‘Big miss’: Adelaide Crows’ Taylor Walker return tweet slammed

Taylor Walker is preparing to play his first game after a racism saga but even the Crows coach has slammed the club’s tone deaf return post.

Adelaide Crows coach Matthew Nicks has slammed a social media post from the club which celebrated the return of Taylor Walker after an ugly racism saga last season has

Walker was banned for six weeks and fined $20,000 after he made a racist comment at a SANFL match on July 17.

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Walker was a spectator at the match but said he was “deeply ashamed” of the remarks he made regarding North Adelaide player Robbie Young to an Adelaide Crows teammate who was playing in the game.

The former Crows captain subsequently apologised to Young in a video uploaded online.

On the field, the saga proved the final nail in the coffin for the Crows, who finished 15th in Matthew Nicks’ second season in charge.

But after serving his six week ban over three matches at the end of last season and another three to start 2022, Walker is ready to return.

However, the club posted a tweet on Monday with many bumping on the use of an emoji featuring a smiling face with sunglasses.

CONFIRMED: Taylor Walker will face Essendon this weekend.

He's back 😎#weflyasonepic.twitter.com/vGwla24vmA

— Adelaide Crows (@Adelaide_FC) April 6, 2022

The post did not go down well.

NITV’s Queensland correspondent Tanisha Stanton posted: “No wonder Indigenous players don’t feel safe in the @AFL, when clubs like @Adelaide_FC welcome & celebrate the return of a racist player.

“Thinking of our boys today, who are probably feeling the weight of this announcement & how little the game cares about how they’re treated.”

It was far from the only post about the tweet and saw the club respond to the post.

When asked directly about the post on Friday, Nicks said he was “disappointed” by the message.

“That was a miss. That was a big miss,” he said.

“We’re people, people make mistakes but that was a big miss.”

A source within the club told The Age’s Michael Gleeson that it was regretful of the message and said it was “posted by a fill-in staff member on the social media team”.

The club also decided not to remove the post so as not to amplify the error.

Originally published as ‘Big miss’: Adelaide Crows’ Taylor Walker return tweet slammed