AS ADELAIDE reaches the start of the "real stuff", Crows great Taylor Walker doesn't know where his finish line is.
Walker will play his 300th AFL game in Adelaide's home qualifying against Collingwood when the Crows return to September action after an eight-year absence.
The 35-year-old is yet to decide whether to play on next season.
"I haven't made up my mind, mate, to be honest," Walker told reporters on Tuesday.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get there.
"Who knows, if we won the flag, I could easily fly off into the sunset and watch this footy club have a lot of success for that many years to come.
"Or I might have the itch to go again. I don't know."
Walker was captain in Adelaide's most recent finals series which culminated in losing the 2017 Grand Final.
"There's a lot of lessons," he said of the '17 campaign.
"You have got to be in good form and have all your players in good form.
"And it would be nice to be on the other side of the ledger from 2017.
"But a totally different team, different game styles, so it's a bit disrespectful for me to compare this year to back then.
"Deep down, you always look at the possibility of playing finals footy.
"But sometimes, you're human, and you have the doubts in your mind, so it's just nice to be back here again."
Walker, Adelaide's all-time leading goalkicker with 678 majors since his 2009 debut, is beloved by his club and fans but a lightning rod of hostility for opposition supporters.
There's the infamous 'power stance' the Crows adopted in their ill-fated 2017 finals campaign; a six-match suspension for a racist comment in 2021.
"Opinions are like assholes aren't they - everyone's got one," Walker said.
"Over the period of my time, it's one thing that I have I prided myself on, is being able to pick myself up and just listen to the people around me. I've got a great network around me.
"So for those people that have had a crack at me or wanted to have their two bob's worth, if they're not in my corner, then it hasn't worried me one little bit.
"I've had to work pretty hard to get myself into that position.
"You just live and you learn. You make mistakes along the way and some I've had to pay the price of.
"But I feel like I'm a better person. I've evolved into a father, a husband, football player."
Meanwhile, Walker said Izak Rankine wouldn't be defined by his four-game ban for a homophobic slur.
Rankine is in Europe after being suspended last week for a homophobic comment to an opponent.
The playmaker will return to Adelaide next week ahead of the qualifying final.
"We have got the most supportive boys and females around the club," Walker said.
"Obviously Izak paid the price for a little slip-up that he had.
"And he's obviously got away to Italy to do a bit of training, which the club are fully supportive of.
"We're human. He's made a mistake. He's owned it. He's put his hand up and it doesn't define who he is.
"He's made a mistake and he's paid the consequence."
Walker said the Crows would collectively "wrap our arms around" Rankine on his return.
"He's got a big role to play, once he gets back," Walker said.
"He'll be training and making our backs better, getting in the midfield and causing them havoc to make them get better.
"So it would be great to have that infectious kid back around the footy club.
"He's got a magnificent smile, and we love him dearly."
Rankine's only hope of playing again this season is if the Crows lose their qualifying final against the Magpies but then advance to the Grand Final, when he would be available.
