Taylor Walker

[Drummond]

When I heard John Reid (the fool) and Craig's comments in regards to Walker playing last week I knew they really didn't want him to play and they were setting him up for failure. Even as Cornes said on radio, there was absolutely no excitement about Walker being back in, just comments geared towards dropping him ASAP. Pathetic treatement of a ridiculously talented young player. Norwood welcomes you with both arms young man.

 

[cmndstab]

Firstly, let me say that in my opinion Walker should probably be playing this week. Just like, in my opinion, he should have been playing two weeks ago.

However, I can understand why he isn't. He was a liability last week. In fairness to him, the ball almost never went near him, and he only got a few chances (none of which he took, mind you) but still, he added zilch to the side. We're pushing for a top four spot so you can't carry liabilities when you have other options, and you don't breed a good culture if you let players get away with poor performances. Personally I'd like to see him put in a couple of bad performances before the axe falls (just like he had to put in more than one good performance before the door swung open) but I can see the point of view of the club.


The other side of the coin here is Hentschel. An exceptional case. We MUST give Hentschel an oppurtunity to show us he can still play AFL football. He's ready to play, so we need to give him some game time. He's a tall, so we need to drop our least performing tall. That man is Walker. His last match was poor, last in first out, whatever. (Noting that Sloane is in for Burton so that spot is already taken. I don't want to discuss the relative merits of Sloane vs Walker because, seriously, that's like asking a parent to say which kid he loves more ).


I also don't agree with this notion that they are "filling Walker's head with confusing nonsense about chasing". I'm certain they're being as clear as can be with Walker - in addition to kicking goals you must apply pressure on the defenders. I don't think they're expecting Walker to work any zones. I don't think they're expecting Walker to lay x tackles a match. I think all they are saying is, when a player has the ball, chase him, even if you probably can't catch him. The players downfield will slow him up and your pressure will cause a rushed possession. He's now doing that fine so I would say it's obvious that the message has in fact got through. I think it's selling Walker a tad short to say that this is confusing him when he's going up for marks and causing him to spill them, or that it's confused him so he's forgotten how to make space or lead properly.


The good part about all this is Walker has clearly demonstrated in interviews and from stuff you hear about him from people in the know that he's 100% on board with the club with this sort of stuff. He accepts his flaws, is aware of his strengths, and really wants to work on minimising the former and maximising the latter. He will be fully accepting of what the club decides and work his backside off to be the best player he can under their guidance. In a couple years time this whole dropping will be totally forgotten when he's ripping up the competition.

 

[pjcrows]

When I heard John Reid (the fool) and Craig's comments in regards to Walker playing last week I knew they really didn't want him to play and they were setting him up for failure. Even as Cornes said on radio, there was absolutely no excitement about Walker being back in, just comments geared towards dropping him ASAP. Pathetic treatement of a ridiculously talented young player. Norwood welcomes you with both arms young man.

Based on this Drummond - if Walker can't get up for a game because some people are making him feel bad then should he not toughen up a bit?

"Setting him up for failure"? Ridiculous. I called this months ago. Walker would burst on to the scene, get dropped, and cause a massive ruckus.

Settle down. If this up-and-down patch doesn't do him good in the long run then he isn't worth it. They're preparing him to be still being our key forward in 10 years time. It's hard for people to get their head around this because we haven't had to think about this type of scenario for years.

How do you feel about Craigy picking another debutant in Sloane, in our most important game of the year, when he could easily have made a more comfortable choice?

 

[amer]

You still feel like Tex will appear again before our campaign ends though.

 

[Snatch]

He'd look good in a Richmond guernsy....

 

[King Elvis]

It amazes me what some of you posters want from the kid ! Looking at his body language last week suggested a kid with information overload and unable to just play the game he was born to play.
He will be a genuine elite player but he has two years to develop and confidence in playing him by the coach would surley do wonders to help him advance his development , surely several name playyers have been carried this year and eg Otten in the last two games would warrant a trip to the SANFL and Petrenko, like Hentschel , with no apparent real form promoted to AFC.
Look at the picture of if and maybe if AFC gets to play a final who do you expect to come in at finals tempo and perform ?????
Just watch th eresult of the Legs/ Port game as it could not get any bigger , at Alberton, everyone hating you, Williams/ Gallagher Cup, $20000 up for grabs. Gee I hope he bags a few and demands a recall !

I agree with most of that mate.

I generally back Craigy in, but I think he's almost too mindful of Walker's talent and what he could be, and is being too cautious as a result.

