Adelaide says it won’t rush Rory Sloane back as Taylor Walker joins long list of hamstring victims

COACH Don Pyke says Adelaide will not rush vice-captain Rory Sloane back into the side as skipper Taylor Walker becomes the latest Crow to join the hamstring-victim club.

WELL DONE, OTTO: Injured Adelaide captain Taylor Walker acknowledges teammate Andy Otten who led the team off Adelaide Oval on Saturday night following his 100th game. Picture: Sarah Reed.

COACH Don Pyke is adamant Adelaide will not rush vice-captain Rory Sloane back from injury as skipper Taylor Walker becomes the latest Crow to join the hamstring-victim club.

Sloane has missed Adelaide’s past two wins against Sydney and Gold Coast after hurting his foot in the grand final rematch against Richmond in round two.

And while the ace midfielder appears close to a return — possibly as soon as Saturday night’s home clash against Carlton — Pyke said his club will err on the side of caution to ensure the dual club champion comes back in top-notch condition.

“It’s one of those ones where now that we’ve taken the opportunity to rest him and let him recover I think it will be foolish to rush him back,’’ Pyke said, adding star goalsneak Eddie Betts should return from a strained hamstring against his former club the Blues.

“I think it’s important he comes back when he’s ready and is completely over that injury, rather than rush him back and find that we are still managing that issue in three, four or five weeks.
“It’s something that I want to do and I think is the right thing to do by him and the right thing by the team, to get him 100 per cent right, so that he can play at the level we know he is capable of playing for the remainder of the year.’’

Sloane was injured in the first half against the Tigers but returned to the field and played against St Kilda and Collingwood in rounds three and four without having his usual strong impact.

He clearly was hampered, having just 15 and 16 disposals respectively, prompting the Crows to put him on ice.

Pyke said the club would make a decision on Sloane’s fitness judged on “the player’s comfort level in conjunction with the medical staff’’.

More will be known about star key forward Walker’s status after he has his sore hamstring scanned.

Pyke does not believe the injury is serious and has yet to rule him out of the clash with Carlton, although it is highly unlikely he will be risked.

“That was probably a bit my decision,’’ Pyke said of the call not to play Walker in the second half after he pulled up lame late in the second quarter.

“They (club medical staff) spoke to me at half-time and said he was a bit tight, so for me it was we’ll take no risks with him.’’

Walker was playing his fifth consecutive match after a limited pre-season following a plantar fascia injury in February.

“That potentially was one of the risks, you bring him back early, a bit underdone, so we’ll obviously scan that and see how it comes up,’’ Pyke said of his latest injury.

Walker is one of seven Crows to sustain hamstring injuries this season, joining Betts, Matt Crouch, Kyle Hartigan, Sam Gibson, Lachlan Murphy and Kyle Cheney.

Wingman David Mackay joined Walker on the bench in the final term with what the club says was “hip/glute’’ soreness.

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