Adelaide co captain Rory Sloane comes out strongly in defence of Taylor Walker
Rory Sloane has come out strongly in defence of fellow Crows’ captain Taylor Walker, saying the club needs him out on the field amid intense scrutiny over Walker’s recent form.
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Rory Sloane has come out strongly in defence of fellow Crows’ captain Taylor Walker, saying the club needs him out on the field amid intense debate over Walker’s recent form and place in the team.
Walker has battled for form in recent weeks, finishing Adelaide’s last match against Essendon on Friday night with just eight disposals, a goal and a tackle, as the Crows fade out in second halves — three times in their last four matches.
This has put Walker in the firing line, along with the rest of his team with Crows assistant Ben Hart saying that no player was guaranteed selection.
Sloane today backed his fellow co-captain to return to form against Carlton at the MCG on Saturday.
“He is one of the co-captains at our footy club for a reason,” he said.
“It’s not just about his performance on game day it is about everything else he brings, the demand he brings to the side, the demand he brings on that forward group and just the way he leads on game day.
“I love and will continue to back him in, I need him out there we all need him out there absolutely performing.
“I reckon he will perform, he loves the MCG.”
Walker on Tuesday morning said he hoped the Crows selection committee would back him this week, despite his lack of form.
“There is a certain point where you back people in and they are not performing then you have to make changes,” he said on Triple M.
“For me personally I’m not in the best form but I’m still doing things that I think warrant a spot, so I would like to think they will back me in again this week.
“I don’t think that is going to help (making mass changes for the Carlton game) … I’m backing us in to get a win on the weekend.”
Sloane also said mass changes weren’t required to turn the Crows’ form slump around.
“We are just playing guys in the best form at the moment,” he said.
“Some guys didn’t perform well on the weekend but does that mean you throw them straight into the twos? Probably not I would say.”
The Crows have also come under criticism for a perceived lack of pace following the Bombers’ second-half comeback.
Sloane said he believed there was enough speed in the Crows side.
“We definitely had plenty of speed in that first half, I think we have plenty of speed in our group,” he said.
Carlton has won three out of its last four under former Crows forward coach David Teague as its interim coach.
Sloane said the Crows had used its longer break to get some high intensity footy sessions in earlier than usual, and he believed this could help fix their recent fade out problems.