On a night where the Nine Network program ‘The Verdict’ posed the question: “Is social media doing more harm than good?”, AFL star Taylor Walker and tennis bad boy Nick Kyrgios did their best to mount a compelling case for the affirmative.
The pair continued their occasionally heated but frequently amusing Twitter battle with the Adelaide captain eventually suggesting they sort their differences out on court with former world No.1 Lleyton Hewitt and new Geelong recruit Patrick Dangerfield.
Walker began the Twitter tirade on Wednesday when he called Kyrgios, who is on the cusp of getting a month ban from the ATP tour, a “flog”, “peanut” and “galoot”.
Kyrgios responded by saying he didn’t know who ‘Tex’ Walker was.
Former Adelaide teammate Dangerfield became involved on Thursday, pointing out that Walker had raised $66,000 for the Leukaemia Foundation.
After Dangerfield and Kyrgios appeared to reach detente when the two-time grand slam quarter-finalist wished the AFL players all the best for their careers, the Twitter battle looked over.
That was until Walker decided he should point out exactly who he was – attaching a video of himself taking a spectacular mark and calling Kyrgios a “galoot” again.
It left the world No.32 unimpressed.
“The fact that you just posted a highlight of yourself makes me think you’re a bigger idiot than I thought,” Kyrgios tweeted.
And so it continued apace with claims, counterclaims, responses and retweets across the twittersphere.
No great winner emerged, though productive public discourse appeared to be a clear loser.
Brendon
Guest
Think he tried to turn it into a charity opportunity. Whole thing was bizarre really. I also had no idea who this Tex Walker is and I wish I still didn't. Where is 'Tex' when players in the AFL behave badly? Does he tweet criticising AFL players or does he just reserve that for players from other sports? As much as Kyrgios has acted badly so have all the old farts and players from irrelevant sports rushing to condemn him.
Winston
Guest
On this particular one, I'm with Kyrgios here. Tex started it, and then he went on to post a video of himself taking a mark??? That makes him the complete tosser in this exchange. I didn't see the bit where Tex suggested they sort it out on court. Was he suggesting that he can beat Kyrgios in tennis? Whilst Kyrgios might be an idiot, that is totally disrespectful of the world no. 32.