He is still stubborn, still opinionated and still sees big games like the one coming on Sunday against Collingwood as his natural vocation but Walker chooses his battles more carefully these days and - as cliched as this sounds - believes he saw a world without football and made a success of his brief time in that world.

Walker's rehabilitation saw him become an official leader among the Crows players, threw him into the unfamiliar AFL recruiting scene and even coaching as a mentor to young recently recontracted rookie Charlie Cameron. He withdrew significantly from his regular fix of football shows and subsequent introspection.

Removing himself from a self-absorbed life as an AFL player was also enabled by the relationship Walker developed with five-year-old leukemia sufferer Lily Block. The public saw Walker 12 months ago shave his head on The Footy Show in the presence of young Lily to raise money. Privately he became connected to the Leukemia Foundation and has also maintained a relationship with the Block family.

"It certainly made me realise football wasn't everything," said Walker. "I used to get caught up in what people thought of me. Now I more control what I can control. Before I did my knee I'd watch every show religiously but then I lost interest. I still watch footy and some of the shows but not nearly as much.

"I'd definitely say there were a lot of positives. I got to go to draft camp, which I'd never seen being a scholarship player, and working with [recruiter] Hamish Ogilvie and having some input and thought into the young kids."

Of joining the leadership group, Walker was only marginally enthusiastic. "I enjoy parts of it," he said. "I certainly don't enjoy meetings. The coaches get carried away, they think they have to sign off on every little thing. They hold meetings to analyse meetings. They know how I feel about it. As you know, I like to have my say."

I first spoke with Walker - who rarely grants newspaper interviews - in May at the behest of his coach Brenton Sanderson, who ordered the player to have contact following some unfortunate tweets Walker had sent in my direction. When we met, during an Adelaide Oval training session shortly after his comeback, we had a brief friendly chat. I told him to stop the insulting tweets and he smiled and said it was all good fun.

Now he says: "I'm not going to change everything. The club has pulled me up about [social media] a couple of times, but when I tweet I don't think I'm rude or derogatory. Everybody's entitled to their opinion just like reporters are. AFL players seemed to be banned from having a say on anything these days."

A clear turning point during his comeback journey was the 10 days Walker spent in Philadelphia last October with international knee guru Bill Knowles, learning how to run again. He had to re-learn every aspect of using his legs as he previously had as an athlete and he remains unsure whether he could have endured his tough rehabilitation without the assistance of Crows' physiotherapist Duncan Kellaway.

Knowles has worked with athletes ranging from Tiger Woods to Jonny  Wilkinson and Kellaway believed that Walker needed a change of scenery as well as some expert mental advice. "We went back to basics in everything," said Walker. "My mind had to learn how to tell my body how to run again. I took a lot out of that time and I don't reckon I would have been able to do it without his [Kellaway's] help."

Still, Walker thought he would be different than those who had gone before him in bouncing back from a major knee reconstruction. "People told me I would struggle," he said, "but the more people told me, the more I wanted to prove them wrong. Magically I thought it would all work differently for me and all come together. Being the stubborn person that I am, I thought it would be more successful more quickly.

"But it's been pretty tough. The game is so much faster now. I've played two SANFL games and nine AFL games and I'm a bit sore now. The break came at a good time. You can start to feel what a real pre-season does for your body.

"I'm probably still not where I want to be. I've been frustrated at the inconsistency and I haven't been able to meet my own high standards, but I'm really hoping to show something over the last six to 10 weeks of the season." Certainly Walker hopes the Crows' season will be closer to 10 weeks than six with the Sunday twilight clash against Collingwood looming as a key factor in his club's immediate fortunes.

''I suppose I'm playing my role. Eddie Betts has come over and Pods [James Podsiadly] has really added something and Josh Jenkins has really come on and Tommy Lynch, so some good for the club has come out of it."

Talk of Adelaide's new forward structure inevitably turns to the loss of Kurt Tippett. Despite his disappointment at Tippett's departure, Walker chose to take the optimistic view, pointing to the recruiting of Podsiadly and Matt Crouch, along with Jenkins' rise to a key role in attack.

Walker, who lives with Crouch's elder brother Brad, said he had been disappointed on several levels to lose Tippett as a teammate. "I was really close with 'Tippo' off the field as well and I was really sorry to see him go," he said. "We're not as close as what we used to be. I didn't like the way he left,  but I guess he's moved on now and so have we."

Walker is bullish about Adelaide after the problematic 18 months that followed Tippett's departure. He said that while he had a good relationship with his first coach Neil Craig he now enjoys a more friendly relationship with Sanderson due to the closer proximity in age. But, he adds: "You can't be too close to the coach because at some point tough calls might have to be made."

When reminded of a Sanderson criticism earlier this season that some players were shirking some key tactical preparation duties, Walker responded: "I see things a lot differently sometimes to what Sando sees and I see a group completely committed to achieving the ultimate success.

"I'm really confident we have a great group now and Sando's got us playing footy that will ultimately get us there. Our SANFL side has made a huge difference. Blokes are playing the Crows' way and pushing for spots." Walker's definition of ''the Crows' way'' was "really consistent attacking footy with being No. 1 defensively. We talk all the time about playing the Crows' way."

It was put to Walker that the Crows, despite improvement from last season, remained up against it to play any role in September. He responded: "That's what we're used to and that's what makes us a strong group.

"We were up against it when Kurt Tippett left and all that happened. We were up against it when we lost Dean Bailey and we're up against it with Steve Trigg coming out this weekend and announcing he's going to another club. We've been up against it for two years."