Crows new draftee Ned McHenry has loved his first year in his new home and there’s a preliminary final to win
First-year Crows player Ned McHenry has been in blistering form since returning from a back injury that kept him out of Adelaide’s SANFL side for two months.
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The sun’s out, blossom is in full swing and the days are getting longer. It’s fair to say that this week, spring has sprung.
And for coastline lovers like Ned McHenry, that’s just the way he likes it.
When he chatted to The Advertiser over the phone earlier this week, he was down in Aldinga drinking coffee exploring the coast with good mate and fellow Crow Reilly O’Brien on his day off.
McHenry fell in love with the water growing up in Barwon Heads near Geelong and it’s a passion he’s brought with him to his new home in Adelaide after being drafted by the Crows with their No.16 pick last year.
And with all of South Australia’s coastline to explore, McHenry is loving much more about his new home than just the exciting footy he’s playing.
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As the Crows head into the preliminary final against Glenelg at Adelaide Oval tomorrow McHenry is happy to be returning to full fitness following a back injury that kept him out of the team for more than two months.
His form since his return has been blistering — including a four-goal bag against Norwood last week — and it’s had social media users begging the Adelaide Football Club for an AFL debut for the 19-year-old in round one, 2020.
He brushes off that talk: “I’m just trying to work on a few things at the moment. Obviously my injury with my back throughout the year was tough, so I just worked through that with rehab staff.
“But I’m just going to focus on these SANFL finals and what I can control there and hopefully go into a good pre-season and then see what happens next year.
“Honestly, it’s so good just to be playing.”
The Crows might have a young reserves side, but they will take their youthful exuberance into their game against Glenelg.
“We’re really positive. We know it’s going to take a big performance, they’re a strong side and they finished on top (of the ladder) for a reason, but we just want to control what we can control.
“We know if we play like we did last week (against Norwood), it will hold us in good stead.”
McHenry said the team would be hugely boosted by the returning Ben Davis, back after serving a two-game suspension, and Davis is one player that McHenry singles out whom he loves playing with.
“He’s a really positive guy,” McHenry says.
“He’s got the balance of putting his arm around you a little bit and getting you up and bringing energy around the group, but he’s also serious when he needs to be and he sets really good standards with his habits.
“So, he’s respected in that sense. And because he’s respected he can have a laugh and have a joke and the boys love it.’
Speaking of having a laugh and a joke, a video featuring McHenry went viral during earlier this year, when he was filmed hiding in a green wheelie bin reserved for storing the training footballs. When the club co-captain Rory Sloane opened the bin, McHenry sprung out, scaring the daylights out of veteran.
But don’t call him the club prankster, that’s a bit harsh, he says.
“No, that’s not fair (to call me that),” he says with a laugh.
“The Sloaney one in the bin, that was funny getting a video of that one, but I suppose more stuff happens that doesn’t get on film throughout the day.”
The back injury would have been a huge frustration for the 179cm teenager, but he had a few projects to keep him busy during his rehab. Firstly there was injury management — which he says was handled really well by the club — and secondly there was a 4.5m boat he’s restoring in his spare time as well as overseeing the building of a bigger boat at Lonsdale-based Northbank Boats.
“I’m very excited, I love my fishing and I love my boats … that’s probably a week or two away now, and that’s kept me really occupied outside of footy and I’m really looking forward to getting that and using it over the pre-season and the years to come.”
First, tough, there’s a prelim final to win before he can even start to enjoy Adelaide’s spring sunshine out on the water he loves.
Preliminary final: Glenelg v Adelaide, Sunday, Adelaide Oval, 3.15pm.