He says he made a mistake by bottling up his emotions leading into Adelaide’s eight-goal loss to Richmond in last year’s finale.

“If I get the chance again, and I hope we do this year, I’d prepare myself better,” Walker has told a leadership consultancy firm.

“I was super-anxious before the game and I didn’t speak about my feelings or emotions.

“This year I’d be more inclined to say to the boys, ‘Look, I’m shitting myself too. It’s OK’.

“A big thing for me now is being more vulnerable in front of the group, showing more emotion.”

Walker made the admissions in an interview published this week with consultancy firm AltoPEOPLE.

The Crows skipper has worked with the company on leadership profiling.

Walker last year’s grand final was an example of having a bad day in front of 100,000 people.

“I still feel the weight of that,” he said.

“I couldn’t think clearly.

“I was too caught up in what I needed to do individually rather than what the group needed from me.”

Walker said it was “a huge learning experience”.

“As a captain, you need to perform as a senior player,” he said.

“But you also need to have a broader understanding of what’s happening on the ground – the tactical stuff as well as the technical, what do we need to do as a group.”

Walker said the Crows had moved on from their failure but only after digesting the reasons.

“The team that played in the grand final sat around afterwards and we spoke about everything, which was good,” he said.

“We have jumped a hurdle because of that and now we can move on with clarity.”

– AAP