Taylor Walker sheds new light on Matthew Nicks' furious six-word comment to Ken Hinkley

Adelaide Crows star Taylor Walker has addressed Saturday night's brutal bump on teammate Izak Rankine and the furious six-word remark his coach Matthew Nicks made to Port Adelaide counterpart Ken Hinkley in the aftermath of the Showdown. Power star Dan Houston is facing a lengthy ban after his high bump left Rankine prone on the ground in Port's victory over the Crows at Adelaide Oval. Houston was referred straight to the tribunal and the AFL is reportedly pushing for him to be banned for at least five weeks.

The game's biggest flashpoint sparked ugly scenes in Adelaide, with Port fans condemned for booing Rankine as he was taken from the field on a medicab. It made an already bitter Showdown between the city rivals even spicier, with players from both sides continuing to target each other in the fourth term, following the all-in scuffle that erupted in the wake of the third quarter incident.

Speaking on Triple M Breakfast with Roo, Ditts & Loz on Tuesday morning, Walker admitted emotion got the better of his side after the bump on Rankine and the Crows couldn't keep their frustrations in check for the remainder of the game. “You’ve got to go through some things to learn a little bit about yourself because when you get the massive blood rush you’ve just got to still be able stay composed and unfortunately on the weekend, we weren’t able to do that," Walker said.

"You look at the first half I thought we were outstanding in the first half. We were playing some awesome footy and unfortunately our emotions got the better of us.” Walker described the intensity of the clash as akin to finals footy and said his players learned some valuable lessons despite conceding they may have lost their heads a little.

"I think it’s a great little experience for our young group, it’s probably... the closest game you will ever get to a final and probably amplified on the weekend. I thought the Port cheer squad and supporters came out in numbers. Obviously 52,000 people there, it was probably one of the loudest Showdowns... For our young kids to experience that, I think is only a step forward for our group. Obviously, we weren’t able to realign our focus post the bump on Ranks.”

Walker revealed that Rankine's health has improved over the last 24 to 48 hours but admitted he was "not great" after being poleaxed by Houston. And the Crows veteran says the welfare of Rankine is paramount for the club, while also revealing he'd been given the all-clear to play in Adelaide's game against the Swans on Saturday night after being sidelined with an eye injury.

Matthew Nicks in foul-mouthed spray to Ken Hinkley

It comes after veteran AFL reporter Caroline Wilson revealed details of exactly what Crows coach Nicks said to Power counterpart Hinkley as they walked off the ground. Nicks worked under Hinkley as an assistant at Port from 2013 to 2018 but could be seen shaking his head at his former mentor and clearly didn't agree with Hinkley's take on the bump.

“The retort from Nicks was along the lines of: ‘That was a f***ing dog act’,” Wilson revealed on Channel 9’s Footy Classified. Walker was also asked about the fiery exchange during his radio interview and simply said about Nicks: “I don’t think he agreed with what Ken said to him!”

The Crows coach also did his best to brush off the drama when asked about his animated chat with Hinkley after the game. "Kenny came over and asked about Izak and wished him a speedy recovery and we spoke a bit about finals,” he told reporters.

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Houston will front the AFL tribunal on Tuesday evening, with any ban of four weeks or more ruling him out for the rest of the season and Port's finals campaign. Houston has been charged with rough conduct and has reached out to apologise to Rankine, with Power teammates describing him as being very remorseful over the incident.

"Dan is in no way a dirty player or someone who would do that on purpose," Port star Ollie Wines said. "And I know he's reached out to Izak and we hope Izak's feeling better and getting through it. Obviously Dan will face the tribunal tonight and what will be, will be."