AFL legend’s cutting comment will hit Taylor Walker where it hurts

Michael O’Loughlin has responded to the actions of disgraced star Taylor Walker with words that will hit him where it hurts.

Taylor Walker was suspended for six games over a racial slur at an SANFL game.

Disgraced Adelaide Crows forward Taylor Walker has come in for criticism from AFL legend Michael O’Loughlin after he was banned for six games on Friday after admitting to making a racist comment at a SANFL match on July 17.

Walker, who captained the Crows from 2015 to 2019, will sit on the sidelines for the remaining three games of the 2021 AFL season and the opening three matches of the 2022 season.

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Michael O’Loughlin, who played over 300 games for the Sydney Swans, said Walker’s comment “rips your heart out”.

Walker was banned for six games after making a racist comment at an SANFL game.

“I think back to a guy like Eddie Betts, what he went through in his last years in Adelaide and ‘Tex’ was one of the first people to put his arm around him and say, ‘Mate, we’ve got your back. We’re with you’,” O’Loughlin told 3AW.

“And to hear it come from him, someone with so much experience, it rips your heart out, it really does.

“We want to share our culture with the rest of Australia.

“But it’s not up to Aboriginal people to continually talk about reconciliation. At some point, non-Aboriginal people have to join that conversation. We can’t do it all.”

O’Loughlin said Walker’s racist comments “rips your heart out”.

Herald Sun AFL journalist Jon Ralph shared the sentiments of O’Loughlin over Walker’s backing for Betts, tweeting: “Walker called for a fan who threw a banana onto the field to mock his great mate Eddie Betts to be banned forever. What must Eddie think of the hypocrisy?”

Premiership-winning midfielder Kane Cornes was in total disbelief over Walker's’s actions.

“We have to hold Taylor Walker and players like him, to a higher account than people who make these comments on social media,” Cornes told SEN.

“He has been sitting in lecture theatres for 15 years listening to how unacceptable this is, and he still went out and said it.”

Geelong midfielder Patrick Dangerfield, who doubles as the President of the AFL Player’s Association, tweeted:

“There is no room for racism. We must all do better to educate ourselves and those around us.”

Walker captained the Crows from 2015 to 2019.

The outcome of the AFL’s investigation into Walker’s comments saw Crows coach Matthew Nicks an emotional figure during his press conference on Friday.

“It’s time like this you make phone calls to people you played alongside and you apologise to them,” Nicks said.

“You just want to look them in the eye and say, ‘We’ve got your back’ and that’s hard to do at the moment.

“We’re sticking strong and we’ll stand side-by-side our Indigenous brothers and we’ll get through and educate ourselves.

Crowd coach Matthew Nicks breaks down during a press conference.

“Let’s make sure we learn from this. There’s an education piece around the history in this country and the people who were first here.”

Crows CEO Tim Silvers said Walker’s behaviour was totally unacceptable, and said the former captain had met with the club’s Indigenous players before fronting the entire playing group and football department staff on Friday.

“This incident should not have happened and we are sorry that it did, and we endorse and support the sanctions,” Silvers said.

“To use Taylor’s own words, he is embarrassed, ashamed and remorseful, and he has apologised. We will now provide him with the appropriate support,” Silvers said.

“Everyone in society must work to stamp out racism and our players, coaches and staff are committed to taking a stand against this behaviour.”

– with NCA NewsWire

Originally published as AFL legend’s cutting comment will hit Taylor Walker where it hurts