Adeaide Crows round 2 news: Izak Rankine speaks on playing in South Australia

Izak Rankine grew up barracking for the Crows and idolising Eddie Betts, but he says being drafted to the Gold Coast was the best thing for his footy.

Picture: John Feder

It is soon after the Crows captains run at Adelaide Oval ahead of their first home game of the season against Richmond has finished and all the players have left the ground.

All except one, Izak Rankine.

There are still fans hoping to meet their heroes and Rankine is obliging - signing jumpers, posing for photos, almost whatever required.

Fuelling this is Rankine’s own experiences chasing his idols around when he was younger.

Izak Rankine is already a popular figure in Adelaide. Picture: Getty Images

“As a kid when you saw your idols you wanted to get a photo with them so that is what I think back to,” he said. 

“Eddie Betts (was his), I went to school at Henley and he lived around there so we used to try and stop him a couple of times. “We did but I don’t think he would remember it though.”

Saturday’s clash might be the biggest of Rankine’s still young career, not only is it his first outing at Adelaide Oval in the colours of the team he grew up supporting but it is also his 50th AFL game.

It is something the 22-year-old said he probably couldn’t fathom if told this a year ago, when he was still with the Gold Coast Suns.

“I would have said no way,” he said.

“It is pretty crazy that it has come and on my 50th as well so I will have a few friends and family there.”

A few might be an understatement.

Earlier this week Rankine said he was struggling to fill the demand of family and friends who want to see his first game as a Crow at Adelaide Oval.

“Too many, too many like 30 plus,” he revealed when asked how many people had been hitting him up for tickets.

“We get about 20 (ourselves), I might need to hit up some of the other boys.”

Come Friday Rankine has solved his ticketing issue.

“Yeah about 30 of them are coming to the game to watch me so hopefully I can light up Adelaide Oval for them,” he said

Rankine will be hoping to get his first win as a Crow on Saturday.

“Yeah I had to steal a few from the rest of the boys but I’m keen for this weekend.”

It will be a day of milestones for Rankine on Saturday when he pulls on the tricolours for the first time at Adelaide Oval.

But the last time he played at the iconic venue will probably go down as one of the key moments in his career.

While the Suns narrowly went down to Port Adelaide by two-points, Rankine electrified Adelaide Oval kicking three goals as he nearly won the game for Gold Coast.

In the rooms after the match, and surrounded by family, a move back to Adelaide all of a sudden became something Rankine wanted to do.

Months later he was a Crow.

“I went for the Crows growing up and that Port game just really made me realise,” he said.

“I think just having my family in the change rooms, it was almost what dreams are made of and to play in your home state and for the club you grew up supporting was something I wanted to do before I retired and it has come sooner rather than later.

“It was a quick change and it sort of blossomed and it happened, I didn’t really force it or try and make it happen.

“It was something that came naturally, the opportunity was there and I took it.”

The opportunity just didn’t need to be there for Rankine, he needed to be in a position where he felt he could be back in Adelaide.

There was a firm view, especially in Rankine’s draft year, that it was best for him to be away from Adelaide.

The first four seasons of Rankine’s career were at the Suns.

He said his time on the Gold Coast after getting drafted with the third pick of the 2018 draft had prepared him for returning to Adelaide.

“Just to get away for a few years and have that independence and grow up and not having your friends pulling you away from what you need to do,” he said.

“I feel like I have grown up a lot on the coast… I felt like it was time to come home and the opportunity came and I took it.

“It has made me realise that I wanted to come home and play for the Adelaide Crows.

“I think having not as many distractions on the coast helped me figure my way through that and now being back I understand what it takes to be a footballer and the professionalism around it.

“I think I’m in a good spot to have a good year and more after that.”

For the past five years Rankine has been in footy’s version of off-Broadway on the Gold Coast, where Suns players are mainly left alone.

The footy fishbowl that is Adelaide is a different kettle of fish and Rankine returns to it as a star recruit by the Crows.

He said he was looking forward to the challenge.

“As a kid you always wanted to play footy and do well and play at a club with a lot of fans and have kids come up to you,” he said.

“It is just a dream come true.

“It is a fishbowl but the pressure makes people perform better, bigger games they do that.” Crows senior coach Matthew Nicks said he believed Rankine could play his best footy in Adelaide.

“He’s back home,” he said.

“Whenever you talk to Izak he has a big grin on his face, he is back with family and he will play better footy in a place where he is comfortable off-field.

“He looks really happy, anytime you talk to him about off-field, which is really important, it is just “I am home”.”

THE ‘REAL FIND’ FROM CROWS’ DISAPPOINTING LOSS

It was a Jekyll and Hyde performance by Adelaide and Matthew Nicks knew it.

“I think you saw what we are capable of in that first half and then what we are capable of in that second half unfortunately,” Nicks said after the loss to GWS.

After a near flawless pre-season the Crows rocked up at Giants Stadium looking to graduate from a rebuilding side to one that can begin to get the job done in games like this.

And while their best was irresistible at times their worst was probably unwatchable at times for Crows fans as they witnessed many of the same problems in a different season.

