Veteran Adelaide forward Taylor Walker says being able to deal with the high expectations of South Australian football fans comes part in parcel with playing for the Adelaide Crows.
The Crows have been well and truly under the spotlight of the state’s football-crazed media this week, after falling to Collingwood by 34 points last Thursday night.
Adelaide’s inaugural Senior Coach, Graham Cornes, spoke about the power of expectation on the Crows players and how he felt they were dealing with it.
Walker responded to the comments on his weekly Triple M Breakfast spot with Roo, Ditts and Loz and explained how he had dealt with the expectations associated with playing for the Crows across the past 19 seasons.
“You do have to learn to deal with it, he’s right in the sense that there is a lot of expectation on us in South Australia, the Adelaide Crows have been a powerhouse team for a long time,” Walker said.
“When you join the Crows there is an expectation that you perform, so you have to find ways to deal with it. One thing I’ve done over my journey is surround myself with people that are very honest with me.
“That’s been able to keep me going in the right direction and assist me in not riding that roller coaster of expectation.
“It’s something you need to learn to deal with when you play for the Adelaide Crows.”
Walker was also played a clip from three-time premiership coach Mick Malthouse labelling the Club as “soft” following the loss to the Pies.
He was quick to disagree with the comments, and explained that the group had shown it had been able to prevail in a tough situation just six days prior to the Collingwood game.
“You respect people’s opinions and especially Mick (Malthouse), who’s been around the traps and been quite successful in his career,” Walker said.
“But I don’t fully agree with what he says, based on seven days before that we were up in Sydney and able to grit out a win where you do win your contest and your pressure is up against a quality side.
“Unfortunately we weren’t able to do it for the four quarters (against Collingwood), and there’s been some times this year where that’s been the case, so we had a really good look at it yesterday and look forward to some exciting challenges in the weeks to come.”
One positive to come from the match against the Pies was Walker kicking his 700th goal, courtesy of a classy set-shot finish from the pocket.
He briefly re-lived the moment, which he admitted was marred by the fact the Crows were unable to get the four points.
“It was nice to get it out of the way early that’s for sure,” Walker said.
“It came off the boot very nicely, so it was nice to get the six points but would have been even nicer to get the four points at the end of the night, but it wasn’t to be.
“We had a great first and most of the second quarter, but unfortunately we were unable to absorb Collingwood’s pressure and our contest was inconsistent in the second half.
“If your contest isn’t up to scratch, then don’t even worry about moving the ball, because if you can’t win the ball, you can’t move it.”
Adelaide takes on Essendon at Marvel Stadium this Sunday afternoon, with the match to begin at 4.10pm (ACST).
Fans can watch the match live on Fox Footy/Kayo and Channel 7 Adelaide.
