AAMI Community Series Adelaide v Port Adelaide: The latest on Rory Laird’s hand injury and all the Crows news

Scans have confirmed Adelaide club champion Rory Laird has a broken hand that will delay his start to 2022, but the Crows are hopeful the injury won’t totally derail his season.

Star Adelaide midfielder Rory Laird is expected to miss up to six weeks with the broken hand he suffered in the Crows’ Community Series loss to Port Adelaide.

The reigning club champion injured his right hand in a contest during the third quarter and did not take any further part in the gam at Richmond Oval.

The club feared that the 28-year-old had broken his hand, with Laird unable to grab anything after the injury, and it was bandaged with ice around it at the end of the game.

Scans on Sunday showed Laird had fractured his third metacarpal in his hand.

Adelaide high-performance manager Darren Burgess said the club was hopeful Laird would avoid surgery, but he is expected to miss four to six weeks.

“Rory had X-rays on Sunday which confirmed our preliminary thoughts post-game that he had fractured his hand,” Burgess said.

“At this stage we don’t believe it will require surgery, however he will meet a hand specialist this week for further assessment.

“It’s unfortunate timing given there are two weeks until Round 1 but the injury is not expected to hinder his ability to run and stay fit, and we will look forward to him returning in the early part of the season.”

Laird’s hand will be placed in a splint while he recovers.

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Rory Laird, with his hand bandaged, talks to Zak Butters post-game. Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos

Coach Matthew Nicks thinks his side is back to what he expects of it despite the loss to its cross-town rival on Saturday.

A week after Brisbane thrashed an inexperienced, shorthanded Crows outfit by 89 points, a side boosted with several stars took it up to Port Adelaide for most of the game.

Nicks said the biggest difference between his team and the Power on Saturday was polish.

“From last week to this week was a big step up, back to what we want to be,” Nicks said.

“I thought we came to play, I thought we hunted, I thought we brought that passion we saw more towards the end of last year, that DNA, especially that first half.

“It dropped off for about 10 minutes at the start of the third and we’re up against a side that’s too good to do that against, and they put us away in a short period.

“I thought we still had our chances in the last (quarter) and if we’d executed over the footy, had clean hands, finished off in front of goal …

“We actually dominated that last quarter with time in front half but couldn’t put a score together.

“There was some really positive stuff to come out of it, even though in the end, for a young group they’re disappointed they’re sitting there after a loss.”

Darcy Fogarty in a foot race with Port Adelaide’s Lachie Jones on Saturday. Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos

Rory Sloane, Tom Doedee, Brodie Smith and Elliott Himmelberg were among the Crows who came into the side after being sidelined last week.

Although pleased with the performance, Nicks said he felt his team needed some intense training sessions in the lead-up to the Round-1 clash with Fremantle on March 20 to help make up for the disruption Covid caused to the squad a fortnight ago.

“We had guys who came back after 11 days of not being at the club play some really good footy today,” he said.

“As a coach would I love a couple more weeks, of course, but it’s a balance.”

Nicks was happy with Matt Crouch’s second game back after missing all of last season with groin and hip issues.

But the club’s midfield mix could change again for the opening of the season if Laird’s X-rays on a suspected broken hand come back with bad news.

“Fingers crossed it’s not displaced or anything major,” Nicks said.

Who plays in attack?

The Crows got a look at four talls in attack with Taylor Walker absent and it is clearly a work in progress.

Himmelberg, Darcy Fogarty and Lachlan Gollant all kicked a goal, while Riley Thilthorpe did not, and they each had their moments.

Gollant and Himmelberg in particular showed good signs aerially, making a contest to give the Crows’ smalls an opportunity to pounce, as Ned McHenry and Josh Rachele often did.

Will Adelaide play all four against Fremantle in Round 1?

It remains to be seen if they can stand up without Walker, but what the Crows want is more midfield goalkickers to support them.

Walker will be sidelined for the opening three games due to his racial vilification suspension.

Crows draftee Josh Rachele booted three goals in another impressive display. Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos

The young guns

The hype around last year’s No. 6 pick, Josh Rachele, is only going to grow after kicking three goals for the second consecutive week.

One was a soccered effort, which was second nature for the ex-Melbourne City junior.

He also had 12 touches and showed his intent without the footy, laying a game-high nine tackles, including a great chase to earn a free kick.

Fellow 2021 draftee Jake Soligo looked like he belonged again, despite only gathering nine touches.

Second-year bull Luke Pedlar kicked a nice goal from three possessions before going off with a hamstring injury.

Milera’s return

More than 12 months after sustaining a serious knee injury, Wayne Milera made his return for the Crows on Saturday.
The classy 24-year-old will have to recover well from a SANFL trial match to be considered for round one.

For Milera, Saturday marked 372 days since his season-ending injury, a torn patella tendon in a trial match against Port Adelaide.

“He’s nearly there, but just not quite,” Rahilly said.

“If everything goes well, he’s definitely a chance (for Round 1).

“Everyone’s really looking forward to getting him back in the team, especially the forwards with his ball use and his composure with ball in hand.”

Scoreboard

Adelaide 2.1 5.4 8.5 11.8 (74)

Port Adelaide 1.5 4.5 12.7 17.9 (111)

BEST – Crows: O’Brien, Crouch, McHenry, Schoenberg, Sloane, Rachele, Hinge.

Power: Butters, Jones, Wines, Rozee, Boak, Burton, Byrne-Jones, Georgiades.

GOALS – Crows: Rachele 3; Hinge, McHenry, O’Brien, Himmelberg, Fogarty, Pedlar, Gollant, Soligo.

Power: Georgiades 4; Finlayson 3; Rozee, Boak 2; Duursma, Amon, Butters, McEntee, Houston, Marshall.

INJURIES – Crows: Laird (suspected broken hand), Pedlar (hamstring)

Power: Gray (hamstring soreness)