The Big Texan

[jackster83]

He often looks to be carrying an injury these days. The issue is he is one of those players who goes into self-preservation mode when he's carrying an injury. That's when you see him dropping marks, letting his opponent mark the ball uncontested, lazy attempts at goal, etc.

I think we need to look at our training loads, in particular during the second half of the season. Two years in a row we've collapsed in a heap in the business end. Whoever organised that internal trial during the bye week should be sacked.

Making Sloane the captain is not the answer. Rory's finals record is a worry in itself (has never had more than 24 disposals in a final).

 

[lincsPJ]

I think we need to look at our training loads, in particular during the second half of the season. Two years in a row we've collapsed in a heap in the business end. Whoever organised that internal trial during the bye week should be sacked.

Looked ok in the prelim

 

[fairfooty]

Tex and what he was selling had nothing to do with Dangerfield leaving.

Nor Lever, nor Cameron if we believe the media.

 

[Mismatched]

I think we need to look at our training loads, in particular during the second half of the season. Two years in a row we've collapsed in a heap in the business end. Whoever organised that internal trial during the bye week should be sacked.
.

I don’t think this was so much the issue, we ran over the top of 2 fellow top 4 finishers in the QF and PF’s. Issue was more to do with game plan failure, poor selection, players not coping with the occasion and an opposition who had a blessed run into the GF and had players playing out of their skins.

 

[SydCrow]

Is it true he played in the GF with a broken hand? And strapped the other one to fool his opponent?

I love what he brings and want to see him asserting himself physically. No 2 in the comp for score involvements (after Buddy) I believe.

And keep speaking out and ignore the trolls and the Vic media school fish.

 

[Mike Smyth]

Care factor?

SANFL. Play Himmelberg!

 

[Murray2503]

Looked ok in the prelim

Tex and Talia have been injured for two finals series in a row which is of concern. If you watch Tex in the first 6 weeks of the season he was moving freely with confidence and kicking for goal with power. That definitely evaporated late in the season. Agree needs to lose some kg's and the club should be looking at around 15 games per year to have him fresh for finals.

 

[Crow_Magnon]

Pretty good summation by DABM. He's actually doing a lot right, so not much needs to change. Dropping him in the centre square is not a bad option as his handball skills are excellent. I felt in the GF that he was definitely carrying an injury (as others have stated, and he wasn't able to kick through the ball due to the foot problem). Our structure up forward was part of the problem too - all bunched up about 40m from goal for every centre bounce, and none of them could take a grab (Gov missing was a huge issue). Personally I'd play Tex at FF, Gov at CHF as he's much more mobile, Jenkins (if still in the team) in the FP. Tex to play the lead out role (needs to be at least 40m out to kick them!), JJ to stay put, Gov to play more of the roaming role.

 

[BigRed87]

Is it true he played in the GF with a broken hand? And strapped the other one to fool his opponent?

I love what he brings and want to see him asserting himself physically. No 2 in the comp for score involvements (after Buddy) I believe.

And keep speaking out and ignore the trolls and the Vic media school fish.

I think he had a broken thumb or broken little finger for the majority of the finals series, not just the GF.

 

[Elite Crow]

I think he had a broken thumb or broken little finger for the majority of the finals series, not just the GF.

And he’s had ankle surgery

 

[DD#23]

playing injured players in important games, that's unlike the AFC

 

[FR0GGY]

Really needs McGovern to step up and take more of the focus off just Tex.

 

[Wood_Duck]

Looked ok in the prelim

Won us the prelim. Plenty of teams come back poorly from a bye.

 

[Jcpdragonx]

He's an embarrassment in the media (twitter) and his out on the full was shameful. He's always concerned with externals. Tex having a go at Lever when hes no longer his captain makes no sense. He was only made captain because it was awkward to make either Danger or Sloane captain at the time. Sloane as captain is a no risk move, he pretty much begged for it.

Tex has grown into the captain role better than expected but there is a better option.

 

[lincsPJ]

He's an embarrassment in the media (twitter) and his out on the full was shameful. He's always concerned with externals. Tex having a go at Lever when hes no longer his captain makes no sense. He was only made captain because it was awkward to make either Danger or Sloane captain at the time. Sloane as captain is a no risk move, he pretty much begged for it.

Tex has grown into the captain role better than expected but there is a better option.

So you're sayin we've got the best TWO captains in the league.

 

[mistylake]

And JJ goes where? Decoy or 3rd forward/swap with Sauce?

