Former Adelaide recruiting manager James Fantasia didn't need to see much of Taylor Walker to know he was exactly what the Crows were after.

One look at him playing from former junior scout Mark Ross, along with a stack of glowing references, was enough for Fantasia to be convinced the then 15-year-old from Broken Hill belonged at West Lakes.

Fantasia first heard about Walker, a skinny young forward with enormous potential, at a time when the AFL was pushing to grow the game in New South Wales through its scholarship program.

He then sent Ross to a rural NSW carnival to watch Walker in action, with the junior scout immediately impressed.

Even when Walker suffered a fractured hip in a motocross accident just two weeks later sidelining him for six months, Fantasia never wavered in his belief that the teenager was worth backing.

It proved to be a decision that would shape Adelaide's future, with Walker going on to become one of the greatest players in Club history.

As Walker prepares to hang up his boots at season’s end, Fantasia reflects on the decision to make him a Crow.

“The scholarship was only meant to be for kids living in metropolitan Sydney, but then they changed the rules and extended it to Greater NSW, and we had some outstanding players who had come from Broken Hill, and I was keen to explore that,” Fantasia told AFC Media.

“So I instantly contacted a friend of mine, Darren Denneman, he was the NSW talent manager, and asked him for a list of three or four talented kids out of Broken Hill, and one of them was Taylor Walker.

“I got Mark Ross to go out and watch a game that Taylor was playing in and he knew straight away Taylor was going to be good, and from his references, he was already definitely one of the best kids playing.

“Not long after that game, Taylor fractured his hip in a motorbike accident, which was an awful thing to happen, but because of it, remained under the radar and gave us the chance to bring him in.”

Fantasia spent the next year visiting Walker and his family, getting to know the teenager who would eventually go on to become a Crows Captain and all-time leading goalkicker.

But that first meeting of Walker and his family is a moment Fantasia will never forget.

“I went out to see him a couple of times, but the first time I went to visit was to talk about the program, and I can remember walking into his bedroom, and from the bottom of the floor to the top of the wall on every wall were Crows posters,” Fantasia said. 

“He was just a full-on Crows fan, so for a young kid to be given an opportunity to come to the Club he supported, I think it was quite incredible for him.

“When I went back to see him the second time, I was able to see him play some footy, and he showed what he had, he was roasting kicks and I think he kicked about four games.

“But what I really liked about him, even at that age, there was a real honesty about him, and he just had an incredible way of taking everything in, it’s been one of his strengths all the way through and helped him develop into an incredible leader.”

A few weeks after Walker officially became a Crow at the 2007 National Draft, Fantasia resigned as Adelaide’s recruiting manager and took up a position as the Bulldog’s General Manager of Football.

He revealed he did try to lure Walker to the Bulldogs during his tenure there, but the Broken Hill product remained loyal to Adelaide.

“Obviously I had a vested interest in Tex, even though I moved on,” Fantasia said.

“I was very keen to try and get him to the Western Bulldogs, but I found out that he was committed to staying at the Crows, so it was only a fleeting inquiry.”

Fantasia was at the Bulldogs until 2013 when he became General Manager of Football Operations at Hawthorn - a role he held for a few months before being forced to resign due to illness.

The Norwood product returned to the Redlegs a few years later and became chief executive officer in 2026, before stepping down at the end of 2025.

Fantasia said he took pride in knowing he played a small part in Walker’s footballing journey and has admired his career from afar.

“You do take a bit of pride in it, but it's more than just watching how he developed as a footballer, it’s seeing him develop as a person.

“He obviously has some incredible features in his game, like his vision, his ability to pick off a long distance pass, and his goalkicking, but the real part of it is to see this 15-year-old kid who struggled to put together three sentences, especially those in front of us, turn into a real leader.

“He’s had his challenges, but the fact that he has just worked his way through them, and he’s become this unbelievable role model for young and old, so you take your hat off to people when they do that.

“It’s sad when a champion retires, but I feel Taylor still has so much to offer, so hopefully he won’t be lost to the game.”