Adelaide are banking on GWS to keep Blue Charlie Curnow quiet as star Taylor Walker holds a narrow one-goal Coleman Medal lead.
Walker was the standout with nine goals in the 45-point win over West Coast on Saturday night to overtake Curnow in the final round.
Now the big Tex must wait for Sunday’s Carlton-GWS clash to see if he can become the first Crow since Tony Modra back in 1997 to claim the Coleman crown.
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Teammate Lachlan Murphy said the boys would be rallying around Giants defender Sam Taylor – who is arguably the best backman in the competition – to stop Curnow on Sunday.
“We’ve just got to pray for Sam Taylor to work his magic on Curnow,” he told foxfooty.com.au
“He’s had a fanatic year the Texan.
“A lot of people wrote him off in 2020.
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“For him to still be our leader without being the captain in the forward line especially, I still pinch myself to play with him.
“It’s awesome for him and the footy club.
“Hopefully Curnow doesn’t kick one tomorrow.”
Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks was full of praise for his big forward, who had a whopping 19 shots on goal against the Eagles.
“He’s done it all year,” he said post-match.
“There’s still moments I’m surprised at what he’s able to do. At the same time, I see how hard he works.
“You get what you deserve and tonight he was sore. It’s been a long year. He’s battled away.
“I just sit there and smile on the bench at what he’s able to do.
“I think he had 19 shots on goal tonight so we’ll just smash him for his inaccuracy.”
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While Walker’s nine goals in the final round win was a bright spark for the Crows, Murphy admitted the season had been disappointing.
“We didn’t get what we wanted with the season, but to be able to finish on that note … come back with a bit of fire in the belly next year,” he said.
“We spoke about starting fresh away and really using this game to kick start our next season, so to be able to come away with the win is something we’re really proud of.
“We basically just said if everyone can improve one or two per cent over the break … we can come back and hit the ground running (next year).
“We’re going to just miss this year.
“The game gives you nothing – we might think we deserve finals but we’ve got to go back and work our arse off.
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“Next year everyone starts zero and zero, and we’ve got to work our arse off again.
“I personally haven’t played finals in my career and to get so close leaves a bit of a bitter taste.
“We’ll get to work. We’ll do it all again next year.”
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