Adelaide Crows fans in uproar over decision to axe Josh Rachele

In a controversial call to axe rising star Josh Rachele, Crows fans are having revived memories of the infamous 2018 pre-season camp debacle.

Crows fanatics have condemned the controversial call to axe rising star Josh Rachele, describing the decision as a “kick in the guts” which has revived memories of the Crows infamous 2018 pre-season camp debacle.

The 21-year-old Victorian was dropped by Adelaide for their final round clash against the Sydney on Saturday night, sparking widespread outrage among their vast supporter base, some of whom claim the club is “disrespecting their fans”.

Angry supporters flooded social media to express their displeasure, with almost 900 comments on Adelaide’s post announcing the team for the weekend’s match, and many more taking to X to slam the club’s handling of their young forward.

The team behind the Crowject podcast, a weekly show dedicated to “all things Crom”, recorded an emergency pod on Thursday night to air their disapproval, which comes after Rachele’s inflammatory pre-Showdown comments about Port Adelaide fans.

Ben McLean, longtime Crowject podcaster, said his axing was a “perplexing” decision which has united the fanbase against the club.

“It feels like a kick in the guts and something that could be dealt with behind closed doors,” he said.

“Looking at his game, statistics wise, he’s one of our best players this year as a small forward. This is going to leave a sour taste for the next six or seven months.”

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

Mr McLean said the past few days had reminded him of the immediate aftermath of the Crows’ infamous pre-season camp scandal.

The camp was widely believed to have played a key role in triggering the Crows’ collapse from 2017 grand finalists to the wooden spoon in 2020.

“I’m sort of comparing this week to when all the stories about the camp were coming out.

The general vibe on social media and around the place is similar,” he said.

“It’s been a long time between drinks... our hopes were on the rise and now it’s been smashed to pieces again.”

Tracy Smart, a longtime Crows fan and former Australian Defence Force surgeon general, said she can understand the comparison to the camp saga.

“It’s reflecting back to how bad everybody felt when that came out. That was a traumatic time for Crows fans. It’s the frustration after another underperforming year,” she said.

Ms Smart, 61, who nominated for the Crows board this year, said dropping Rachele was a “poor decision” – but said the club’s handling of the news was even worse.

“It’s a lack of allowing authenticity, and allowing characters, but it’s also a lack of being open and honest about what’s going on,” said Ms Smart, who’s a member of the AFL’s Mental Health steering group.

“It seems to be the same old stuff that we’re being told. Given all the stuff that went on and how the fans felt about the Showdown, why not find another way to discipline Josh?

“Instead it’s been very vague. ‘Look, he’s got some things to work on.’

“You can’t appease everybody... but they’re not thinking about or respecting the fans.”

Tracy Smart labelled Rachele’s dropping as a ‘poor decision’. Picture: Zak Simmonds

Media personality and Crows supporter Andrew ‘Cosi’ Costello said Rachele’s pre-match comments had “fired up fans to a level I’ve never seen”.

“I’m no footy expert but what I will say is in my lifetime I can’t remember a showdown with more controversy and hype,” he said.

“And you get the feeling the Showdown fiasco has a little bit to run yet.”

The vast majority of Adelaide supporters on social media were up-in-arms, declaring the club needed to support Rachele, not banish him to the SANFL.

Jill Lever said she was “not happy at all” with the call to drop the Victorian.

“He is young and full of enthusiasm, made a mistake but you don’t punish him, you educate him and support him. If you don’t we will lose him because he’ll feel he wasn’t backed by his coach and team. Let him play!” she wrote.

Jacob Aiossa said the club had shown “unbelievably poor leadership” in the way they have handled Rachele.

“We have a player that brings some much needed style and personality to our side and you throw him under the bus. Really disappointed,” he wrote.

Ed Oniszk said dropping the 21-year-old was “one of the poorest Crows selection decisions of the year”.

“The quickest way to lose players of his potential is to not support him, by all means counsel him, but dropping him achieves nothing and hurts the team,” he said.

The club has lost touch with its supporters and “bowed to media hype and pressure”, according to Jonathon Holton.

“I won’t be watching the final game of the year as I am too disappointed with the lack of intestinal fortitude our once great club has shown... if it wasn’t for Darcy (Fogarty) and Josh you wouldn’t have even known the showdown was on.”

Ms Smart said fans weren’t “expecting miracles” but the club needed to do better.

“Help us understand what’s going on. That’s where the transparency comes into it. Let us know what’s happening to the extent that you can,” she said.