Sam Jacobs’ injury has gifted Adelaide an answer to who should be the club’s next No.1 ruckman
Reilly O’Brien has established himself as the Crows’ new No. 1 ruckman and cast serious doubt on the need to lure Brodie Grundy home with a mega-contract, writes Graham Cornes.
- Will we see one of Showdown’s greatest sideshows again?
- Is it time to anoint a new ruck king in SA?
- Breakout Crow not fazed by Grundy links
First impressions can be seriously misleading. When Reilly O’Brien made his debut for the Crows in round 20 2016, there was an awkwardness about his movement that did not inspire confidence.
Gangly, knock-kneed and slightly pigeon-toed he covered the ground with a giraffe-like gait, his legs not quite in synch with the top half of his body.
A rookie-listed player he was barely 20 years old and had come into the side because the team’s workhorse, Sam Jacobs, was nursing an ankle injury.
The Crows thrashed Brisbane on that night, O’Brien having a willing battle with another young ruckman, Archie Smith, who was playing only his second game.
Smith, who looked bigger, stronger, more athletic and with seemingly greater potential, shaded O’Brien who was by no means disgraced — but he obviously needed time to mature. They both played only one more game in 2016. Then O’Brien disappeared. (Similarly, Smith defying his potential, has played only eight games since.)
The dominance of Sam Jacobs restricted O’Brien’s opportunities but a back injury in 2017 and shoulder reconstruction in 2018 further slowed his development. He was often an emergency for the AFL team and played solid football in the SANFL when he wasn’t injured, but such was his lack of opportunity that he may well have gone home to Ascot Vale, which he considered doing.
Nearly three years later the big man, like so many tall gangly youths, has grown into his body. Sam Jacobs, who for so long had carried the team finally succumbed to a knee injury in round two and O’Brien grasped his opportunity.
He looks unlikely to relinquish it. So well is he playing that fan favourite and ultimate team man, Jacobs, can’t get back in.
Reilly O’Brien is not your average footballer. He scored 99.75 on his ATAR and is studying biomedicine, taking one or two subjects per semester and even a few more when he was on the injured list. But it is more than his academic prowess. He is a fine citizen.
Those within the club talk glowingly of his character, his manners, his intellect and his inclusive nature.
“He’s very good at bringing the young players together and he always has a word to those he meets in passing”, said one.
However the thing he is most renowned for is his enormous appetite. “He has 12 meals a day,” said a club insider, although that surely must be an exaggeration. Suffice to say he eats a lot to build and fuel that 202cm, 101kg ruckman’s body.
The emergence of O’Brien as a dominant ruck contender for the Crows has complicated the narrative surrounding Collingwood’s Brodie Grundy returning to South Australia.
It may be mischievous gossip, or it may be a cunning tactic by Grundy’s management, but because of the chatter, the Crows are being forced to explore the option of bringing Grundy home.
Whereas Adelaide has been encouraged to “do whatever it takes” to gain the services of Grundy, who is arguably the best big man in the game, it may prove to be the ultimate folly.
Grundy’s management will demand at least $1.2 million per year (or more), for his signature. It surely will be a tactic to drive Collingwood’s offer up.
The Crows never had a million dollar marqué player and it’s debatable whether they should embark on such a course, regardless of the reputation of the player. Such a marqué player has yet to bring a premiership to his new club. (Dustin Martin’s salary may be close to that but he was already a Richmond player).
The likelihood of disruption and discord within the playing group is very real, as is the chance of an injury that may dilute the value of the investment. To add to the consideration, it is unlikely O’Brien would stay if the Crows succeed in bringing Grundy home.
In O’Brien, the Crows have a ruckman who has made astounding progress. Some credit his housemate Jake Kelly, who sets an example of professionalism and work ethic, for O’Brien’s improved fitness and athleticism — no longer is he that awkward 20-year-old.
O’Brien himself speaks highly of the Crows’ ruck coach, Matthew Clarke. Then there’s Sam Jacobs who has recovered from his knee injury but can’t get back in the team because of O’Brien’s form. Yet he is still an encouraging teammate and training partner.
How ironic it is that the battle between the two ruckmen, O’Brien and Scott Lycett, who before this season were never regarded as their clubs’ first choice ruckmen, could be the deciding factor in this most important of Showdowns.
Lycett whose premiership success at West Coast came last year because of injury to teammate Nic Naitanui, returned to Port Adelaide as a free agent. Like O’Brien he needed only opportunity and responsibility to show his real talent. Right now they are the two most improved big men in the competition.
As an 18-year-old, O’Brien was overlooked in the 2013 National Draft. His schoolwork took priority but he was given the opportunity to play as a 19-year-old in the Victorian U18 TAC Cup competition.
Again he was overlooked in the draft, but the Crows took him with the ninth pick in the 2015 rookie draft.
The world may have bigger plans for this young man who is destined to be much more than a footballer but for now he promises to be the best rookie the Crows have ever had.