The Moment on Monday: The wake-up call that made Reilly O’Brien obsessed with breaking into the Crows’ team
There were times in the past three years when Reilly O’Brien questioned whether the pursuit of an AFL dream was worth it, but then came his line-in-the-sand moment. That plus game notes, power rankings, tips and more in this week’s Moment on Monday.
Reece Homfray
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- Barometer: All the latest injury news
- Farrell could be like Mike: Hinkley
- Port must follow Hartlett’s lead
- Jacobs to fight to regain ruck spot
The line in the sand moment for Reilly O’Brien came not in this career-defining pre-season but the one before and turned him from emerging ruckman driven by a dream to in his words — “obsessed”.
O’Brien turned heads when he finished top three in the Crows’ time trials over summer but the pre-season before was a very different story.
“I came last in the first 2km time trial we did,” he told The Advertiser.
Already wrestling with thoughts about whether to continue pursuing AFL footy after two games in 2016 and nothing since, O’Brien — who is studying biomedicine — decided he had to go all-in.
That included moving in with Jake Kelly, who along with Daniel Talia are considered the two most attentive players on Adelaide’s list when it comes to training and preparation.
“I became a bit more obsessive over the off-season in terms of my running and training, then I had the shoulder injury last year which gave me an opportunity to do a really big conditioning load and be really fit going into pre-season,” he said.
“We checked in with each other during the off-season on a WhatsApp group and had a program to follow, but I’d been training all the way through after my shoulder so I was running from August to October getting ready for pre-season.
“I got a few months of good running in and my legs really strong so I was able to hold up for it and came back in OK nick.
“It was more workrate in terms of at training and I prided myself on being the first into the club and last to leave on each training day, and do extra skill and weights work — I was tying to do double the amount of weights in terms of upper body and core.”
This pre-season he took 30 seconds of his 2km PB and says Kelly was a big factor in the turnaround.
“I’ve always been a pretty self-driven and self-motivated person, but he’s pretty similar minded in terms of his workrate and his drive, so we bounce off each other,” O’Brien said.
“We’re not the most naturally skilled players but we’ve had to work pretty hard so that helps in terms of keeping each other accountable.”
O’Brien has been the biggest surprise of Adelaide’s season so far — and that’s saying something given Alex Keath could well be leading their best-and-fairest and Brad Crouch hasn’t missed a game.
But he only came into the side when Sam Jacobs went down with a knee injury in Round 2 which makes you wonder would we have seen him if Sauce stayed fit?
In 11 games he is averaging 13.7 disposals, 35 hit-outs (10.3 to advantage), 3.4 clearances and 1.5 contested marks.
Compare that to Max Gawn with 18.7, 41 (14.7), 5.5 and 2, and Brodie Grundy with 20.5, 41 (10.3), 5.5 and 1.2 and it’s an outstanding return.
“I felt probably ready to go the last couple of seasons and in a good space, so it was obviously hard not getting an opportunity,” O’Brien said.
“But it’s been awesome now to string a few games together, build some confidence and form and play OK footy and contribute to the wins we’ve been having.
“The last couple of years it became a bit repetitive, a bit like groundhog day in terms of not playing AFL and doing what I want to do.
“You lose a little bit of purpose in terms of you train to play AFL then don’t really get a look in for a few years, especially with off-field stuff I was thinking I could be studying and doing uni stuff that I want to do and other things.
“So you do have those thoughts and lose that little bit of motivation and purpose but I stuck through and that’s probably driven me over the last couple of pre-seasons to become a bit more obsessive and work really hard.”
Coach Don Pyke also deserves credit for his faith in O’Brien in recent weeks.
He had every reasonable excuse to revert back to Jacobs a fortnight ago when Jacobs kicked five in the SANFL and O’Brien could have been given a well-deserved rest after battling Max Gawn in Darwin.
But Pyke stuck to his guns and O’Brien came out and beat GWS’s Shane Mumford and monstered Richmond’s inexperienced ruckmen Noah Balta and Mabior Chol.
With Pyke’s reluctance to play two ruckmen in the one team, fighting for the sole position hasn’t impacted Jacobs and O’Brien’s relationship.
“I’m feeling more and more confident each week but I definitely don’t feel safe in that spot,” O’Brien said.
“Sauce is a champion so I’ve got to keep playing well and do what I can.
“He’s a very, very likeable guy, he’s one of the most loved guys at the footy club, and we are obviously fighting for the one spot but we have a really good relationship and he helps me every week and gives me advice.
