Adelaide’s Taylor Walker is being backed to overcome possible hostility and lack of match fitness when he makes his AFL comeback from a racism ban.
Walker returns to face an away Essendon crowd at Marvel Stadium on Sunday, having served his six-game suspension for making a racist remark last August. Walker hasn’t played at any level this year, with the AFL blocking an Adelaide request to allow him to play trial matches.
His lack of match play was weighed against his status as a former skipper and the club’s all-time leading goalkicker at selection, assistant coach Nathan van Berlo says.
“We will back him in, not having any match fitness to date,” van Berlo told reporters on Wednesday. “But obviously he has been in the system for a long time now and we back in that experience to help him.
“He brings a lot to our forward group – understanding he has missed a fair bit of footy, but the way that he has trained and his experience will help complement our mix.”
Captain Rory Sloane appears set to return from a groin injury while Walker replaces the axed Darcy Fogarty. Last August, Walker was banned by the AFL for six games for his racist comment to a teammate at a state league game.
The 31-year-old took some time to decide to play out the final year of his contract in 2022. The Crows expect to manage the game time of Walker, who also performed Indigenous community work during his ban.
“Tex, his nature is he is always up and about,” van Berlo said. “He’s a fair barometer for the group in terms of our energy so he will certainly be excited to get back out there.
“I know he has been itching to play a game of footy at any level for the last probably few months and he hasn’t been able to do so. He will be ready to go come Sunday. He may be a bit rusty and he may be blowing a fair bit.
“But we will back in his experience and the way that we manage him to hopefully help out the guys ahead of the ball.”
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley isn’t surprised the knives are out. But he’s not hurt by some Port fans calling for his sacking after a winless three rounds to open the AFL season.
“When you have been in this game as long as I have, is almost the expectation for me, to be honest,” Hinkley told reporters on Wednesday. “I am the least surprised person at Port Adelaide right now at the criticism because I have been in footy forever.”
Hinkley said he’s feeling the pain of Port fans entering Thursday night’s clash with a 0-3 record against premiers Melbourne.
“I can certainly share their frustration,” he said. “But I do know that I am going to, as is the club and everyone that works with me at the club, we’re going to work as hard as we can to ease the frustration for them and for me and for the players.
“Our responsibility is to work hard and get these results turned back around as quickly as we possibly can. I get that everyone would be equally as frustrated as I am. I 100 per cent agree and understand the frustration that goes into any football season, be it lucky or unlucky.
“I have been around a long time. I understand that the frustrations get big at times like these but they can quickly disappear if you can just turn things around.”
Port Adelaide CEO Matthew Richardson has published an open letter on the club’s wesbite to frustrated supporters saying they are is standing by Hinkley.
“We aren’t performing to our own expectations and, I assure you, no one feels that more than the players and coaches who have even higher expectations of themselves,” Richardson wrote.
“Football doesn’t always go to plan and clubs get challenged. In these moments, how you respond is critical. The good clubs remain calm, strong, and united and back in their people to do their jobs.
“We’ll back Ken, the coaches, and the players, and provide them with the support they need. We have enormous faith and confidence in this group, and in their ability to get back to playing the football we know they’re capable of.”
Geelong will rest record-breaking captain Joel Selwood from the AFL clash with Brisbane in round four under an ongoing rotation policy.
The Cats, who host the Lions on Friday night, have made no secret they are attempting to manage certain players’ workloads over the full season in pursuit of a premiership.
They left Shaun Higgins out of their round-two trip to Sydney and fellow veteran Selwood is next up for an early-season spell.
The 33-year-old forecast on the eve of the season that he would not play every game in 2022. “It’s something that’s been earmarked over a number of weeks now,” Cats coach Chris Scott said.
Collingwood star Jordan De Goey is out of Saturday’s AFL match against West Coast and also out of Brownlow Medal contention after the Magpies accepted his one-game ban.
De Goey was suspended for his dangerous tackle on Geelong onballer Patrick Dangerfield.
De Goey grabbed Dangerfield and dumped the Geelong match-winner into the ground early in the final quarter of Saturday night’s clash at the MCG.
Dangerfield’s head came into contact with the ground but he was not seriously hurt and got up immediately to take a free kick.
De Goey was charged with rough conduct over the incident, which was assessed as careless conduct, medium impact and high contact.
His strong start to the season had come after a tumultuous off-season following his drunken brush with the law in the US.
Brisbane ruckman Oscar McInerney also accepted a one-match ban for striking North Melbourne opponent Tristan Xerri.
