Crows veteran Taylor Walker sits on 699 AFL career goals, needing just one more major to become the first player in Club history and the 28th in VFL/AFL history to reach the 700-goal milestone.
The 36-year-old key forward achieved 699 goals after a five-goal haul against Gold Coast Suns a fortnight ago, before being managed for the Crows’ win against Sydney.
After being named in the team for Thursday night’s blockbuster clash against Collingwood at Adelaide Oval, there is a chance Walker will hit that milestone against the Pies.
Ahead of the match, a few of his Club mates, both at an AFL and AFLW level gave a few words about what Walker means to them, the Club and how excited they are for him to kick his 700th goal.
Josh Rachele
“It’s going to be an amazing milestone, Tex has been one of the most selfless players across our footy club for his whole career, so I think it's a great little milestone for him to achieve.
“He's also given off a lot of goals, so really, he could be more on the eight or 900 mark.
“But it's going to be a great achievement, and I think the boys will celebrate accordingly.
“Oh, there's so many things that you could mention about him.
“But the things that stand out is his leadership, his resilience, and I think his motivation still at this age just to continue to get better each week to help the younger players, but then also still try to improve his own game now.
“He's 36 now and he's still trying to get better and work on little things, for me personally, he’s been such a great mentor since I first walked into the football Club and someone I've always admired."
Ebony Marinoff
“Tex has been so amazing for me with my leadership, and he’s always a sounding board that I can go to.
“When you're growing up, you wouldn't have thought that Taylor Walker would be somewhat of a mentor, so I’ve been really lucky to have been a part of this club for 10 years to watch Tex's journey evolve.
“I feel over the past couple of years you've really seen his passion come out. He's really enjoying his footy, and almost soaking up every game like it's his last.
“To kick 700 goals is pretty crazy considering not many do that in this generation.”
Luke Nankervis
“I think it will be an awesome moment.
“We already got to celebrate it once because there was some misinformation going around that he had kicked his 700th when it was actually his 699th against Gold Coast.
“He’s an absolute legend of the Club and a great teammate, so it’s going to be great to see and hopefully he can get it this week.”
Madison Newman:
“I grew up watching Tex and I admire him a lot, he was one of my favourite players growing up.
“It'll be a great milestone for him, and let’s see if he can reach 800.”
Mark Keane
“I hope he gets everyone running onto the field like they did for Buddy (Lance) Franklin.
“It would be great to see everyone get around him for this amazing milestone.”
