ADELAIDE coach Matthew Nicks admits he's not sure if the AFL community is ready to welcome back Taylor Walker but says the veteran forward has done the off-field work to educate himself.
Walker will come back into the Crows' side against Essendon on Sunday after he was banned for six games in August last year for a racist comment about North Adelaide's Robbie Young which was overheard by an Adelaide official at a SANFL game.
The 31-year-old also made a $20,000 donation to an Indigenous program in light of the incident, before later releasing an apology video alongside Young which split opinions.
Nicks said Walker had worked hard within the community space to educate himself on his failings, but the playing group, including Adelaide's four Indigenous players, were willing to welcome him back into the side.
Walker's return comes amid Cyril Rioli's recent revelations of racist treatment during his time at Hawthorn which led to his premature retirement.
The Crows coach admitted he wasn’t sure how the broader AFL community would accept Walker, with the Marvel Stadium crowd's reception of the forward set to be a talking point on Sunday.
"I think that's a fair question," Nicks replied when asked if the community was ready to welcome Walker back.
"We can only be as open and honest as we can within these walls, working with the group we're working with.
"I've no doubt a lot of people are having conversations outside of here as well. There's a fair bit going on in this space.
"If you look at this from a bigger picture point of view, it's a positive that we're talking about these things.
"We're not going to accept the behaviour that we're seeing still around the league. We've still got a lot of work to do in this space."
Nicks added that the former Crows captain was experienced enough to handle whatever reception he receives on Sunday.
"Tex has been a player who's loved by our members and supporters," Nicks said.
"He's cheered every second week like no other when we play home games and he's treated the opposite when we play away games. A lot of the influential best players in the game are treated that way."
On the Crows playing group accepting Walker, Nicks added: "We had some great conversations about exactly that space. We're open and honest. 'How do you feel about Taylor coming back in?' The responses have been really positive."
Nicks pointed to the examples of Walker undertaking community work since his suspension, including a trip to Port Augusta, to show that he has proactively educated himself to be better.
"There's been a number of (examples) him giving back, looking to educate himself, looking to educate others," Nicks said.
"I don’t want to go through every single thing that Tex has done, but what I do know is Tex has done the work."
He added: "This is not one person, it's not just Tex working on becoming a better person. It's the whole footy club. It's the whole community who've all been involved.
"It's hundreds of conversations, sitting down getting to know others, talking with his teammates. It's not just the one person."