GWS forward Harry Himmelberg and Sydney’s Sam Wicks are challenging their striking fines through written submissions to the tribunal.
Richmond utility Marlion Pickett (striking), Fremantle’s Matt Taberner (striking), Geelong’s Tom Atkins (wrestling) and Brisbane’s Jarrod Berry (striking) have accepted their fines.
Adelaide youngster Lachlan Gollant and Port Adelaide defender Trent McKenzie have also accepted fines for wrestling each other.
Adelaide will consider appealing the tribunal’s decision to uphold Montana McKinnon’s one-match suspension that rules her out of the AFLW grand final against Melbourne.
McKinnon was in tears on Tuesday night after the Crows failed to convince the tribunal her rough conduct charge, for a high, late bump on Fremantle star Kiara Bowers should be graded low impact instead of medium, which would have drawn a less penalty.
In a heartbreaking situation for the 20-year-old, Adelaide were also unable to convince the tribunal the exceptional circumstances of a grand final, which would have been McKinnon’s first, and her prior good record should reduce the penalty.
“It’s a terribly disappointing result for our club and obviously Montana as well,” Crows AFLW boss Phil Harper said.
“Like all of the players in our squad, she has contributed to us making the grand final and it’s heart breaking that she won’t be able to play.
“The club will now consider its options.”
Brisbane star Emily Bates has claimed the AFLW’s highest honour, beating Adelaide’s Anne Hatchard to the league’s best and fairest by one vote.
The star Lion had already claimed the AFL Coaches’ Association player-of-the-year award and became the first Brisbane player to clinch the best and fairest.
Hatchard and Bates were tied on 18 leading into the final round but while the Crow added two more votes, the star Lion claimed three.
Bates (21 votes) won from Adelaide duo Hatchard (20) and Ebony Marinoff (18), and North Melbourne’s Ashleigh Riddell (17).
“I know my name was being thrown around a little bit but that was a shock to me and this is obviously the greatest honour you could ever achieve,” Bates said. “I was looking for improvement and last year, as much as it was amazing winning a premiership, I was hungry to become a better player.
“Instead of just being a consistent player, I wanted to see what my true potential was. I made a lot of changes in the off-season and I’m just happy that I could reap the rewards today.”
Bates, 26, paid a poignant tribute to her father, who got her into footy at Yeronga but died when she was 15 and didn’t see her AFLW career.
The speech then took a lighthearted turn when Bates joked coach Craig Starcevich had agreed to do a “shoey” if she’d won – and he took the opportunity to actually do that, casually drinking out of his shoe.
Earlier, North Melbourne star Emma Kearney became the first and only player to be named All-Australian in all six AFLW seasons and was also named the team’s captain.
Adelaide revelation Ashleigh Woodland was leading goalkicker, North Melbourne’s Tahlia Randall won mark of the year while Ebony Antonio claimed goal of the year.
1. Emily Bates (Brisbane) – 21 votes
2. Anne Hatchard (Adelaide) – 20
3. Ebony Marinoff (Adelaide) – 18
4. Ashleigh Riddell (North Melbourne) – 17
5. Hayley Miller (Fremantle) – 15
Full-backs: Ruby Schleicher, Libby Birch
Half-backs: Natalie Grider, Sarah Allan, Emma Kearney (C)
Centres: Orla O’Dwyer, Emily Bates, Anne Hatchard
Half-forwards: Hayley Miller (VC), Katie Brennan, Daisy Pearce
Full-forwards: Ashleigh Woodland, Tayla Harris
Followers: Lauren Pearce, Ebony Marinoff, Ashleigh Riddell
Interchange: Jasmine Garner, Jaimee Lambert, Monique Conti, Kirsty Lamb, Kerryn Harrington
1. Mimi Hill (Carlton) – 43 votes
2. Charlie Rowbottom (Gold Coast) – 42
3. Mia King (North Melbourne) – 33
4. Georgie Prespakis (Geelong) – 20
5. Alyssa Bannan (Melbourne) – five
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.
Brad Scott told journalists while the focus will be on the final play, he could cite a couple of other decisions that didn't go…
Controversy has erupted following Essendon's thrilling three-point victory over Adelaide, with an umpire under fire for his decision to not award the Crows a…
It was a horror last quarter at the Adelaide Oval for Josh Rachele, who also missed a chance to win the game for the…
Now that was a quick change of mind!
Over the next few days, all discussion of Essendon's three-point win over Adelaide will likely centre on the decision, in the final seconds of…
