With the weight of SA on his shoulders, Crow Dan Curtin has plenty of time find his feet in Adelaide writes Graham Cornes

The Crows’ line-up to face Collingwood faced plenty of scrutiny but it was a must-win game and Dan Curtin wasn’t in the club’s best side – on form. He will be later on writes Graham Cornes.

What must it be like to carry the expectations of the state on your young shoulders? Only Dan Curtin would know.

A prized early selection from last year’s draft, he is seen as one of the finishing pieces to the Crows’ rebuild. Therefore there had been an indecent urgency to promote him to the AFL ranks.

One good game in Adelaide’s SANFL team was all it took. This, despite the fact that his pre-season had been restricted by knee “soreness”. But the fans were inpatient and the Crows start to the season had been miserable.

Losing the first four games of the season when the expectations of playing finals brings all sorts of pressure upon a match committee. We all wanted to see the young man make his AFL debut.

Daniel Curtin of the Crows gets a Gatorade shower. Photo by James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

He had played a few games in the SANFL team and his form was encouraging. A solid game at Prospect was all it took and he couldn’t be ignored. What was there to lose by playing a youngster in which so much has been invested?

Well plenty actually, if he is not quite ready. We saw it with another prize draft pick, Fischer McAsey who never really showed us what he was capable of. In the worst team in the history of the club he was rushed into the team as a key defender. The scrutiny and pressure were crushing.

He never settled, never got a chance to settle, and quietly withdrew from the football public’s gaze, disappointed but not bitter.

However, Dan Curtin seemed ready. We can question whether it was the right move to introduce him to AFL football in the white-hot cauldron of a Showdown but hindsight is not wisdom. With five kicks and four handballs, he was quiet in the first three quarters of the Showdown and was substituted at three-quarter time after 56 minutes of game time.

In the euphoria of another Showdown win against the bitter rival there was no critical assessment of his game. It was AFL football at the highest level of intensity and he had played his part, albeit a small one.

So he kept his place in defence and took the field against Brisbane last week. Brisbane, the team that some of us had as premiership favourite at the start of the season, had started the season almost as badly as the Crows. It didn’t go well for Dan. His immediate opponent, Logan Morris, another youngster playing his second game, worked goal-side of him and kicked Brisbane’s second goal.

It didn’t get any easier when he was moved on to Callum Ah Chee who kicked two goals in quick succession. It is the era of team defence but when immediate opponents kick three goals on you in a quarter it does curtail your confidence.

Forgive the self-indulgence but I felt his pain. It took me back to a Port Adelaide v Glenelg clash at Football Park in the early 1980s. Milan Faletic was playing centre-half-forward for the Magpies and I was his immediate opponent at centre-half-back.

Within the first 10 minutes of the first quarter, he had kicked four individual goals. Football is always about the next contest but under such pressure, a defensive mindset creeps in and any thought of playing with a positive, attacking intent is crushed.

Port won. Milan Faletic still haunts me. You could see young Curtin’s confidence being impacted.

Cam Rayner of the Lions tackles Daniel Curtin. Photo by James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

Then Logan Morris kicked a second goal, the fourth of Curtin’s immediate opponents. Matthew Nicks would have known the young man’s confidence would be impacted. It was a controversial move to sub him out at half-time, but it was the right one. There was a game to be won. There would be plenty of time for Curtin to establish himself as an AFL player.

The controversy about subbing him at half-time intensified when another defender, Josh Worrell was injured early in the third quarter but the criticism shouldn’t be directed at Nicks. It was the right move. The criticism needs to be directed at the AFL for persisting with the ridiculous concept of a substitute.

Originally introduced in 2021 as a “medical substitute” (in addition to the four interchange players) to cover a player who was taken out of the game with injury, it was immediately abused and exploited by the coaches to add fresh legs to the contest.

Remember this whole substitute farce started back in 2011 with three interchange players and a sub. It was exploited then and still is today.

The AFL has to come to its senses, remove the position of substitute and increase the interchange bench to five. What is the point of one player sitting on the bench, riding a stationary bike and doing the occasional sprint along the boundary line, only then to come on for a small portion of the match?

Curtin could have been used as the substitute this week. Coming on when some of the heat has come out of the game might benefit his development, but the coach prefers him to have a full game in the SANFL.

It won’t hurt him. Curtin needs only to look at the slow development of some of the greats of the AFL to seek assurance that a couple of quiet games at the start of your career doesn’t mean the end.

Gary Ablett Jnr whose record demands he is destined for Legend status in the Australian Football Hall of Fame, had only four kicks in his first game – even less in his second.

Dual Brownlow Medallist, Lachie Neale didn’t get a kick in his first game and had but two in his second.

Carlton’s 2023 Brownlow Medallist, Patrick Cripps had one kick in his first game. Reigning Blues best and fairest winner, Jacob Weitering, the No. 1 draft pick in 2015, struggled for several years under the weight of expectation that such status brings. He is now one of the elite tall defenders in the competition.

Some young players are ready to play AFL football straight from the draft. Curtin’s teammate Max Michalanney didn’t miss a beat and looks a seasoned player already. Harley Reid has rejuvenated the West Coast Eagles and North Melbourne’s Harry Sheezel won the club’s best and fairest award in his first season.

The big difference was that all three of those players were able to complete a pre-season and play trial games. Curtin’s was interrupted by knee soreness. It may be the reason he still wears that knee bandage but one does question why he would be trying to play at such an early stage of his career if his knee needs to be bandaged? He needs to speak to Shaun Rehn and throw that support away.

The selection of this week’s team to play Collingwood came with much critical chatter on social media. Many thought that Nicks should have persisted with Curtin.

However, it was a must-win game and on form the young man wasn’t in the club’s best team. In time, he will be.