Taylor Walker showed he’s still got it and now one footy expert wants him in the goalsquare and says the heat should go on Himmelberg and Frampton
Taylor Walker led Adelaide’s third quarter fightback on Sunday and now one AFL great wants him permanently stationed in the goalsquare and Elliott Himmelberg and Billy Frampton to show if they are prepared to do the hard yards.
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Drop him, put him in the ruck, put him behind the ball or on the wing. Everyone has had an opinion on what Adelaide should do with Taylor Walker and now Gerard Healy has thrown another one into the mix.
“He’s at the back end of his career, put him in the goalsquare and see if Frampton and Himmelberg want to do the work that’s required (up the ground),” Healy said on Fox Footy on Sunday.
Walker has typically roamed up the ground to present the defenders with an option on the wing but Healy wants him to set up camp in front of goal and make Himmelberg and Frampton get on their bike.
Walker kicked two goals and set another two up in the Crows’ third-quarter fightback and showed enough to silence some of the critics for another week at least.
Coach Matthew Nicks said Walker’s output was a reflection of how the team was moving the ball up the ground, while teammate Brodie Smith said Walker did not let outside noise about his spot in the team worry him.
“Obviously it’s pretty harsh to say a forward is not going well when we’re averaging 28 inside 50s, so it’s tough for a forward in our side at the moment,” Smith said.
“He’s been harshly dealt with in the media but that seems to happen to Tex a bit, and he’s pretty used to it and sticks to what he believes and his routine, and knows how he has to go about it.
“And if you keep going it will eventually go your way, we saw that in the third quarter on the weekend when we started to get some ball movement and win clearance.
“It was a real leader’s quarter from Tex, he dominated and was a big part of us getting back into the game.”
That leads our game notes this week:
CROWS v LIONS
AT LEAST we saw glimpses from the Crows on Sunday. Tom Lynch to half-back (in the third quarter) and Brodie Smith permanently down back got them going and Chayce Jones brought energy and aggression to the contest - including putting his body on the line to spoil Charlie Cameron. “That’s what you want to see - a midfielder giving coverage to his backline players to intercept the ball,” Dermott Brereton said on Fox Footy. And at least there was a willingness to kick into the corridor and take the game on.
THE defenders escaped the wrath in the aftermath of last week’s loss to Gold Coast but there were some holes against Brisbane. How Dan McStay was allowed to sneak behind the defence in the goalsquare in the second quarter and why Rory Sloane was one-out with 203cm Eric Hipwood was a worry.
BEN Keays did a reasonable job on Lachie Neale in the first half. He was disciplined and aggressive but in the right measure unlike the botched job Port Adelaide did on the Lions ball magnet last year. But Adelaide’s conundrum will be can their midfield afford to carry a player with a defence-first mindset at centre bounces?
SHANE McAdam didn’t do much on debut, (5 disposals) but there were glimpses, no matter how small. His back-to-back tackles on Callum Ah Chee in the first quarter and his hardball get and handball set up Chayce Jones in the second.
POWER V EAGLES
DARCY Byrne-Jones had a coming-out-year last season when some considered him in All-Australian contention.This year he’s continued where he left off, forming a crucial part of the Power’s miserable defence but at the same time part of its penetrating run off half-back.There was a passage of play with 11:50 to go in the third quarter on Saturday which summed up where his game is at beautifully. West Coast’s Jarrod Brander kicked in-board from the wing and Byrne-Jones closed a 5m gap to spoil Jamie Cripps at the last second. He then recovered, got to the next contest and cannoned into Andrew Gaff who was dispossessed. DBJ then ran into space on the wing, got a handball receive from Steven Motlop and delivered a lace-out pass to Charlie Dixon on the lead. Job done.
TRENT McKenzie had so many moments during Saturday’s game which reminded everyone of the journey he’s been on. The pack mark when he floated across the goal face in the first quarter and his tackle and chase on Liam Ryan in the third. But was there a better moment than his spoil on Josh Kennedy when he went back with the flight of the ball, was facing the wrong way and managed to get his left fist on the ball at the last second. It screamed of a player who has so much confidence in himself right now.
