Crows forward line brings back memories of 2017 with Tex showing the way

He’s the first player to be potted when the Crows are losing but co-captain Taylor Walker showed against St Kilda why he’s poised to have a bumper season after a shaky start.

They line up to pot co-captain Taylor Walker as soon as the Crows are struggling and have done as much since the 2017 grand final loss.

He’s an easy target, because he’s a big man with a big presence.

Walker’s season last year was a test for the key forward; it included foot surgery, hamstring and glute injuries and restricted him to 14 games, many of them affected by a body he struggled to get right.

But on yesterday’s evidence in his four-goal contribution to the Crows’ 29-point win against St Kilda, Walker — and the rest of the forward line — is on the brink of again being the feared goalkicking machine of yesteryear.

Taylor Walker of the Crows is congratulated by Rory Sloane after kicking a goal during the round 6 match against St Kilda. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Walker could have easily kicked another couple, because there were two shots that he’d kick eight times out of 10 but missed at the Docklands.

But it wasn’t just about goals.

Walker brings his teammates into the game not just through his talking and leadership but also his efforts that often go unnoticed around the packs — a quick handball out, blocking an opponent’s run or just leading tirelessly up the flanks before wheeling around and sending the ball inside 50.

The other thing people forget is that forwards — and Elliott Himmelberg was another to kick a couple of goals and do some nice things, even though he did miss a sitter — depend on the midfield.

Taylor Walker of the Crows attempts to mark over Nathan Brown, Daniel McKenzie and Shane Savage of the Saints. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

It’s not much fun standing up the ground watching your defenders trying to thread the ball out of a congested back 50 when it’s your job to kick goals.

But Walker, Himmelberg and the other forwards had plenty of supply and the ball was in their half of the ground after some outstanding work from ruckman Reilly O’Brien and the Crouch brothers, Matt and Brad, led the Crows to a domination of the clearances.

The Crouch brothers helped themselves to a combined 66 touches and sent many of them in the direction of their close mate Walker.

It also gave the Crows the preferred field position they have talked so much about.

When the ball is going forward from the middle, all of a sudden it is a more attractive option to kick to a one-on-one contests, whereas when the ball is in defence players tend to look for an open player rather than risk having the ball come back over their heads.

“We played the game in our front half, which is what we wanted to do,” Matt Crouch said after the game. “It was a good win.”

Crouch also noted the effort of Himmelberg, who replaced Josh Jenkins and played a similar game.

He helped out in the ruck to relieve O’Brien and managed to get a couple of goals in a similar manner to Jenkins. It proved that there is genuine selection pressure at West Lakes with Bryce Gibbs dropped earlier this season.

“When you’re not playing the footy that you like there’s going to be pressure for spots,” Crouch said. “You saw ‘The Big Easy’ (Himmelberg) come in tonight and play a great game so it’s good that there’s pressure for spots and if guys aren’t performing they won’t play.”

QUARTER-BY-QUARTER

FIRST QUARTER

SAINTS 3.6 (24)

CROWS 3.0 (18)

EEEEEDDDDIE! We're on the board in this first quarter #weflyasone pic.twitter.com/Cu9Sxyz5fm

— Adelaide Crows (@Adelaide_FC) April 27, 2019

The Texan is on the board!#AFLSaintsCrows pic.twitter.com/lyrWmFq5Bc

— AFL (@AFL) April 27, 2019

St Kilda dominated the first quarter in disposals, tackles and field position, with the Crows struggling to get the ball out of their half-back area.

But the Crows stayed in it with a couple of goals against the flow through Hugh Greenwood and Taylor Walker after Eddie Betts continued his fine form with the club’s first goal of the day.

Coach Don Pyke coached from the sidelines from the seventh minute and was very vocal as Adelaide’s pressure improved the longer the quarter went.

St Kilda’s Jack Lonie was helped off the ground late in the quarter with what looked to be a serious knee injury.

SECOND QUARTER

SAINTS 5.6 (36)

CROWS 8.1 (49)

Incredible mo from Jordy Gallucci! #AFLSaintsCrows

📷: Quinn Rooney pic.twitter.com/dyJYgHLX2P

— AFL (@AFL) April 27, 2019

After adjusting to the pace of the ground and St Kilda’s pressure the Crows started taking charge of the game with clean ball movement and more grunt around the ball.

Cam Ellis-Yolmen was impressive around the packs with strong body work and quick hands and co-captain Taylor Walker was imposing himself both by kicking his own goals and setting up others.

Brothers Brad and Matt Crouch were outstanding at being first at the ball in the midfield.

THIRD QUARTER

SAINTS 8.7 (55)

CROWS 10.6 (66)

Adelaide should be further ahead after dominating the clearances — they had the first nine for the quarter, among them four in the centre. It led to the game being played in the Crows’ forward half but St Kida’s backline did well to stop the Crows kicking clear — and Adelaide missed a could of goals that should have been kicked. Elliott Himmelberg kicked a couple of goals but the highlight was a hanger and goal from Saint Matthew Parker. The Saints kicked the last two goals for the quarter to stay in the game.

FOURTH QUARTER

SAINTS 10.8 (68)

CROWS 15.7 (97)

Tom Lynch is fired up!#AFLSaintsCrows pic.twitter.com/foX2lEHnDQ

— AFL (@AFL) April 27, 2019

Adelaide played with confidence and clarity and turned it into one-way traffic after again dominating in the clearances. But it was the statistic that coach Don Pyke looks for first — contested ball — that paved the way for a convincing win. The Crows also ended up dominating in the hitouts, which was nice reward for Reilly O’Brien and the pinch-hitting Elliott Himmelberg, who played a good game after a shaky beginning.

The midfielder will miss our Round Six clash with St Kilda #weflyasone

— Adelaide Crows (@Adelaide_FC) April 26, 2019

ST KILDA V ADELAIDE

Saturday, 4.05pm,

Marvel Stadium

TV: Channel 7, Fox Footy

Radio: FIVEaa, TripleM, ABC891

Live stream: Kayosports.com.au

Weather: Cloudy, max 19C

SAINTS

B: Jimmy Webster, Nathan Brown, Shane Savage

HB: Callum Wilkie, Josh Battle, Daniel McKenzie

C: Jack Steven, Sebastian Ross, Jack Newnes

HF: Jack Billings, Josh Bruce, Matthew Parker

F: Jack Lonie, Tim Membrey, Jade Gresham

FOL: Billy Longer, Jack Steele, Jack Sinclair

I/C: Blake Acres, Ben Long, Dean Kent, Ben Paton

EMG: Darragh Joyce, Nick Hind, Jonathon Marsh

IN: Daniel McKenzie, Billy Longer

OUT: Jarryn Geary (injured), Rowan Marshall (ill)

CROWS

B: Alex Keath, Daniel Talia, Rory Laird

HB: David Mackay, Kyle Hartigan, Jake Kelly

C: Riley Knight, Hugh Greenwood, Rory Atkins

HF: Brad Crouch, Taylor Walker, Tom Lynch

F: Lachlan Murphy, Elliott Himmelberg, Eddie Betts

FOL: Reilly O’Brien, Cameron Ellis-Yolmen, Rory Sloane

I/C: Matt Crouch, Myles Poholke, Brodie Smith, Jordan Gallucci

EMG: Josh Jenkins, Chayce Jones, Darcy Fogarty

IN: Myles Poholke, Jordan Gallucci

OUT: Wayne Milera (injured), Bryce Gibbs (illness)