Adelaide Crows star Taylor Walker has been dropped from his team’s Showdown side this weekend amid an ongoing investigation into allegations he made a racist comment.

Key points:

  • A club statement said Walker was “not considered” for inclusion in Saturday’s Showdown side
  • Walker earlier missed a team training session after the club gave him the morning off
  • Midfield coach Nathan van Berlo said it was a “highly sensitive and highly confidential matter”

The allegation emerged after the Crows reserves match against North Adelaide in the SANFL on July 17.

It is understood the allegation relates to a comment about North Adelaide player Robbie Young — an Aboriginal man who used to play for AFL side St Kilda.

Walker did not play in the reserves match but addressed the Crows players at quarter time, and the AFL Integrity Unit is investigating.

On Thursday evening, the Crows announced online that Walker would not play in the team when it faced cross-town rival Port Adelaide on Saturday.

The club offered no further explanation.

Earlier in the day, Crows players gathered to train ahead of Saturday’s Showdown at Adelaide Oval, but Walker was absent.

Midfield coach Nathan van Berlo said the club had made the decision to exempt Walker from the morning training session.

“I understand there’s a really high level of interest around the football club at the moment,” he said.

“It’s a highly sensitive and highly confidential matter at the time being.”

Adelaide Crows midfield coach Nathan van Berlo has spoken to Walker.(

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Van Berlo said Walker’s absence from training was addressed with the playing group before training.

“We had a discussion as a group and I’m not going to go into details at this stage around what was said,” he said.

“We gave Taylor the morning off this morning, so he’d be at home.

“This type of situation is not easy for anyone involved.”

The North Adelaide Football Club has said it was unaware of the accusation until two days ago.

Van Berlo did not comment on whether the complaint against Walker originated from within the Crows camp, but said he had spoken to the 31-year-old.

“I’m not going to talk about the private conversation I’ve had,” he said.

Walker is the club’s all-time leading goal-kicker, a former captain and is currently second in the race for the Coleman Medal after undergoing a renaissance in form this season.

He has previously been outspoken against racism, such as when Eddie Betts was racially targeted in 2016.

Port Adelaide defence coach Brett Montgomery said the Power had prepared for the game on the assumption that Walker would take his place on the field.

“The only impact will be whether he’s selected or not,” he said on Thursday afternoon.

“We’re planning for him to play. We’ve got a professional duty to prepare this team to play and my job as a defence and backline coach is to prepare our guys to play him, and that’s what we’ll do.”

A crowd of 15,000 will be allowed to attend Saturday’s AFL Showdown between the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval.

This will include 12,000 club members and 3,000 people in hospitality and function areas at the stadium.

Posted , updated