“In terms of opposition ruckmen he’s obviously played a few in his time so we run through clips together and he tells me what’s worked for him in the past and advice around that, so he’s been awesome in that regard.”
What was seen as Adelaide’s achilles heel over summer hasn’t quite become its strength but with O’Brien’s emergence it has removed any concern that if Jacobs went down, so would the Crows.
GAME NOTES
POWER v DOCKERS
“HE plays football the way it should be played,” Ken Hinkley said last week when confirming Hamish Hartlett would return from a knee reconstruction. And Hartlett backed that up on Saturday not with his 23 disposals against Fremantle but what he did when he didn’t have the ball. Like his chase and tackle on Andrew Brayshaw and lunging spoil in the second quarter, and his front-on hit on Brennan Cox in the last. Welcome back.
Didn’t get the result but Hamish Hartlett’s return after not playing for 12 months was phenomenal. His attack on the ball is as good as any in the AFL #AFLFreoPower
— Kane Cornes (@kanecornes) June 15, 2019
HINKLEY was adamant Port made the right call to leave Charlie Dixon and Ollie Wines in the two’s rather than rush them back into the AFL side. I can understand from a conditioning perspective with Wines given he’s a midfielder but Dixon would have been valuable on Saturday. If for nothing else then to send Dougal Howard back to stand in the hole in front of Jesse Hogan and Michael Walters who were dominating.
KANE Farrell has many weapons but his goal-kicking accuracy is arguably his best. He kicked 4.1 on the weekend including two from set shots, taking his career tally to 16.4 from 10 games.
SO the umpires can pay ridiculous free kicks like the one against Robbie Gray to Michael Walters and Tom Clurey to Jesse Hogan which cost the Power two goals, but if the fans yell that they’re a s*** decision they’re the ones who are punished? Come on. The free kick count by the way was 32-15 in Freo’s favour.
IS the Power getting enough grunt out of Sam Powell-Pepper? Arguably his greatest strength — his clearance work — has been lacking the past two weeks. Port lost centre clearances 4-1 to start the second quarter against Fremantle and Powell-Pepper attended four of them. Ollie Wines and possibly Tom Rockliff will be welcome additions this week.
ANOTHER big game from Xavier Duursma who drew widespread praise for his courage. “He goes back without any fear, every single time,” Garry Lyon said on Fox Footy. Duursma had 21 touches and 10 marks including two going back with the flight of the ball.
SCOTT Pendlebury is the latest to call Travis Boak for the Brownlow on Saturday night. Head to head with Nat Fyfe for most of the day there was barely anything splitting them with Boak tallying 36 disposals (Fyfe had 37) and 8 clearances (Fyfe 10).
Travis Boak is a superstar! I’ll refer to him as Charlie come October
— Scott Pendlebury (@SP_10) June 15, 2019
CROWS v TIGERS
ONLY three teams in the competition are yet to concede 100 points in a game after Round 13. Collingwood, Geelong … and Adelaide. The Crows conceded 68 points against an undermanned Richmond on Thursday night — mainly because they won inside 50s 61-48. Credit to the defence but as Don Pyke constantly refers to, winning field position is critical and that is a full-ground operation.
SO much has changed at Adelaide this season — the emergence of Alex Keath and Reilly O’Brien and the return of Brad Crouch. But some things stay the same, like when the Crows need a lift, Rory Sloane answers the call. Adelaide was under pressure trailing 36-25 at half-time when Sloane went to work against Jack Graham who tagged him out of the 2017 grand final. With Graham hanging off him, Sloane won the all-important clearance and kicked deep inside 50m and then pushed forward and won the next stoppage. A few minutes later the Tigers handballed into space in front of Graham who took possession at full pace and ran to within 20m of goal. As he lined up, Sloane gave chase and lunged at him with and outstretched left arm putting him off his kick. Turnover, the Crows went up the other end and Paul Seedsman kicked the first goal of the third term.
CROWS fans were breathing a huge sigh of relief when they learned Josh Jenkins had not torn his ACL on Thursday night. Earlier they watched his transformation continue from devoid of confidence earlier in the season to bullocking key forward making his presence felt around goal. And there were no gimmes either. “I hope Josh knows why we can be critical sometimes because he can produce that … that is brilliant,” Wayne Carey said on Channel 7 after Jenkin’s left-foot snap from the boundary.
ADELAIDE was its own worst enemy in the first half. There was a notable lack of pressure on Richmond’s ball carrier and they made uncharacteristic errors like Luke Brown’s turnover handball and Wayne Milera’s wayward kick in both in the first term.
