Adelaide captain Taylor Walker declares he will be fit for the qualifying final against GWS
ADELAIDE captain Taylor Walker declares he will be fit for the qualifying final against GWS.
CAPTAIN Taylor Walker has declared he will be fit for Adelaide’s qualifying final against Greater Western Sydney.
Walker missed the Crows’ last home-and-away match against West Coast with a toe injury he has been carrying for several weeks.
But he said having two weekends off because of the pre-finals bye round will ensure he is in good condition for the double-chance home final against the Giants next Thursday.
“I just needed to take a couple of steps back to go forward because it was just a little bit too sore,’’ Walker said.
“It was pretty sore but it’s all good now. I just needed a bit of a rest because we’ve got an important four weeks coming up.’’
Walker told Triple M he had been battling soreness to a big toe.
Key defender Daniel Talia will also be fit after being a late withdrawal against the Eagles with a sore ankle while Walker confirmed rookie sensation Hugh Greenwood had been rested, rather than dropped, for the trip west.
“He was rested,’’ Walker said.
“It’s been a big year for Hughy, making the transition from basketball to footy, he’s been outstanding.
“But it’s been good to freshen him up and get him ready for the finals.’’
While Adelaide — which has won its second McLelland Trophy as AFL minor premier — has largely been excused for losing its last two home-and-away matches, Walker said it is not ideal for the club, which is chasing its first premiership since 1998.
“I’m not a real big fan of saying that it's okay that we lost the last two (against Sydney and West Coast),’’ he said.
“Sydney we probably should have won, although no disrespect to Sydney. And I was a bit disappointed watching on the weekend (against the Eagles).
“I thought we should have been able to go over there (to Perth) and get it done.
“I thought we owed West Coast one from last year when they kicked us out from the double chance (in round 23) but it wasn’t to be.
“We are still playing pretty good footy but we always want to be playing perfect footy.
“It's not doomsday but what summed it up for us was their ability to get easy goals whereas our goals seemed to be tough to get.
“But we’ll be fine, you don’t finish first on luck.’’
Adelaide, which has eight players in the 40-man All-Australian squad, will this week train on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday in preparation for the Giants.
The Crows thumped them by 56 points in their previous meeting in round one at Adelaide Oval but Walker said that result will count for little in the final.
“We'll look at some of things we did in that game to beat them but it will be a totally different game because of some different personnel and the fact there’s been 23 weeks between games,’’ he said.
andrew.capel@news.com.au