As the Crows prepare to unleash debutant Ned McHenry in Showdown 48, his teammates and coaches reveal what makes him tick
As Adelaide prepares to unleash debutant Ned McHenry in Showdown 48 on Saturday, his teammates and coaches reveal what makes him tick, and why development coach Heath Younie was in his sights last week.
AFL News
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- ‘Twisting, deflecting needs to stop’: McLeod slams Crows
- How to get the most out of your Advertiser digital subscription
The sight of Ned McHenry doesn’t exactly strike fear into you.
His AFL profile says he’s 179cm – 3cm taller than teammate Lachie Murphy – yet even diminutive Murphy looks to have him covered on the field.
And at 70kg with a cheeky boyish grin, McHenry looks every bit the 19-year-old just out of school.
That is until you either play with him, or against him.
“Opponents are scared of him, I think that’s what the team loves,” said Shane McAdam who played alongside McHenry in Adelaide’s SANFL team last year.
“When Ned’s on the field he’s electric.”
Electric with the ball and on the lip according to assistant coach Michael Godden said.
“He’s a very excitable type of player … and for a little fella he’s got a reasonable mouth, so he’ll enjoy that if he gets an opportunity,” Godden said.
And that’s not just reserved for his opponents or even teammates in a scratch match, but even the umpire who’s supposedly neutral in those internal games.
“He’s a very aggressive kid, he likes getting stuck into blokes and the umpires – Heath Younie our development coach was the umpire on the weekend and copped a couple of sprays from Neddy so he’s very competitive and raring to go,” Brodie Smith said.
“Him and Chayce Jones are like the two Grade 1 kids who go up to the Grade 5s and like giving them a whack and seeing what they get back.
“But he’s come back (from the break) in great condition and is one of those guys who bugs everyone for information and just wants to get better.”
Words will only get you so far but McHenry has backed it up with his actions and workrate since walking in the door at Adelaide.
“He’s probably trained harder than anyone I’ve seen come into this footy club,” captain Rory Sloane said this week.
“He plays with aggression and trains with aggression.
“(I’m) going to love playing with (him).”
New coach Matthew Nicks had barely been at West Lakes for five minutes when he identified McHenry as someone special and it had nothing to do with talent.
“After two days of working with our younger guys, there are players I’ve looked at straight away and gone ‘wow, you’re very important to this organisation and I haven’t seen your footy in detail yet,” Nicks said.
“A Ned McHenry stands out straight away for me. For me, a good character is someone who enjoys what they do and brings others with them.
“The word ‘I’ and ‘me’ is not there as much, they’re enjoying training, there is constant talk among the group.”
Crows fans have had to wait 18 months but they will finally see him in action on Saturday night when McHenry makes his AFL debut in Showdown 48.
“We would loved to have played Ned in Round 1 but he just wasn’t quite ready physically at that point, so the time away has given him a chance to work on his physicality and you’ll see some of that come through because he’s a feisty little one,” Nicks told the media on Friday.
Drafted with Pick No. 16 in 2018 from the Geelong Falcons, McHenry arrived at Adelaide with a reputation as a running man after a story surfaced of him going for a midweek trot which lasted 30km from Geelong to Barwon Heads.
At the draft combine that year he ran 22.2 in the yoyo test to get one up on teammate Sam Walsh who did 22.1, and he laid five more tackles than any other player at the under-18 national championships.
Injury – and being rear-ended in his car – held him back in his first season last year but he hit this pre-season with a vengeance and was on the podium in Adelaide’s time trials to make his intentions clear.
Away from football, McHenry is a left-field thinker and a mad-keen fisherman. Asked last year what animal he’d be if he had to choose, McHenry said a mako shark.
His reasoning was he loves the ocean and would want to be high enough up the food chain that he wouldn’t be eaten, but not at the top like the Great White shark so he could still socialise with the other fish.
That’s the other side to McHenry – he is a social butterfly and extrovert who loves interacting with his teammates.
That explains why he has a tattoo of an alpaca which he says is his spirit animal.
“I think everyone should have one and alpaca is a fun, vibrant animal that takes care of the herd, they’re very protective, and they’re also very social,” McHenry said.
After announcing to the players this week that McHenry would debut in the most unusual Showdown in history – in front of just 2240 fans and after an 84-day mid-season break – Nicks’ parting words to his small forward were so fitting the man and the occasion.
“We just thought we’d do yours (debut) a little different … because you’re a little different,” Nicks told him with a smile.
The Crows have grown to love McHenry in a short period of time and now the fans are about to get their chance as well.