MR ONE PER CENTER
Who are the unsung heroes of SA footy? The players who have an impact on their team without hitting the stats sheet. Champion Data records one per centers by tallying spoils, knock-ons, shepherds and smothers every game. Here’s the leaderboard from Port Adelaide and Adelaide after Round 13:
102: Daniel Talia (Crows)
90: Tom Clurey (Power)
88: Dougal Howard (Power)
72: Jake Kelly (Crows)
63: Alex Keath (Crows)
62: Tom Jonas (Power)
50: Scott Lycett (Power)
49: Paddy Ryder (Power)
47: Kyle Hartigan (Crows)
44: Dan Houston (Power)
SUPERCOACH TOP 10
Top 10 SuperCoach scores from Adelaide and Port Adelaide on the weekend:
1. Reilly O’Brien (Adel) 181
2. Brad Crouch (Adel) 129
3. Rory Sloane (Adel) 125
4. Rory Laird (Adel) 121
5. Travis Boak (Port) 121
6. Scott Lycett (Port) 111
7. Alex Keath (Adel) 109
8. Ryan Burton (Port) 105
9. Rory Atkins (Adel) 104
10. Cam Ellis-Yolmen (Adel) 103
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
I’m 30, so I don’t know if I’ve got a year of rehab in me.
— Adelaide’s Josh Jenkins after hyperextending his knee in Thursday’s win over Richmond.
TIPS
AN early look at Round 14 tipping:
WEST COAST to beat Essendon in Perth, SYDNEY too good for a struggling Hawthorn, the DEES to beat Freo at the MCG, BRISBANE over St Kilda on the road, GEELONG to beat Port Adelaide and COLLINGWOOD over the Western Bulldogs.
Last week: 3 Running total: 69
POWER RANKINGS
1. GEELONG (11-1)
Week off for the Cats who play Port Adelaide this week — and have lost every game after the mid-season bye for the past seven years.
2. GWS (9-4)
Took a half to overcome the fighting Kangaroos but improve to 9-4 going into their bye this weekend.
3. BRISBANE (7-5)
Resume with two very winnable games against St Kilda and Melbourne in the next two weeks.
4. COLLINGWOOD (9-3)
Week off for the Pies who play Western Bulldogs this weekend.
5. ADELAIDE (8-5)
Third week in a row they’ve come from behind at half-time to win. At 8-5 and with 1020 AFL games’ experience in the SANFL on Saturday, the Crows are nicely placed going into the bye.
6. WEST COAST (8-4)
Essendon at home this Friday night after the bye a chance to atone for their last start loss to Sydney.
7. RICHMOND (7-6)
Did well to stay in it for a half against Adelaide on Thursday night. Have St Kilda after the bye.
8. FREMANTLE (7-5)
The biggest surprise of the season for mine. Gutsy win, Michael Walters is a star and Jesse Hogan is proving a few of the doubters wrong.
9. PORT ADELAIDE (6-6)
Horror last quarter against Fremantle. Could get Dixon, Wines, Rockliff and Ebert all back for the clash with Cats this week. Riley Bonner could be in for a nervous week at selection if Houston is sent back into defence.
10. HAWTHORN (5-7)
It’s a long way back from 5-7 with Sydney and West Coast in the next two weeks.
11. ST KILDA (6-6)
Alan Richardson might have had one foot out the door at quarter-time but Tim Membrey turned it on in a comeback win over Gold Coast.
12. ESSENDON (6-6)
Spirited win from the Bombers over Hawthorn who stay alive at 6-6.
13. WESTERN BULLDOGS (5-7)
Beat Carlton but not without a final quarter scare. The Dogs aren’t any closer to returning to the Dogs of old — of 2016.
14. NORTH MELBOURNE (5-8)
Competitive against GWS in another endorsement for Rhyce Shaw to get the coaching job next season.
15. SYDNEY (4-8)
Hawthorn, Gold Coast, Essendon and Carlton coming up. At 4-8 it’s not impossible but can’t drop any of their next four.
16. GOLD COAST (3-10)
Had St Kilda on the ropes in Townsville and let them get up.
17. CARLTON (2-11)
Very encouraging from the Blues who are responding to David Teague. Only a matter of time before Curnow kicked a bag.
18. MELBOURNE (3-9)
A Melbourne supporter told me he couldn’t work out why he was feeling so relaxed going into the weekend.
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