Former basketballer Hugh Greenwood’s journey to AFL has given the Adelaide Crows a harder edge
FORMER basketballer Hugh Greenwood is one of the AFL’s leading hard men and well on his way to being the Adelaide Crows’ unlikely midfield saviour. Andrew Capel examines the five-game player’s huge impact.
Andrew Capel
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PATRICK Dangerfield is a once-in-a-generation superstar who cannot be replaced.
But — two seasons after he fled Adelaide to join Geelong — the Crows finally appear to have at least found a big-bodied midfielder who can impose himself on the contest and stand up to the heat in the kitchen.
Former NBL, US college, Boomers and Australian under-19 basketball team player Hugh Greenwood is proving to be Adelaide’s unlikely midfield saviour.
While Brownlow Medallist Dangerfield’s former Crows sidekick Rory Sloane has crumbled under the weight of heavy tags and veteran Scott Thompson is in his final year, Greenwood has shown signs of being an elite, hard-nosed on-baller — a missing piece to the club’s premiership jigsaw.
The stats stack up.
Plucked from the football wilderness by a long-time admirer, astute Adelaide recruiting manager Hamish Ogilvie, Greenwood, who at age 25 is no spring chicken in football terms, is statistically one of the hardest midfielders in the competition.
In his five games, Greenwood, well built at 190cm and 90kg, has the lowest game-time percentage in the league for midfielders, averaging just 65.1.
His season-high was 71 per cent on debut against Brisbane at the Gabba in Round 9, while he had a season-low 59 per cent against St Kilda in round 12.
But Greenwood’s impact in limited minutes is being felt.
The man who turned his back on a very promising basketball career to be talked back into football by Ogilvie, who first spotted him on a football field as a 15-year-old in Tasmania and had him on his radar for eight years, ranks in the top six in the AFL in four key hard man categories.
Greenwood — listed as a category B rookie by Adelaide at the end of 2015 and making his AFL debut just 18 months after rejecting a lucrative NBL contract with the Perth Wildcats —
sits sixth in the league in average tackles (7.6), second in tackle attempts (11.6) and third in average pressure points (68.1) per 100 minutes.
He ranks a clear first in contested possession average of total disposals with 65.9 per cent of his possessions won in traffic.
This is better than heralded hard men Dangerfield and Bulldog Tom Liberatore (58.8 per cent), Kangaroo Ben Cunnington (57.6) and Dog Mitch Wallis (55.8).
When it comes to tackling, only Geelong’s ferocious Scott Selwood (11.8), Sloane (8.3), Liberatore (8.1), Port Adelaide’s Brad Ebert (7.9) and Melbourne’s Jack Viney (7.8) average more tackles.
That’s elite company.
Champion Data ranks football novice Greenwood as being an elite or above average midfielder for ranking points, contested possessions, clearances and goals.
“His inside stuff has been the most impressive thing and the way he gets at the opposition,” Crows midfield coach Scott Camporeale said.
“He’s a good size and shape, big-bodied, and if you look through premiership midfield groups they’ve got those guys.’’
Greenwood’s numbers will skyrocket when he plays more game time but assistant coach David Teague said fans might have to wait until next year to see more of him as he continues to build an AFL engine.
“From his background and where we want him to go (impact-wise) ideally we’ll give it another year and he’ll be up there playing about 80 per cent of game time, like most midfielders do,’’ Teague said.
“At the moment it’s trying to find the balancing act to get the best out of him but I dare say that number (percentage of game time) will slowly increase.’’.
And so will Greenwood’s impact.
HARD MAN IN THE MIDDLE
In just five AFL games, former NBL and US college basketballer Hugh Greenwood — physically gifted at 190cm and 90kg — has shown that he could be a star for the Adelaide Crows, displaying a rare tough edge that already has him ranked among the best hard men in the league.
MIDFIELD MAESTRO
Midfield ratings (per 100 mins)
THE PRESSURE MEN
Leading pressure men (per 100 mins)
(Points include physical, implied and closing pressure)
THE TACKLE ACES
Leading tacklers
Leading tackle attempts
CONTESTED KINGS
Highest contested possession rate (per 100 mins)
TIME TO PLAY BALL
Lowest game-time percentage for midfielders
andrew.capel@news.com.au
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