CHARLIE Dixon was marking everything and kicking straight but what may have gone a little unnoticed was his workrate. The territory he was covering on Saturday was enormous. Just before half-time he out-marked Tom Hickey at centre-half-back then two minutes later he was marking the ball on the goal-line (which should have been paid, mind you, but was smacked out of his hands). The Advertiser ran a story in November saying ‘what can you read into a six second video of Charlie Dixon from the other side of the world? The answer was ‘a lot’ and it remains that way. He was looking dangerously fit and agile even before Christmas and is now reaping those rewards.
THE Power is getting it done without Robbie Gray. The superstar has kicked just one goal in four games this season and on Saturday had just 11 disposals and uncharacteristically fumbled the footy twice in the opening term. No doubt he’ll turn it around, class is permanent, remember, but when he does look out. The positive is Port Adelaide is no longer relying on him to kick four in a quarter or have 10 clearances when he’s thrown on on the ball to take control of a game.
THE MOMENT - PORT’S SMILING ASSASSIN
Before the 2019 season Port Adelaide held its customary media briefing where reporters were brought into the club’s inner sanctum for a chat with the coaches, and Nathan Bassett was asked about the Power’s draftees - including Zak Butters.
“Let’s just say we hold our breath whenever Zak goes near the ball, he puts his head in places a player his size shouldn’t,” Bassett said.
And so it was on Saturday afternoon. Not in Will Schofield’s face (although that was helpful because he sucked him in and got a free kick in front of goal) but with 2:48 left on the clock when the game was well and truly over which makes his attack on the ball even more significant.
With Ollie Wines sending the Power inside 50m yet again, two West Coast Eagles looked like raffling it under the ball - Brandon Ah Chee and Liam Duggan - when suddenly in came Butters from nowhere and cannoned into both, sending them sprawling to the ground while Brad Ebert pounced on the footy and kicked a goal to cap his 250th game.
Butters has become one of Port Adelaide’s most creative players with ball in hand. Charlie Dixon had 12 score involvements on Saturday and the next best for Port Adelaide was the pint-sized forward with seven as well as Travis Boak and Hamish Hartlett.
But it’s also what he’s doing when he hasn’t got the footy. He is brave, or as Bassett might put it a little mad, and deceptively strong for a player listed as 74kg but maybe his secret is his smarts or craft, like the way he out-bodied Michael Walters and knocked him off the ball for a Power goal against Fremantle last week.
Butters seems to have that perfect mix that is reflective of Port Adelaide’s side at the moment. He’s running hard, playing hard and smiling the whole time.
The 19-year-old is also the ringleader of the club song in the rooms. If you were giving votes for the most animated person in the circle after Port Adelaide’s last two games then Butters would be a runaway leader on six.
But clearly they are playing for each other at the moment. The connection process at Port Adelaide started in Noosa two years ago when Butters, Duursma and Rozee had just come into the club amid a significant list overhaul and it has developed to the point where it’s now very clear they are playing for each other on the field as well.
Their midfielders support each other, if one’s in trouble then another is running past to help, they are instinctively putting on blocks and shepherds and their defenders are confident to leave their man knowing there will be coverage behind them.
And like Butters, they are having fun.
“If you have a really great club environment, which we have, we’re going back to where we’re staying and it’s a great opportunity for them to sit around together,” coach Ken Hinkley said in his post-match presser when asked how they would toast Ebert’s milestone game.
“They love being together, and when you love being together you enjoy each other’s company and so they should, they should celebrate the victory and Brad’s milestone.”
While there were so many concerns about how clubs would handle the hub environments in Queensland, it seems like the Power has embraced it.
Maybe those last three trips across the other side of the world to China had added benefits than just the four points they won each time. And those two pre-season camps to Queensland have strengthened the bonds that already existed and allowed players like Butters to feel like they’ve been there for years.