Adelaide goalkicker Taylor Walker got a special message from two stars of the legendary Aussie TV show Home and Away earlier this week.
The Crows player is set to make his 300th appearance on Thursday night in his side’s qualifying finals match against Collingwood.
But a few words of encouragement were shared to Walker ahead of the landmark match with Ada Nicodemou and Lynne McGranger both sending a video message to the footy star.
Nicodemou, who also appeared in the 1999 Hollywood epic, The Matrix, said in a video published on the Crows and The Advertiser’s Instagram accounts: ‘Tex, I hear you are about to play your 300th game, that’s amazing. Wishing you all the best from everyone at Home and Away!’
The clips were played in front of the entire team, with McGranger sending the group into a burst of laughter after she dished up a funny dig at one AFL club.
‘G’day Tex! A little bird told me it’s your 300th game coming up, that is absolutely spectacular of course not as spectacular as 33 years, but a fine job nonetheless.
Footy player Taylor Walker (pictured) has received several congratulatory messages from two TV stars. It comes as he is due to play his 300th appearance for the Crows this Thursday
Home and Away star Lynne McGranger (left) and Ada Nicodemou (right) lumped praise on Walker for reaching the milestone
‘I know you play for the Adelaide Crows and I know I’m a Sydney Swans die hard, but we missed out this year, and I want you to know I’m going for either you guys or the Brisbane Lions – a friend of mine is a mad Lions supporter.
‘Either way, all the best darl, to you and to the team. I hope you absolutely nail it and beat Collingwood… because, ummmm, that’s what your job is… Anyone but Collingwood. Lots of love and go out there and be fabulous.’
Walker was drafted to the Crows as pick 75 of the 2007 national draft.
He would go on to captain the Crows from 2015 to 2019, with the forward going on to become the club’s all-time leading goalkicker back in 2020.
His wife, Ellie, has also lumped praise on her footy player husband.
‘He really is an extraordinary husband, Dad, friend, son, brother. Taylor is one of a kind and I feel so grateful to be riding this wave with him and supporting him through all of this… I am so excited and just so proud of him,’ she wrote.
‘I am just so glad he can reap the rewards of his hard work. Reaching 300 games is a fantastic milestone. To be leading goalkicker and everything he’s achieved, he deserves this milestone so much because I see how hard he works, as well as being an amazing hands-on Dad.
‘I’m the proudest wife, and I hope he has the best time out there. He’s not only an amazing footballer, he’s an extraordinary husband and human, so bring on Thursday.’
Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks has meanwhile admitted that he was wrong about Walker.
Walker’s partner, Ellie (right), also lauded her partner claiming she was ‘the proudest wife’
The 35-year-old (pictured with his wife Ellie) joins Andrew McLeod (340 games), Tyson Edwards (321), Mark Ricciuto (312) and Ben Hart (311) in the rare club.
Coach Matthew Nicks (left) has been trumpeting Walker (right) as playing his best football in a late-career renaissance
Nicks had been trumpeting Walker as playing his best football in a late-career renaissance.
Then, the Crows coach watched an in-house tribute to Walker ahead of his 300th AFL game that encompassed the key forward’s 17 seasons.
‘There are times I’ve stood in front of you guys and said: ‘I think Tex has played some of his best footy in the last few years’,’ Nicks told reporters on Wednesday.
‘I got that wrong.
‘Going back over his 300 (games), there’s some footy he played through there that is just on another level again.
‘So it was nice to go back, even as a coach who has watched a lot of footy, and see it again and see how good he has been across the journey – and it has been a long one.’
Walker will become the fifth Crow to reach the 300-game milestone when he faces Collingwood in Thursday night’s qualifying final.
The 35-year-old joins Andrew McLeod (340 games), Tyson Edwards (321), Mark Ricciuto (312) and Ben Hart (311) in the rare club.
‘He’s huge for our football club and he’s huge for the state,’ Nicks said.
‘There’s a lot out there about maybe things, mistakes, that he may have made across the journey.
‘But there’s so many positives, things that Tex has done for our community, especially, and outside of footy.
‘We were able to look at that … see some of the things he’s done across that journey, and why he’s put up on a pedestal and why people love to watch him, both on and off the field.’
