Crows captain Taylor Walker has lost his goal shooting touch

TAYLOR Walker has lost his shooting touch.And if “Tex’’ doesn’t quickly rediscover it, the Crows hopes of a first finals appearance in three years could go down the gurgler, reports Andrew Capel.

Round 14: Essendon v Adelaide

TAYLOR Walker has lost his shooting touch.

And if “Tex’’ doesn’t quickly rediscover it, the Crows hopes of a first finals appearance in three years could go down the gurgler.

A career 54.6 per cent goalkicker, Adelaide captain Walker has lost his radar in front of the sticks in the past month.

After kicking at 58.1 per cent accuracy in the first eight rounds when he nailed 25 of his 43 shots at goal, Walker has missed 12 of his 16 shots in the Crows’ past four matches against Fremantle, Carlton, Hawthorn and Brisbane.

His goalkicking accuracy has slumped to a worrying 25 per cent in those games, culminating in his 2.5 and one out-of-bounds from eight shots at goal against the Lions at the Gabba on Saturday.

Some of Walker’s misses came from simple set shots he could usually kick blindfolded.

Only a final quarter 50m long bomb spared Walker and Adelaide’s blushes against Brisbane as the visitors stormed home from a four-goal three-quarter time deficit to avoid a titanic upset defeat.

Gun key forward Walker, who before the knee reconstruction to his potent right leg in 2013 shot at 62.6 per cent accuracy in 2011 and 2012, appears to have lost confidence in front of goal.

His regular technique of kicking the ball long and high through the big sticks appears to have been replaced by him trying to steer the ball through at half-post height.

Tex earlier in the season boots a huge goal. Photo: Colleen Petch.

The club denies he is playing injured — there has been speculation he is battling the chronic groin condition osteitis pubis — and that the corked hip he sustained against Hawthorn courtesy of an arrant knee from Sam Mitchell was only a minor hiccup.

Walker’s goalkicking demise has corresponded with the Crows’ scoring slump, with Phil Walsh’s side falling from an average of 98.9 points after round eight to 80.8 points in the past four weeks.

Their goalkicking accuracy has plummeted from 53 per cent (third in the AFL after round eight) to 41.1 per cent (17th) from rounds nine to 13.

Only Essendon, which has had key forwards Joe Daniher and Jake Carlisle misfiring badly, has a worse accuracy percentage (38.1) in the past month.

Adelaide ruckman Sam Jacobs said Walker’s problems stemmed from him losing his goalkicking mojo.

“He clearly hasn’t kicked for goal as well as he would have liked in the past month,’’ Jacobs said.

“But Tex is still a big-time player who we know will stand up for us when we need him to, as he showed when he kicked that long goal at an important time in the last quarter against Brisbane.

“In general he’d like to be kicking better because he’s probably not kicking through the ball from that 30-to-40-metre range like he once did — he appears to be steering the ball — but I think that is probably more of a confidence thing than anything else.

“He’s kicking the ball fine at training so he just needs to clear his mind in matches. The good thing is that he’s still finding the ball so I think it will only be a matter of time before he gets it all together again.’’

An interesting subplot to Walker’s woes in front of goal is that Champion Data statistics show he is working further up the field with Josh Jenkins the Crows’ new go-to guy inside 50.

From rounds one to eight Walker was targeted 76 times in Adelaide’s attacking 50 and Jenkins just 22.

But in the past four rounds Jenkins has had the ball directed to him inside 50 45 times and Walker only 20.

WAYWARD WALKER

Crows captain Taylor Walker has slumped from a goalkicking accuracy percentage of 58.1 after the opening eight rounds to 25 per cent in the past four, resulting in Adelaide’s scoring drying up. Walker has hit the target with just four of his past 16 goalkicking attempts.

Taylor Walker’s past month in front of the sticks

Rd Opp Shots Gl Beh Missed Acc%

9 Frem 3 0 3 0 0

10 Carl 4 1 3 0 25

12 Haw 1 1 0 0 100

13 Bris 8 2 5 1 25

Total 16 4 11 1 25

Adelaide has averaged 18 points fewer a game in the past four rounds than in the opening eight as key scoring indicators have dropped off.

Rounds 1-8 Rounds 9-13

Points for 98.9 (AFL Rank 3) 80.8 (12)

Goalkicking accuracy % 53.0 (3) 41.1 (17)

Goals % per I50 25.8 (6) 20.1 (15)

Marks I50 13.8 (E3) 11.8 (E9)

Mark % from kicks I50 23.2 (3) 19.2 (9)

Retention % from kicks I50 44.2 (E5) 43.0 (5)

Taylor Walker’s sidekick Josh Jenkins has become the Crows’ new go-to forward, with 25 more inside 50 entries directed towards him in the club’s past four matches.

Rounds 1-8 Rounds 9-13

Walker Jenkins Walker Jenkins

I50 targets 76 22 20 45

Team score % when targeted 47.4 40.9 50.0 40.0

1-1 contests 32 19 9 27

Win % 28.1 15.8 11.1 44.4

THE WAYWARD ONES

The worst shots at goal in 2015 (min. 28 shots)

Club Shots Goals Beh Missed Acc%

Devon Smith GWS 36 9 16 11 25.0

Charlie Cameron Adel 31 12 15 4 38.7

Luke Parker Syd 30 13 11 6 43.3

Cyril Rioli Haw 31 14 13 4 45.2

Matthew Pavlich Frem 45 21 17 7 46.7

Steven Motlop Geel 36 17 12 7 47.2

Jack Gunston Haw 52 25 19 8 48.1

Lindsay Thomas NM 45 22 11 12 48.9

Taylor Walker Adel 59 29 23 7 49.2

Lance Franklin Syd 73 36 22 15 49.3

THE SHARPSHOOTERS

The best shots at goal in 2015 (min. 28 shots)

Club Shots Goals Beh Missed Acc%

Josh Hill WCE 30 21 8 1 70.0

Jamie Elliott Coll 39 27 8 4 69.2

Kurt Tippett Syd 32 22 9 1 68.8

Cam McCarthy GWS 43 29 9 5 67.4

Jesse Hogan Melb 33 22 8 3 66.7

Charlie Dixon GC 30 20 10 0 66.7

Luke Breust Haw 41 27 14 0 65.9

Eddie Betts Adel 55 35 11 9 63.6

Tory Dickson WB 33 21 8 4 63.6

Josh Bruce SK 52 32 14 6 61.5

THE NO: 25 – Taylor Walker goalkicking accuracy percentage in the Crows’ past four matches.