,” Walker said.

“They spoke a bit about tinkering with their game plan and how they are going to move the ball, and we certainly saw that on Sunday night, with their ability to take the sting out of the game and go more uncontested.

“They were trying to maintain possession and then at the right time press the button to go forward, and on the flipside they do take the game on very well and have some very dangerous players that can hurt you.” 

The Crows will get an opportunity to open their 2026 campaign against the Magpies on Saturday night, with a number of players putting their hand up for selection.

Walker gave his opinion of which injured players would be available for the clash and said the coaching panel were in for plenty of headaches when it came to picking the team.

“Thilthorpe, yep, Berry, yes, Ah Chee, yep, Cumming, yep, Peatling, yep, Hinge, nah he’s not quite there, and Soligo I’m not sure whether he needs a run under his belt or not,” Walker said.

“This is just my opinion so I wouldn’t take it as gospel, but we should hopefully have a fair few of those available and there will be some serious headaches for Nicksy and the coaches picking the side.

“They might go for 13-14 hours in match committee this week based on that.”

The Crows will kick off their 2026 campaign with a clash against Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday, March 14, before their first home game of the year against the Western Bulldogs on Friday, March 20.