Adelaide's Rory Sloane (left) and Taylor Walker leave the field during round 19, 2021. Picture: AFL Photos

ADELAIDE captain Rory Sloane sees Taylor Walker as only one of many people dear to him hurting from the racism saga engulfing the club.

Sloane has spoken of his conflicting emotions following Walker's racist comment, which has resulted in a six-game ban, a fine and a public apology.

On the one hand, Sloane and Walker are best mates and their families are close.

But Walker's comment about North Adelaide player Robbie Young at a SANFL game, reported by a Crows official, has caused a lot of distress.

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"Our whole footy club is hurting, because this has been pretty tough to deal with," Sloane said.

"We have a lot of people to look after and that's my role, that's Nicksy's (coach Matthew Nicks) role, that's everyone's role in the football club, to make sure everyone's OK.

"Tex (Walker) is a part of our footy club, so we have to make sure he's OK too.

"Of course I'm good friends with Tex and I care about him, but I have a lot of good friends in our footy club as well that I also care about and that's the balance at the moment, to make sure our Indigenous players are well looked after."

Adelaide's Rory Sloane (left) and Taylor Walker celebrate a win with coach Matthew Nicks (centre) during round one, 2021. Picture: AFL Photos

Sloane said he had spoken to Walker after the incident.

"If you're asking me personally, in an ideal situation, of course I'd love him here (at the club)," he said.

"But it's not as simple as that and there's a lot to play out. It's a complicated issue, personally for him."

"Tex is incredibly remorseful and what he said, he's owned it."

Taylor Walker and Rory Sloane were joint captains of the Crows in 2019. Picture: AFL Photos

Sloane has joined several AFL figures over the last few days in calling for more tolerance.

"If I could put my Miss Universe tiara on, my main message to all of Australia is just celebrate people's differences," he said.

"Definitely don't stand for racism and treat everyone the same, but celebrate people's differences is the message I'd like to send."

Sloane said he is also having plenty of conversations with the club's Indigenous players.

"They've been very honest ... that's all I can ask for," he said.

"It's very tough, for someone like myself to try to put myself in their position, to try to understand this at a deeper level."