Patrick Dangerfield couldn’t contain his excitement when Taylor Walker was introduced to the vocal Adelaide Oval crowd for the first time ahead of the clash with Collingwood.
Walker returned to the AFL stage on Thursday night, 384 days after sustaining a serious knee injury against Carlton at the MCG in Round Five last season.
As is tradition at Adelaide home games, the players were introduced one-by-one by the ground announcers during the warm-up. When it came to the No.13, there was a loud roar around the packed-out stadium.
“I couldn’t help but smile and cheer with the rest of the crowd,” Dangerfield said.
“How good is it to have him back?”
Understandably, Walker took time to adjust to the pace back at the elite level.
The classy forward worked his way into the game and provided a strong lead-up option.
The crowd was willing Walker to score a goal when he started to find more of the ball in the second half, but he just couldn’t find the middle and finished with 0.4 from 17 possessions, seven marks and four inside 50ms.
Coach Brenton Sanderson said the two-time leading goalkicker would be “better for the run”.
“Tex looked like he just needed that AFL touch and speed. He still looked great though, didn’t he? He moved well and got into some great positions,” Sanderson said.
“A couple of times, he slipped, or the ball slipped through his hands and he missed a few kicks. He had four shots at goal for four points. We were happy he got through the night unscathed.”
Dangerfield encouraged Walker not to get frustrated when things weren’t going his way.
“Tex was a little bit fumbly early on and he was a bit down on himself. I said to him, ‘Just relax’. It was so awesome to have him out there and some of his work in the second half was outstanding,” Dangerfield said.
Despite not hitting the scoreboard, Walker made his presence felt in the forward line.
A member of the Crows leadership group, the imposing 24-year-old barked instructions to his forward line teammates, encouraged them to take their shots at goal and didn’t hesitate to ruffle Magpie feathers either.
He also attracted Collingwood's best defender, Jack Frost, and often an extra defender, helping Josh Jenkins (four goals) and James Podsiadly (1.1) to get more involved.
Debutant Charlie Cameron played two SANFL games with Walker prior to Thursday night. It didn’t take him long to appreciate the popular character’s importance to the team.
“Tex is a leader on and off the field. He organises all the forwards whether he’s getting the ball or not,” he said.
