Editorial: Josh Rachele has been made the scapegoat for the Crows on-field Showdown meltdown

He’s arguably the Crows biggest marketing asset and right now he probably wishes he was playing for a club back home in Victoria.

The Adelaide Crows have sent an offensive message to rising young forward Josh Rachele by dropping him for the final game of the season.

Just hours after he was named in the AFL’s best 22 players aged under 22, Rachele was axed from the Crows’ side to face Sydney on Saturday night.

The decision cannot be made on form – Rachele ranks first at the Crows and equal-19th in the AFL this year for goal assists with 18, as well as third at the club for goals, with 30.

Rather, it seems coach Matthew Nicks and team selectors are determined to crush any personality and character shown by Rachele, who arguably is the club’s chief marketing asset to young fans.

Adelaide Crows Matthew Nicks at Adelaide Airport on Friday. Picture Dean Martin

Josh Rachele training with Adelaide's SANFL team on Friday. Picture: Dean Martin

Instead, they are leaving one of their brightest young drawcards with a sour taste in his mouth until next season and, most likely, wishing he played for a club in his home state of Victoria.

The Crows believe Rachele put himself ahead of the team, particularly by inciting Port fans by amplifying his pre-game joke that they “don’t have many teeth” when celebrating a goal during a bitter Showdown on Saturday night.

Rachele, it seems, has been made the scapegoat for the Crows on-field meltdown after star Izak Rankine was felled by Port’s Dan Houston in a sickening bump.

The in-game fade out was yet another in an ongoing series of costly implosions that Nicks, despite being reappointed after a first-round loss, has been unable to stop.

Josh Rachele of the Crows gestures to Port fans after scoring a goal at Adelaide Oval. Picture: James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Izak Rankine of the Crows is knocked out by a late hit from Dan Houston of the Power. Picture: Mark Brake/Getty Images

This trend gives little confidence that the Crows’ selection move to dump Rachele is an inspired tactic to build a winning team culture of success.

The harsh spotlight of a Showdown loss surely has been sufficient to convince Rachele that he let the team down by goading Port fans and players.

Under the AFL’s contentious illicit drugs policy, Rachele would have received less punishment if he’d been busted by the Crows snorting cocaine.

After the Matt Crouch hat-tipping debacle, Nicks made the excellent point that footy risked losing a “really positive side” – the opportunity for fans to interact with players.

Now, it would seem he wants to crush the spirit of a young larrikin who went a bit too far with a joke and goal celebration – a player who is embraced by young footy fans.

In this case, the Crows are breaking a butterfly of our great game on a wheel.