Craig was absolutely right to drop him this week. Makes me wonder why Tippett got a gold pass last year with similar performances though. Would have been better for him to have gained experience and confidence in the SANFL before coming out to play in the premier competition. He was a passenger in too many games last year.

True, he was... if only the time he spent in the AFL last year had better prepared him to come out and play some extremely good football this year.

Tippett blossoming. He's 9 shy of being only our second 50-goalkicker in 10 years, in only his second season.

Oh, wait, it did.

Richmond Guy - you don't have enough high draft picks mate

 

[Vader]

How do you feel about Craigy picking another debutant in Sloane, in our most important game of the year, when he could easily have made a more comfortable choice?

Care to name that "more comfortable choice"?

Given our current injury list, the following are our only non-debutants currently available for selection:
Griffin (30 games)
Walker (14 games)
Petrenko (9 games)
Cook (3 games)

That's IT! Given Burton's injury and the non-selection of Walker, they really didn't have many other alternatives.

 

[dylan123]

I think its pretty crappy that his been dropped after 1 game. I rarely saw the ball kicked to him and our delivery into the forward line was horrible.
Our zone works really well when they are trying to get it down the ground, i dont mind the hand balling out of the back line (a bit panicky when they mess around with it in the back line though) but once we get past the square we should be kicking the ball instead of still handpassing it. One play i saw us handball it all the way to the 50m in our forward line, what chance does that give our forwards to get the ball?? Tippett is good in the packs so he still has a chance to get the ball but from the few games i have seen of Walker he seems to be much better on the lead and his given very little chance with how little it gets kicked to him + the delivery of the few kicks that go to him.

 

[Symesy15]

Taylor Walker was dropped because he is a 19 year old who collects Dragonball Z and can't miss an episode of Home and Away.
The leadership group dropped him because he is an embarrassment to the club.

 

[smoovy]

I can only think this is to allow Hentschel to play to give him a chance to save his career. If not...very very upset.

 

[cmndstab]

Taylor Walker was dropped because he is a 19 year old who collects Dragonball Z and can't miss an episode of Home and Away.
The leadership group dropped him because he is an embarrassment to the club.

At least his favourite movie isn't Ace Venture like Dangerfield's is

 

[betterthanu]

I think sporting bet were a bit slow on the uptake hearing Walker was dropped. Norwood are paying $1.80 to beat port. Crazy odds. Norwood with Walker are far far better than those odds agasint a horrible team in port. Im on it, you should be too

 

[taylor_walker_13]

I'm not too worried, I believe we should be super happy with what a 19 year old kid has done, 19!!

He needs about 5-10kg of extra muscle before he starts to be a force up forward, he gets bumped out too easily from what I've seen this year.

Next year I think he will show us even more, and that would still be way ahead of schedule compared to most recruits at West Lakes.

Spot on, he's 19 for christ sake first full season, hes going to be a gun but needs to work hard, thats what the coaching staff clearly want him working harder in the forwardlines if he doesnt then its back to the SANFL to work on it and get better at it, he is going to gain more confidence from getting it right at SANFL level than being 'lost at sea' at AFL level, clearly the AFC thought he had done some good work at SANFL level and would give him another crack against Collingwood, clearly they arent happy and back to the SANFL..................play on IMO.

 

[Alex99]

In what way is this a wasted season?

6 debutants (maybe 7 if Davis gets a go in the next week or two).

3 rising star nominees.

Tippett blossoming. He's 9 shy of being only our second 50-goalkicker in 10 years, in only his second season.

Mackay, Dangerfield and Otten becoming undisputed first 22 selections.
A style of play at times that's been as good as we've seen since 2006.

2009 might not yield a premiership. But it's not a wasted year.

Maybe not so much a wasted year so i will retract that but the priorities for the year have shifted and in my opinion we are wasting time giving games to players over some other who are never going to take us to the place we want to go.

So you maybe correct in saying 2009 may not yield us a premiership and hopefully in 2 or 3 yearsr time it won't be seen as a waste. But i will reserve judgement until then.

 

[pjcrows]

Maybe not so much a wasted year so i will retract that but the priorities for the year have shifted and in my opinion we are wasting time giving games to players over some other who are never going to take us to the place we want to go.

So you maybe correct in saying 2009 may not yield us a premiership and hopefully in 2 or 3 yearsr time it won't be seen as a waste. But i will reserve judgement until then.

For how long have we been waiting for a stage where Craigy rates youth development as important as where we finish on the ladder? It's been "we're not going to push for a flag, so why does Craigy persist with <insert battler here> when he could be playing <insert young kid here>?