Brisbane for 2018 first rounder.

 

[mistylake]

Problem with Tex is I feel like he's carrying an injury in the second half of the season since 2013 every year and hence we don't see anywhere near his best.
Only way he can redeem himself is through personal peformance.
If we see the elite Tex we were beginning to see in 2012/13 in the next couple of years we win the flag, it's that simple.

Tex (elite version), Sloane, Betts, Gibbs, Talia (AA version), M.Crouch, B.Crouch (A grade version), Laird, Jacobs (at his best), Lynch (borderline AA version) is as good a top 10 as any group in the league.

Jenkins needs to prove himself next year. Will prove crucial to the level we need to be at to seperate from the rest of the comp.

Guys like Douglas, Brown, Kelly and Gibson will give our side stability.

Group that together with development from our best talent in McGovern, Greenwood, Keath, Milera, Galluci, Doedee, Atkins, Poholke and it's a very good side.

Point being, Tex at his best will prove the difference between being a very good side and a dominant one.

Pinning your hopes on a pre knee reco Tex appearing are not reality unless you have a “Hot tub time machine”. Which is also unrealistic.

 

[Scorpus]

 

[dylan123]

Agreed with the call for him to lose some weight to gain a bit more mobility. A leading forward like him doesn't need to weight he has and dropping some would probably help a little with a number of things.

Do wonder whether he likes it so he can try to be more of a physical presence with don't argues along with just bumping into players etc?

 

[Ramify]

He's an embarrassment in the media (twitter) and his out on the full was shameful. He's always concerned with externals. Tex having a go at Lever when hes no longer his captain makes no sense. He was only made captain because it was awkward to make either Danger or Sloane captain at the time. Sloane as captain is a no risk move, he pretty much begged for it.

Tex has grown into the captain role better than expected but there is a better option.

Sloane didn't fill me with confidence when he was acting co-captain.

 

[The Karma Bus]

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-04-26/barrett-thank-you-tex-walker

TEX WALKER, thank you.

Thank you for being yourself, for the on-field chest-out and strut, for the 'Power Ranger' stance in last year’s finals.

Thanks for not forgetting from where you came, for being prepared to say things which leave you wide open to attack.

We love the loyalty that accompanies your every public word and passion for your club, appreciate the vulnerability to which you expose yourself on some of those words.

Thanks for being old school in a new school world.

Really sorry that some confused bloke called you a buffoon last year for how you handled the Jake Lever departure. You didn’t deserve that ridicule for simply being angry at a guy who walked out on you and the club which means everything to you.

Apologies for the pile-on that accompanied your low-impact game in round four this season against Collingwood. It wasn’t good, but it certainly wasn’t lynch-able.

Apologies, also, for the strafing that came after the Grand Final loss last year. Yep, you had a shocker, but there’s not one person in the world who at some stage hasn’t under-performed at a key moment. You weren’t the Crows’ worst, and even all-time greats have put in GF shockers.

Thanks for not taking yourself too seriously when all others do.

As an industry, we’re quick to smash Taylor Walker.

Can’t understand why.

In a world of sanitised, I-must-adhere-to-what-my-club-wants-me-to-say footballers, Walker is a unique point of difference in AFL 2018. A star on the field, publicly accessible off it, honest on it and off it.

Why would people seek to rejoice in his mistakes, pillory him when he errs?

In round one this year, Adelaide lost to Essendon. Walker was unable to play because he had had a bad pre-season with knee and foot problems.

For those same reasons, he should not have played round two. But he did, largely because, as captain of a team which had badly lost the 2017 Grand Final to Richmond and then lost to Essendon in the 2018 season-opening match, he felt he had to.

Walker booted four goals in that game in a great win.

The next week, round three, he booted three goals in a win versus St Kilda. In round five, he booted another four goals in a match-shaping performance in an underdog team against Sydney at the SCG.

Glass half full, and we’re honing in on an unfit Walker kicking 13 goals in three wins from four appearances. Glass half empty, Walker’s courage is being questioned when he fumbled in trying to pick up a loose ball in a game in which the Crows unexpectedly lost.

The Walker glass is actually nearly over flowing.

What you see with Walker is what you get. There’s not many people in the AFL in 2018 who can lay claim to that.

When Lever walked out last year, Walker was angry, said he left for money over success. So what.

Walker became seriously agitated with Lever when he knew he was leaving. It caused friction late in the 2017 season. Team meetings were called to deal with the angst.

