Adelaide captain Taylor Walker labels person who sent a guernsey with obscene language after GWS loss as gutless

ADELAIDE captain Taylor Walker says whoever sent him a guernsey marked with obscene language after the Crows loss to the GWS Giants was too gutless to put their name on it.

Taylor Walker of the Crows prepares to take a kick during the Round 12 AFL match between the Fremantle Dockers and the Adelaide Crows at Optus Stadium in Perth, Sunday, June 10, 2018. (AAP Image/Richard Wainwright) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

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ADELAIDE captain Taylor Walker has revealed he was sent a guernsey marked with obscene language as the Crows try to save their season.

Speaking on Triple M radio where he was grilled on the team’s effort after it slumped to its third loss in a row on the weekend, Walker did not reveal what was written on the jumper but said whoever sent it was too gutless to put their name to it.

“After the GWS game I had a guernsey sent to me at the club with some eventful, exciting words written on the guernsey,” Walker, who didn’t play that game, said.

“Whoever sent it was too gutless to put their name on the back of it.

“That’s the things that people are doing.”

Taylor Walker of the Crows gets tackled by Luke Ryan of the Dockers on Sunday. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

Walker was also asked about teammate Eddie Betts having to endure racial taunts on social media on the weekend.

“It’s a dead set disgrace and I could not imagine how it affects Eddie and his family,” Walker said.

“The person who did it needs to have a fair dinkum look in the mirror, it’s ridiculous.”

Walker’s weekly segment on Triple M started in the usual friendly manner before answering some tough questions from hosts Chris Dittmar and Mark Ricciuto.

Dittmar: You lose to Port Adelaide on the last kick of the day and now a three-point loss to Fremantle, if they’re two wins it’s a heck of a lot different?

Walker: That was going to be my answer if you said our season was over, we’ve had chances in those two games, they go the other way and you get the W next to your name but it wasn’t to be and we’ve got some areas we need to improve on. We need to consistently play strong, contested footy which we’re not doing at the moment.

Ricciuto: I wondered how breezy it was because even good players like Matty Crouch kept missing targets?

Walker: We’re not asking our group to do anything we can’t, we’ve done it before, we just need to do it more consistently.

Ricciuto: But there were a lot of skill errors, was it tricky conditions?

Walker: It was quite breezy and swirly especially down one end kicking for goal but we won’t make that as an excuse, we had our opportunities.

Dittmar: I hear this every week ‘oh we’ve got to put in a four-quarter effort’, that has to be a laziness or mental thing? Surely that means your effort drops or didn’t put yourself in the contest as much?

Walker: I don’t like when you question our effort.

Dittmar: I’m not questioning your effort, I’m saying you’ve alluded to it by saying ‘we were a bit inconsistent’.

Walker: It’s not in terms of our effort, it’s execution, our fundamental stuff, our ability to win our contested ball.

Dittmar: If you’re not winning contested ball is that akin to ‘we weren’t having a go?’

Walker: If you’re not winning contested ball you need to tackle and sometimes we’re getting brushed off a little bit easily. There is no way in the world I would question effort from anyone who puts a guernsey on and plays AFL.

Dittmar: Well then answer that question then, how could you go out and not play four quarters?

Walker: It’s not like we’re not trying. We’re just not executing what we need to.

Tom Doedee at full strength tackles Michael Walters of the Dockers on Sunday. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

The interview did, however, finish on a positive not with Walker praising young gun defender Tom Doedee for his chase on Fremantle forward Michael Walters.

“That chase was outstanding, I was jumping around up forward when I saw him run him down, he’s having a great season.”

Walker, who returned form a three-week lay-off with injury against the Dockers on Sunday, said Rory Sloane was “more than likely after the bye than before”, Tom Lynch would have to get through training to play the Hawks on Saturday night and Rory Laird was a “chance” to return.

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