And now, it's a "wasted year"? It's been the most valuable year since 2006.

 

[Crowboy#32]

Why is it that Taylor seems to be treated vastly different to others in the side? There has been others at times this season that have strung 2,3 or even 4 bad performances together yet still get a game and taylor comes in plays one bad game and finds himself back in the SANFL. Just seems that coaching staff seem to be alot harder on him than most others. Dropping Taylor after one game does little for his confidence. Craigy said after the game last week dont judge the forward line on tonights performance the delivery was very poor. Yet Taylor has been judged on last weeks performance.

 

[cmndstab]

Why is it that Taylor seems to be treated vastly different to others in the side? There has been others at times this season that have strung 2,3 or even 4 bad performances together yet still get a game and taylor comes in plays one bad game and finds himself back in the SANFL. Just seems that coaching staff seem to be alot harder on him than most others. Dropping Taylor after one game does little for his confidence. Craigy said after the game last week dont judge the forward line on tonights performance the delivery was very poor. Yet Taylor has been judged on last weeks performance.

Without trying to be nasty, can you name even one player who has played a single game as poorly as Walker's two before he got dropped, and has still been there the following week?

 

[dylan123]

At least his favourite movie isn't Ace Venture like Dangerfield's is

You don't like Ace Venture?

 

[Truck Rutten]

Without trying to be nasty, can you name even one player who has played a single game as poorly as Walker's two before he got dropped, and has still been there the following week?

Which two games are you talking about? I hope you don't mean the 2 prior to him being dropped a month back because as has been pointed out on here several times Tex's game against the Kangaroos was pretty good.

Round 12 2005 vs Geelong at Kardinia Park - Scott Welsh had 3 touches and kicked 1 point while his opponent Scarlett had 30 touches from full back. The next week Welshy kicked 8.2 against Richmond at Telstra Dome.

 

[marvin]

Which two games are you talking about? I hope you don't mean the 2 prior to him being dropped a month back because as has been pointed out on here several times Tex's game against the Kangaroos was pretty good.

Round 12 2005 vs Geelong at Kardinia Park - Scott Welsh had 3 touches and kicked 1 point while his opponent Scarlett had 30 touches from full back. The next week Welshy kicked 8.2 against Richmond at Telstra Dome.

That's where the comparison is invalid.

 

[Truck Rutten]

That's where the comparison is invalid.

yes it was only against Richmond but I guess the point is that when shown a little faith, players can respond well after having a stinker the previous week.

 

[macca23]

Assuming we keep Tippett, Walker needs to learn to share the forward line. When he's playing for Norwood do they have other goto players?

Remember it took Roughhead more time than Buddy to develop, but until his injuries this year he almost seemed to become the senior in the partnership. We need to play Tex to develop him, but not at all costs. Over the next two years he should be a semi-gold pass player. He should still need to earn his spot (he didn't last week!) but getting back in should be just a little easier when team structure allows, and he should have a week or two more leeway if he hits a form slump. (Which wasn't what happened last week - he didn't show anything that suggested he should play again this week).

I'm slowly moving from the view that it is ONLY performance in games and at training that matters TO a view that game time, as long as it is in Crows sides that are performing well, winning preferably, is important enough to earn selection ahead of some mature players who are currently performing better.

Generally I like your stuff, and I'm sure you're saying something in this last paragraph, but I'm fkd if I know what it is!!

 

[macca23]

Just on Walker, sadly he just couldn't be played this week after that stinker last week. He was an absolute passenger last week and he looked absolutely lost.

His confidence is down at this level IMO. He couldn't take simple marks in front of his eyes and he definitely did not have his normal swagger about him. To me he seemed to worry about his 2nd efforts with virtually no concentration on the first effort.

Because he is a first year player Walker doesn't have a bank of credits to cover stinkers like last week.

The selectors did their job

 

[razorsedge]

WTF will they do to Otten if he has a game similar to the last two !

 

[The Sloane Ranger]

Just on Walker, sadly he just couldn't be played this week after that stinker last week. He was an absolute passenger last week and he looked absolutely lost.

His confidence is down at this level IMO. He couldn't take simple marks in front of his eyes and he definitely did not have his normal swagger about him. To me he seemed to worry about his 2nd efforts with virtually no concentration on the first effort.

Because he is a first year player Walker doesn't have a bank of credits to cover stinkers like last week.

The selectors did their job

totally agree

people need to remember players like Roughead went through the same selection cycle early in his career and look at the player he has become.

Tex will be back and he has time on his side