Lever had a right to leave for Melbourne. Walker, as captain, had a right to be angry, particularly when he was made aware that Lever was bragging about the size of the outside offers.

The Walker-endorsed 'Power Ranger' stance during the national anthems in last year’s finals series? Wouldn’t have been mentioned ever again had the Crows beaten Richmond in the Grand Final, and let’s face it, even if you were in the majority and didn’t like it, it had nothing to do with the actual loss.

Walker’s ordinary performance in the Grand Final in a demoralising defeat will forever leave him open to criticism and haunt him. He knows that, is reminded of it when his head hits the pillow some nights. He gets it.

Dealing with that facet of a life which he has seen him leave Broken Hill as a 17-year-old to pursue an AFL career, which has seen him confronted with the deaths of an assistant coach in Dean Bailey, and main coach, Phil Walsh, who wanted him to be captain when no one else thought he was ready nor capable, are issues which have shaped him.

In that football way, he loved Walsh and the "man conversations" they shared. Would have done anything for him. He wasn’t as keen on, yet still respected, the two Crows coaches before Walsh, Neil Craig and Brenton Sanderson, and has fully embraced Don Pyke.

Sure, he stunk in the 2017 Grand Final. But before you condemn him on under-performing in a big game, remember he kicked four goals (among 63 goals from 19 games in that season) in a five-point loss in the 2012 preliminary final.

Also factor in that, in consecutive seasons, 2016 and 2017, he was voted by his peers as best captain in the AFL. That put him in a club that includes only Wayne Carey, Mark Ricciuto, Michael Voss and Jonathan Brown.

And that he was arguably best-afield in the 2015 elimination final win against Western Bulldogs. Not just for his three goals but his poise in the final significant play of that game when he out-positioned his opponent and drilled a long kick into the hands of Charlie Cameron, who then kicked the match-sealing goal inside the final minute-and-a-half against the Western Bulldogs.

If you want to go way back, to 2011, you’ll have a reason to criticise Walker when he was caught on camera having a beer while watching a game, as a non-travelling Crows’ emergency-listed player, with his Broken Hill mates.

In many ways, that issue captures Walker.

Live the moment. Embrace childhood mates who stick and who don’t care if you stuff up. Be who you are and not who you are told to be by those who only care for image. Have a good time. Don’t take life suffocatingly seriously.

I'll add in the 2012 semi final when he kicked 5 goals and carried us over the line when we were down at half time.
Can't believe that one was left out.
But neutrals and the media: "Tex Walka always sux in big games"

Sure you had a poor day but an entire team stinks on one day, your midfield is destroyed, any balls that do come forward are mongrel bombs and you end up the hunted villain.
Darren Jarman had 5 disposals in a Grand Final.

 

[FR0GGY]

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-04-26/barrett-thank-you-tex-walker




I'll add in the 2012 semi final when he kicked 5 goals and carried us over the line when we were down at half time.
Can't believe that one was left out.
But neutrals and the media: "Tex Walka always sux in big games"

Sure you had a poor day but an entire team stinks on one day, your midfield is destroyed, any balls that do come forward are mongrel bombs and you end up the hunted villain.
Darren Jarman had 5 disposals in a Grand Final.

Interesting that he says lever was bragging about the sized offers he got.

 

[happy_knackers]

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-04-26/barrett-thank-you-tex-walker




I'll add in the 2012 semi final when he kicked 5 goals and carried us over the line when we were down at half time.
Can't believe that one was left out.
But neutrals and the media: "Tex Walka always sux in big games"

Sure you had a poor day but an entire team stinks on one day, your midfield is destroyed, any balls that do come forward are mongrel bombs and you end up the hunted villain.
Darren Jarman had 5 disposals in a Grand Final.

Jeezuz where the hell did that come from? Roo must have sent the heavies round to purples house.

 

[mistylake]

Sloane didn't fill me with confidence when he was acting co-captain.

Didn’t we win when Rory was captain and lose when Dangerfield was captain? On average.

 

[VKCrow]

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-04-26/barrett-thank-you-tex-walker




I'll add in the 2012 semi final when he kicked 5 goals and carried us over the line when we were down at half time.
Can't believe that one was left out.
But neutrals and the media: "Tex Walka always sux in big games"

Sure you had a poor day but an entire team stinks on one day, your midfield is destroyed, any balls that do come forward are mongrel bombs and you end up the hunted villain.
Darren Jarman had 5 disposals in a Grand Final.

Got a tad teary reading that