It was a tale of two halves – very much the good and the bad.

Matthew Nicks was not happy with the second half. Picture: Matt King/AFL Photos/Getty Images

THE GOOD

In the first quarter, and much of the second, Adelaide fans might have been brainstorming names for the Crows’ new dynamic duo of Izak Rankine and Rachele.

There has been plenty of excitement at the thought of the two skilful forwards, who would spend time going through the midfield, linking up at the Crows.

And the young stars looked to be better than advertised early on for the Crows and what exactly Rachele had hoped.

“It was really fun playing my first game with Izak, I really enjoyed playing with him and I think everyone did as well,” he said.

“You can just see the x-factor he brings with the things he does.”

Rachele himself said him and Rankine might need to brainstorm a title.

“Nothing yet, we have to find something unique because I love playing with him,” he said.

“I said all pre-season that I was excited about creating a nice little duo with him and keeping a lot of the defenders on their toes.”

The Giants couldn’t cope with Rankine when the ball went forward, with his 1.3 the only downside of a stunning first quarter from the boom recruit – who led the Crows for disposals with seven and was involved in seven of Adelaide’s 13 scores.

Arguably the Crows fans would have been even more excited about Rachele.

At his fair share of centre bounces, Rachele was easily the Crows best midfielder when he went in there with Rory Laird and Sam Berry quiet.

Josh Rachele and Izak Rankine formed a dynamic duo. Picture: Phil Hillyard

The Crows are sizzling! 🔥#AFLGiantsCrowspic.twitter.com/1K6uMttQQu

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He kicked three goals when he did get forward to reinforce the skill it is widely known he has.

But it was a couple of desperate chase down tackles that really stood out, showing Rachele’s workrate that has him primed for a strong second season at the Crows.

He said he loved the more mid time.

“It is a good balance of going forward as well as playing in the midfield,” he said.

“People can see the games small forwards have when you might have five to 10 touches on a day and being able to get around the ball on those days or lay some big tackles really helps your confidence levels.”

Father-son debutant Max Michalanney took some impressive marks and looked composed with his kicking, while Luke Pedlar showed a lot as a small forward to demonstrate why Nicks was so impressed with his pre-season.

“Pedlar has been a real find for them today,” North Melbourne premiership player David King said on Fox Footy.

Luke Pedlar was a shining light for the Crows. Picture: Matt King/AFL Photos/Getty Images

THE BAD

When asked on Thursday if the Crows had the best pre-season and lead-in to a season since he had been at West Lakes, Nicks replied; “ask me that one on Sunday night”.

Rachele said Nicks was “pretty harsh” on the Crows on Sunday evening.

“We spoke about that straight away. That second half we lost it at the source, that was the main talking point,” he said.

“Going into the fourth quarter we had expectations to win the first centre bounce and I think we lost three or four consecutive and that is where it transitioned into GWS going forward and winning that last quarter.

“Also our tackling has been something I think has been consistent and that was on the lower side as well.

Cogs ducks and weaves to kick a beauty!#AFLGiantsCrowspic.twitter.com/4rqdgvMXVr

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“So he was pretty harsh on us and so were we on each other.”

Prior to the start of the game the Giants sounded a siren signalling the “Orange Tsunami” was back.

It took until the third quarter for the waves to crash down over the Crows, but when they did Nicks’ side couldn’t help but be swept away by the Giants momentum.

Chief in this was the all too familiar sight of a big-bodied midfielder monstering the Crows’ on-ball brigade at the contest.

The warning signs were already there as the 191cm Tom Green had 23 disposals at halftime.

Nicks said the Crows were keeping an eye on it but would “see how that converts to score involvements”.

The Crows were overpowered by the Giants’ momentum. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

“At the moment Tom could have 50 (disposals) and we win the game,” he told Fox Footy.

“We are after winning this game of footy but he is a very good player.”

Green didn’t end up with 50, just the lazy 37, but played a big role as the Giants midfield got on top of the Crows massively.

The Giants went on a 11-3 run of centre clearance wins in the second half, including a 5-0 period in the fourth quarter as they began to assert their dominance over the Crows.

The Crows midfield of Rory Laird (177cm), Sam Berry (182cm), Harry Schoenberg (182cm), Jake Soligo (180cm) and Rachele (179cm) just couldn’t compete with a bigger and stronger Giants midfield.

“We were outdone in that area,” Nicks conceded.

Rachele said the Crows weren’t just beaten at the source in the second half.

“They definitely won it on the outside a lot better than we did as well,” he said.

“We wanted to beat them at the source but they did that and then they held their shape a lot better than us.”

It has been a constant criticism of the Crows midfield that they are vulnerable to the bigger bodies.

Laird and Berry in particular had quiet games – just the 18 disposals for Laird and Berry recording just the one tackle for the first time since Round 10 2021.

The Crows gave a lifeline to former Collingwood midfielder Tyler Brown, who stands at 192cm.

It was no surprise to see him on as the tactical sub in the third quarter and straight to Green at stoppages.

But Brown alone won’t fix this issue that continues to hurt the Crows.