Port Adelaide Great Ken Cornes has condemned a “bizarre” report that suggested multiple rival clubs lined up to sign Adelaide veteran Taylor Walker.
The 32-year-old has enjoyed a strong season, scoring 21 goals in eight appearances so far, but remains without a contract for 2023.
A Triple M report from Chris Dietmer last week suggested that clubs in the Premiership window were interested in signing Walker to a multi-year deal, and Cornes believes this is a story planted in the media by Walker’s management.
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“I think it’s one of the weirdest player-driven media-contract circuses I’ve ever seen,” Cornes told Nine. Footy is categorized.
“Nine months ago, the coach broke down in tears that he did not guarantee that he would be there this year, let alone next year.
“He’s 32. I don’t see Travis Bok, a player twice as good as Taylor Walker, complaining about not getting a contract.
“Come on, let’s be honest, he’ll sign a one-year deal in Adelaide as soon as possible. He’s indebted to that club, he’s not going anywhere.
“I find it bizarre in the middle of the year that his best partner at the radio station that he worked for a week said he had three clubs in the Premiership window, and the following week said it was a two-year deal on the Gold Coast, which we know is wrong.
“We know managers do these things all the time, I just think go back and look at Matthew Nix’s tearful eyes that don’t make sure he’s coming back.
“It’s a convenient time when on his own radio station he’s looking for a deal in the middle of the year. There are two different stories a week apart that connect him to seven or eight clubs.”
According to Caroline Wilson of The Edge, Walker’s excellent form will be rewarded next month with a one-year extension, but she also urged him not to dare walk on crows after his racist row last year.
“Do you think (leaving Adelaide) would be a decent thing to do after the damage that the club did to him last year?” Wilson asked.
“They fought the AFL as a pre-season and trying to train him, they lost that fight.
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“They’re going to offer him a one-year contract later this month, and my understanding is that he knows it and he’s happy to stay.
“Don’t you think it would be fair to call Adelaide indebted in this situation? I don’t think he would consider it, it would be a terrible thing to do.”
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