Taylor Walker and Eddie Betts are already building a chemistry the Crows hope will develop into one of the most dynamic forward combinations in the AFL.

A much-loved character and emerging leader at Adelaide, Walker was one of the first players to contact Betts after the skilful small forward joined the Club as a Free Agent last Friday. The pair also met during Betts' visit to West Lakes on Tuesday.

“Tex (Walker) sent me a text and said, ‘We’ve got to work on our handshake, mate. I said, ‘Yeah mate, we’ll work on our handshake,” Betts said.

Not since the days of Coleman Medallist Brendan Fevola has Betts regularly played alongside a powerful key forward. The two-time Blues leading goalkicker said he was looking forward to establishing a partnership with Walker.

“It’s going to be great. At Carlton, we had some good key forwards like Jarrad Waite, but unfortunately he missed a lot of footy. It was more the little guys, me, Jeff Garlett and Chris Yarran, kicking the goals,” he said.

“Moving across here, we’ve got a big, strong forward to help us out. If you’re getting tagged, you can just run past Tex and get him to put his big frame into your opponent.”

Betts, 26, played 184 games for the Blues, establishing himself as one of the premier small forwards in the AFL. The elusive goalkicker ranks No.1 in the League for score assists (195) in the last five years.

He topped Carlton’s goalkicking in 2010 and 2012, averaging 42 goals a season since 2009 and was selected in the All-Australian squads of 2011 and 2012.

Betts had an interrupted 2013 season, missing six games because of a fractured jaw and suspension.
He kicked 27 goals from 18 games as he adjusted to a new game plan under a new coach. He came to the fore on the September stage, kicking three goals in an influential Elimination Final display against Richmond and two in Carlton’s Semi-Final loss to the Sydney Swans.

“It was a frustrating season. I broke my jaw in round one, had surgery and was out for three weeks. I came back and played three games and then got suspended for three weeks,” Betts said.

“It was tough trying to get back into form after missing six weeks early in the season. I came back as the sub, so that was another half a game missed.

“I really had to build up confidence in my tackling. You’re a little apprehensive because you don’t want to re-injure (the jaw) even though it’s got a metal plate in there and is stronger than it was before the injury. You’ve still got that doubt and it took me a while to get my confidence back.

“At the end of the season, I thought I started playing a bit better but it was a shocking season to be honest. I’m looking forward to 2014.”

Betts, who is ranked No.1 in forward 50m tackles (168) since 2009, will also add strong defensive element to the Adelaide attack. The 173cm, 73kg, livewire said he expected to play a similar role at Adelaide to the one he played at Carlton.

“I’ll be playing in the forward line and also high half-forward,” he said.

“You have to be super fit to play that high half-forward role because you have to get up the ground, create pressure and race back for the crumbs under big ‘Tex’ (Walker)  … hopefully, Tex will drop a few for me.

“I just go out and play my game. The Crows have got some fantastic players down here. I’m just looking to fit in and play to the game plan they want me to play.”