After kicking his fourth goal of the half to put Adelaide back in front, Taylor Walker took it upon himself to have an impact at the other end of the ground in the dying stages against Essendon on Sunday night.

Sensing there were only minutes remaining in the match, Walker journeyed into unfamiliar territory.

He hauled in two important marks to thwart Bomber attacks, and contributed to forcing several stoppages as the ball bounced around dangerously inside the visitors’ forward 50m in the last 40 seconds of the game.

Teammate Aidan Riley credited Walker with helping to “save” the game for Adelaide.

“Tex was a bit of a saviour tonight,” Riley told afc.com.au.

“He kicked four goals and then when we needed him went back and played loose in defence.

“He really helped us out back there and probably almost saved us the game.”

Coach Brenton Sanderson said the Crows leading goalkicker had made the defining move of his “own accord”.

“Tex showed a bit of leadership, and good on him,” Sanderson said after the match.

“We tried to change that a bit in the coaches’ box, but to Tex’s credit he went back there and took some really good marks and showed good poise with the ball. The defenders were under the pump in that last quarter. Essendon had 21 inside50ms for the term, and they were coming.

“Our boys stood up and showed a bit of experience.”

Walker was limited to only four possessions in the first half, but finished the match with 12 possessions, seven marks and 4.0 to be the home team’s leading goalkicker. Young tyro Patrick Dangerfield was superb with three goals, while ex-Bomber Josh Jenkins and veteran Graham Johncock each kicked two.

A modest Walker played down his significant contribution.

“If we relied on one player, we wouldn’t get the results we want,” he said.

“A strength of our team at the moment is that we have a weight of numbers and everyone is playing their role.”