Adelaide captain Taylor Walker has been named to face Richmond in grand final rematch

ADELAIDE captain Taylor Walker has been named to confront the ghosts of the 2017 grand final after being named to play in his first game since that fateful September day against Richmond.

Taylor Walker at Adelaide Crows training at Thebarton Oval.

ADELAIDE captain Taylor Walker has been named to confront the ghosts of the 2017 grand final after being named to play in his first game since that fateful September day in the Round 2 rematch against Richmond.

Walker is joined by Wayne Milera in the team after Richard Douglas (suspended) and Curtly Hampton (groin injury) came out of the side to face the Tigers at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night.

Coach Don Pyke and the selection panel left the decision on Walker until the last minute, having waited to see how he recovered from a Wednesday training session before making a decision.

Taylor Walker at Adelaide Crows training at Thebarton Oval.

“In Tex’s case, he’s done everything we’ve asked of him,” Pyke said “He’s an important player for us.”

The selection news come after an eventful day for Adelaide, which included:

PYKE seeking to hose down reports some of his senior players are still scarred from a pre-season camp on the Gold Coast,

RORY Laird signing a three-year contract extension which will keep him at the club until 2021, and,

PYKE calling the mixed messages over Brad Crouch’s injury “semantics”.

Walker missed a chunk of the Crows’ preseason after he was diagnosed with a plantar fascia strain in February.

Pyke was more definitive on linkman Lynch, saying he wouldn’t play after failing to recover in time.

“Tom’s had a combination of a side strain and a viral thing, which has been hanging around for a while.

“Side strain has settled down but from a viral viewpoint he’s not quite right.

“He’s trained a couple of times this week ... we expect he will be right next week.”

Douglas will miss Thursday night’s game after the AFL Tribunal upheld his one-match ban for rough conduct against Bomber Zach Merrett.

Hampton didn’t play the final quarter against the Bombers and is expected to be sidelined for a fortnight.

Recruit Sam Gibson, who also missed the Bombers game with a hamstring strain, will miss another week.

Richmond made only one change from its Round 1 win against Carlton, with Bachar Houli returning for the injured Nick Vlaustin.