IN A SPORT that thrives on being in perpetual motion, you rarely have moments where time seems to stand still.

But it did at around the 14th minute mark of the fourth quarter on Saturday night. Right after Taylor Walker charged through traffic, left Rory Lobb in his wake, overtook Darcy Fogarty and snared the footy some 50 meters out from goal.

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It was courtesy an inch-perfect long-range kick from Ben Keays, but in the moment that seemed as incidental as everything else at the Adelaide Oval.

For, it was all about 'Tex'.

In the 143rd and final home game of an illustrious career, it had been a quiet evening for the Adelaide Crows' champion till that point. For the first few minutes, it looked like he was competing more in the Royal Rumble rather than finals footy as the Western Bulldogs players repeatedly ganged up and wrestled him to the ground.

Walker had few meaningful touches and less than 10 disposals going into the final chapter of what could have been the climax of his time as an AFL player. But just when the match seemed to hang in the balance, here rose the talisman as always to the occasion.

Walker's grab was greeted with the loudest roar of the night.

Then came the audible hush, as more than 50,000 Crows faithful at the Adelaide Oval held their breath to see Walker go through his customary routine of sticking his mouthguard in the sock and the characteristic look up towards his target like he's viscerally calculating the distance.

The roar that resonated around the stadium soon after and shook the seats to their core was louder and more unhinged. They didn't even have to wait to see the ball go through. Neither did Walker. He had already turned around and held his hands aloft as his teammates engulfed him.

For the next couple of minutes, everyone at Adelaide Oval was on their feet. Most bowing to their departing hero, others chanting his name while some wondered out aloud about what the Crows would do without Tex in between hugging those sat next to them.

Without the man who has for so long stood up when it matters most and turned games on their head. Like he did in the Crows' first finals win since 2017, back when he'd already shown signs of becoming a generational talent for his club, here he was in his farewell handing his doting fans a parting gift.

A much-needed one, too, in the context of the game. The Bulldogs had erased a 19-point deficit in the space of seven inspirational minutes to kick-start the fourth quarter, and Aaron Naughton's third miss of the night had now given them the slightest of leads.

Riley Thilthorpe's first real influential play of the game four minutes later allowed the Crows to sneak in front again, but with the clock winding down, this final seemed destined to be a nail-biter, the type the Bulldogs have finished at the right end of more often than not this season. It had followed a rollercoaster curve till that point, with all the bare bones you find in the anatomy of a thriller.

That's what made the Walker goal even more significant; it meant the Crows had finally managed to shake the Bulldogs off their tails as time began to run out. From that point on, there was no looking back as last year's minor premiers gave coach Matthew Nicks his first win in September as a head coach.

What followed was not simply the dominance of the Crows, but more importantly the playing out of probably the perfect script for Walker's final home game as, one by one, every other big name on the club's list emerged in the spotlight and created a memorable moment for himself.

Josh Worrell had done it from the back throughout the night in what is surely his best AFL performance to date. But this was more about the heavyweights in the middle and up front.

As Fogarty, Izak Rankine and Josh Rachele took turns to create their own highlight reels on a special evening, it almost felt like an audition for who'd be the next big dog in town now that Walker is set to leave the building.

Thilthorpe had already submitted his nomination with a timely grab and crucial kick minutes earlier, a goal his coach would later describe as being a signature moment for the towering forward.

"It wasn't necessarily a huge impact for Riley throughout the game. When the Bulldogs hit the front, we just shared in our post-game review where players were talking about how much energy Riley bore in that moment and belief for the group, that when we go forward, he's the next one to take a mark and kick a goal," Nicks would say.

It is exactly the kind of impact the Crows will want Thilthorpe to continue having, to play the role Walker has played for nearly two decades. Much like they'd want Fogarty to imbibe the temperament and the confidence from the man whose giant shoes he'll fully now occupy with regards to his goalkicking under pressure when games hang in the balance.

Even Nicks would acknowledge it later saying, "what obviously Tex has been able to do his entire career, especially with set shots, Darcy Fogarty I think has learned a fair bit off him".

For the classy duo of Rankine and Rachele, this was a chance to seize the moment of carrying their team on their shoulders under the bright lights on nights like these when the entire footy world is watching. And doing it without a fuss in the world like Walker has been able to do in his time wearing the No.13 guernsey.

As much as the Crows will miss Walker's assured presence, there will be the relief that there are plenty of very-talented contenders to step into the talisman role.

But being a sporting cult hero in Adelaide is a bit different to elsewhere in the country. Just ask Travis Head. The 'celebrity' around your existence is a lot more concentrated and hyper focused, meaning that it feels like the entire city, or most of it in this case, has a sense of ownership towards you. That they're constantly living vicariously through your highs and lows on the field, to the extent that they feel confident to take liberties at your expense.

Yes, Adelaide is a two-club town, but it gets amplified even more for a Crows star because of their much larger and spread-out fan base.

Even this week, his final one in Adelaide while preparing for a big game, local television had access to Walker's home and his family to give the diehards around town an insight into his build-up to the big night, from what he was eating to what he was feeding his kids.

It is intense and it can be unforgiving when things don't go the way it's expected of you.

Walker revealed before the game he had the luxury of driving by himself to the ground earlier in the afternoon, probably the only alone time he's been offered in the days leading up to his final home appearance.

On a night, as it turned out, time and footy stood still for him for one last time at the Adelaide Oval.