by Booney » Thu Feb 08, 2018 11:00 am
While Adelaide captain Taylor Walker faces a battle to restore his reputation after a disappointing end to the Crows’ 2017 season, Tim Watson has put the spotlight on an emerging leader at rivals Port Adelaide.
The former Essendon skipper believes fellow forward Charlie Dixon, who was elevated into the Power’s leadership group yesterday, has grown immensely as a leader since leaving the Gold Coast at the end of the 2015 season.
“When he left Gold Coast, they were saying he was immature and he wasn’t doing all the right things,” Watson told SEN Breakfast.
“His back half of the season, particularly his last six weeks last year, was fantastic for Port Adelaide in a playing sense. Now he has actually been elevated into their leadership group because of all of the other things that have come together for him.
“That is significant in terms of his development as a player.”
In comparison, Watson believes that Walker’s reputation has undoubtedly taken a hit after his club’s shock Grand Final defeat to Richmond last year.
“You gain a reputation when you produce in a big game and you can lose your reputation quickly when you don’t produce in a big game,” he said.
Watson added that despite his position as skipper, Adelaide can easily cover for Walker should he not recover from his newly sustained plantar fascia injury in time for the start of the season.
The Crows yesterday announced that Walker will spend the next two weeks in a moon boot and will likely spend six weeks in total on the sidelines.
“They can cover him comfortably,” said Watson.
“The way they play and the stock of forwards they have got, they can play (Mitch) McGovern in there and (Tom) Lynch, (Josh) Jenkins, (Eddie) Betts… we have seen Walker out of that side and they haven’t missed a beat.
“Ideally they’d love to have him because he is a leader, but I think they can cover him quite easily.”
Adelaide have stated that Walker should make a full recovery before the club’s Round 1 clash against Essendon, and will only miss the club’s pre-season matches.
PAFC. Forever.
LOOK OUT, WE'RE COMING!