Taylor Walker’s courage has to be questioned, writes Dermott Brereton

Taylor Walker is an exceptional player but he falls short of being a great captain and this wasn’t the first time the Adelaide captain has let his teammates down, writes Dermott Brereton.

Taylor Walker argues with the umpire last Saturday night. Picture: Getty Images

Having unwavering courage is not the single most important element of leading a team at AFL level.

But it is the element that no captain should be without.

Without courage, leadership is totally and utterly compromised.

I have spoken to ex-Australian Army officers about leadership and the one consistent theme is: “Don’t send your troops in to action to perform any task that you would not or have not performed yourself. Because you cannot ask your troops to risk their safety if you aren’t willing to risk your own.”

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On that level Taylor Walker failed his teammates, his troops.

And not for the first time either.

The polite response from the commentators was “he’ll be disappointed with that” and “he’d like that moment back”.

But he had that moment last year during Friday night football.

The commentators mouthed similar platitudes back then as well.

Others defended him by saying that every player has their moments.

The answer to that is some might, yes. But not all, because great leaders don’t.

Coaches talk of non negotiables. This is their No.1 non-negotiable.

Taylor Walker had a night to forget against the Eagles last Saturday night. Picture: AAP

Some are going to say that he will go twice as hard next time.

But clearly, it is not in his nature to do so.

Otherwise he would have gone harder last year and the time before that and so on and so on.

The Crows’ coaching staff must rate Walker’s output as a player with a startlingly higher value than the rest of us — because the coaches we had would never allow that to happen a second time.

Walker is an extraordinary player once he has the ball.

He has great vision and is a fantastic kick, but then the footballing package starts to fall away.

After a slide out of the finals in 2013 and 2014, the newly appointed coach, Phillip Walsh, selected Walker to captain the club over acting co-captains Rory Sloane and Patrick Dangerfield.

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Perhaps Walker was viewed as the best bloke of all the top-ranked Crows, but if Sloane was not viewed as the true spiritual leader within that playing group, he must have a split personality.

He speaks well, he presents well, he is consistently very good and he is crazy brave.

Why wouldn’t you want to play for him?

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We had three great captains in our time at Hawthorn.

Leigh Matthews was the greatest player that ever lived. He could play with almost any injury.

He could brutalise the opposition and he took an unlimited amount of punishment in return.

He was so unbelievably brave, it was insane.

His catch cry was “never complain and never explain”.

He didn’t give all that much advice to his teammates. He could be aloof on occasions, but he accepted that because he was Leigh Matthews.

And if he told you to do something, it was as if God had chosen you to receive the message.

Leigh Matthews was an “unbelievably brave” player.

Michael Tuck was a leader by actions. Naturally a quiet man, his efficiency, his ruthlessness and his pure ability were incredible. He was wiry strong and full of courage.

How he is not an AFL Legend is my biggest query to AFL football bosses.

But it might surprise to most that the player that was most naturally born captain of all three was Gary Ayres.

“Garfield” was everything you want a captain to be.

He was smart, he was fearless, he had a touch of the “nasties” in him, he could speak to the group individually or as a whole and everyone wanted to be on his good side.

He always shared his knowledge and even though he never belittled a teammate he could look us in the eye and demand more.

He would stick up for his players if the coaching was less than kind. But he never showed one ounce of fear and he would expect the same from everyone else.

Gary Ayres was a natural leader.

Physically jumping out of the way would take a lifetime to win back Ayresy.

Actually, I don’t think anyone would ever win him back if he thought they had done that.

The best opposition captain that I encountered in my time was Collingwood great Tony Shaw.

Loved by his teammates, he was a leader of men.

With a pure obsession to succeed, he willed himself to be a champion.

He trained his mind and body to be a champion.

He wasn’t at the front of the queue when God was handing out footballing talents that could make someone great.

But his pure strength of mind was incredible.

So revered by his own players, he could talk to them on the field like an angry coach might talk to his underperforming team behind closed doors at half time.

And the respect for him was so high, they would just cop it sweet and wear it.

And did I mention that he was fearless.