After a quiet first month, no other player in the AFL has contributed more of his team’s score than Adelaide co-captain Taylor Walker

Adelaide’s Taylor Walker’s name was missing from the scoreboard for the first month of the year. But in the past two weeks, no other player in the AFL has contributed more of his team’s score.

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Can Taylor Walker be “back” if he never left? That’s how Adelaide midfielder Hugh Greenwood put it, declaring Walker “always competed” and was ‘just limited by opportunity’ as a result of a struggling Crows midfield.

While, in that context, Walker may have never left, his name was missing from the scoreboard for the first month of the season.

In Rounds 1-4, the Adelaide co-captain booted just three goals and handed off three others.

Walker, who was the No. 2 ranked player, behind Lance Franklin, for scoreboard impact — goals, behinds and assists — in 2017, was equal-61st for this stat after the Round 4 loss to the Kangaroos.

The 29-year-old took just one mark inside 50, highlighting both his struggle to get involved and Adelaide’s poor ball movement forward of centre.

Walker’s form was a direct correlation to a misfiring Adelaide forward line.

Only a winless Carlton side had scored fewer points than the Crows after four rounds.

But, going by what we’ve seen in the past two weeks, it’s turning.

Taylor Walker celebrates one of his four goals against the Gold Coast Suns in Round 5.

No other player in the competition has had a greater impact on his team’s score than Walker since Round 5 — not even Geelong’s Gary Ablett, who booted two goals and directly assisted five others against the Eagles.

Walker’s return to form started with four goals against the Suns and another three in the Round 6 victory over the Saints.

With the Adelaide midfield winning 13 more clearances than the opposition and recording a contested-possession differential of +39 in this time, Walker and his fellow forwards are receiving more opportunity — and taking it.

Despite a forwardline masterclass against the Eagles, not even Gary Ablett has had more impact on his team’s score than Taylor Walker.

After recording five against the Suns, Walker’s three marks inside 50 against the Saints, lifted the Crows’ tally to a season-high 17 in Round 6. Adelaide averaged a competition-low 9.4 prior to the 29-point victory at Marvel Stadium.

And none were more impressive than a big pack mark, 25 metres out, late in the first quarter to keep his team in touch with a fast-starting St Kilda at quarter-time.

It’s an area of his game that has been questioned but three contested marks against the Saints took Walker’s season tally to 10 — ranking him equal-14th in the competition.

After a ‘great pre-season’, Coach Don Pyke saw it coming.

In his post-match press conference Pyke praised Walker for his commanding performance.

“Three weeks ago, I saw signs against North Melbourne that he was getting there and last week and again this week, he’s taken the next step to be that real powerful presence in our forward line,” Pyke said.

“The way he’s moving at the moment makes him difficult to defend.”

Coming up against Ross Lyon and the Dockers, who boast the second-best defence in the competition, Walker will have to take another step this week, if the Crows’ upward scoring trend is to continue.

SCOREBOARD IMPACT

ROUND 5-6

1. Taylor Walker (Adel): 64

2. Gary Ablett (Geel): 62

3. Gary Rohan (Geel): 62

4. Jordan De Goey (Coll): 58

5. Brandon Matera (Freo): 54

Jeremy Cameron (GWS): 54

BREAKING DOWN WALKER’S 64 IMPACT POINTS

Goals: 7

Behinds: 4

Goal Assists: 3

Originally published as After a quiet first month, no other player in the AFL has contributed more of his team’s score than Adelaide co-captain Taylor Walker