Warren Tredrea: Have Adelaide Crows finally found a replacement for Charlie Cameron?
For the past 12 months Adelaide has rued the loss of pressure-forward king Charlie Cameron to Brisbane. But they might finally have a successor, writes Warren Tredrea.
Warren Tredrea
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Have Adelaide finally found their forward-50 Energizer Bunny?
For the past 12 months the Crows have rued the loss of pressure forward Charlie Cameron to Brisbane and been unable to replace his lightning speed and tackling pressure.
But all of a sudden, the faith being showed in small forward Lachie Murphy by coach Don Pyke is paying dividends in Adelaide’s forward half.
They just might have found the answer to their forward pressure issues.
Go back 12 months and the football world wasn’t convinced the loss of Cameron to Brisbane would hurt Adelaide that much. But by season’s end the Crows forward-half tackling pressure had fallen off a cliff.
And while Cameron averaged more than four tackles per game in the Crows’ march to the 2017 Grand Final, he also kicked an impressive 29 goals.
Now a Lion, Cameron’s in career-best form — averaging 13 disposals and 1.5 goals per game (12) in season 2019.
This Saturday Charlie and his Lions host the Crows, and all of a sudden it looks like we could be treated to a forward-pressure masterclass.
After the first four rounds of 2019 the Crows were at the crossroads, with only one win from four games.
They couldn’t win enough football at the contest let alone generate enough pressure on their opposition to win it back — put simply they were too easy to play against.
Fast forward a month, they now sit 5-3 after eight rounds and much of it has to do with the 19-game Energizer Bunny Lachlan Murphy.
Averaging 12 disposals and a goal a game, Murphy’s hitting his straps. And while he has a long way to go replicate or even better Cameron’s output, he’s on the right track.
In Saturday’s night’s Showdown, he proved as much, gathering an impressive 11 disposals, laying an unbelievable 11 tackles of which eight were inside the 50 metre arc. He also had two goal assists and kicked one himself — it was a very good performance in 88 per cent game time.
At 20 years of age, Murphy’s rise to AFL football has been anything but normal.
He started as a small defender/midfielder and wasn’t drafted fresh out the under 18s like most of the competition’s young guns. Instead he pounced on an opportunity to move to Adelaide to play in the Crows SANFL development squad while working part-time in the club’s merchandise shop.
After great performances in the SANFL, he was snapped up in the 2017 Rookie Draft with pick 78. The rest is history.
Ironically, he’s now regularly signing guernseys for fans that he used to sell to them in the club’s gear shop.
On the field Murphy is playing on edge, he knows that giving anything less than 100 per cent won’t cut it. He’s been brilliant.
He’s not in the team for his brute strength, clearance dominance or ball-winning ability — he is there to bring the heat.
And when he spoke to FIVEaa football immediately after the Saturday night’s dour 20-point Showdown win, he was asked what it is that coach Don Pyke expects from him every week? words like ‘Pressure, intent, having a dip, tackle and bring speed’ quickly rolled off his tongue.
It’s was obvious to all 49,675 Showdown fans on Saturday night why Murphy’s played every game in 2019, and what he has to do to stay there for the rest of the season.
No matter who you support, it’s hard not to appreciate what Lachie Murphy is bringing to Adelaide’s forward line — he’s playing for his life.
It wasn’t so long ago Adelaide couldn’t handle the heat being applied to them, not any more, they’ve improved.
And while they’re still some way short of challenging the best two teams of 2019 in Geelong and Collingwood, if they bring the heat and follow the Energizer Bunny’s lead, anything is possible.
Warren Tredrea is Channel 9 News Sports Presenter, AFL Hall of Famer and FiveAA Football commentator.
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