Adelaide 36ers championship winner Rupert Sapwell withdraws from race for Crows’ new head of culture position
Adelaide is yet to announce who will fill its new head of culture and leadership position. But an Adelaide 36ers championship winner has withdrawn from the race.
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Adelaide is continuing to search for its first head of leadership and culture – but a former 36er has withdrawn from contention.
Sapwell and former Redbacks cricket captain Michael Klinger had been leading candidates for the position.
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It is understood the Crows have not contacted Melbourne Renegades coach Klinger, who has support from the highest echelons of Adelaide board, during the festive period despite Sapwell’s withdrawal from the process.
Sapwell said he was “more than happy” to remain at Trinity College, where he was director of sport and coached the boys’ open basketball team – the 2018 national champions.
“I was excited for it but in the end I wasn’t looking to leave my job at Trinity and I’m still emotionally attached … and we just couldn’t agree to terms,” Sapwell told The Advertiser.
“In the end, it was an amicable decision.”
Creating a head of leadership and culture was one of the key findings of the external review into Adelaide’s football department, which was completed in October.
That month, The Advertiser revealed Klinger was a contender for the Crows role and also in the mix to become a national cricket selector – a position that later went to George Bailey.
Klinger’s respect across the national sports industry, including captaincy experience in Australia and England, as well as an ability to relate to players and administrators, makes him an attractive commodity in the leadership field.
He is off contract with the Renegades at BBL season’s end next month.
Sapwell said new Crows coach Matthew Nicks was already having a positive influence on the club’s culture and whoever it appointed to the leadership position would complement him.
“I got a really good vibe about what was going on in there, particularly with Matthew Nicks’ presence and impact,” he said.
“Based on my experience in teams, it felt good.”
Adelaide is likely to have delayed in appointing a leadership guru because it plans to have new football manager Adam Kelly involved in the process.
Kelly won the role on December 16 and was not due back at work until this week.