Rory Sloane, Lachlan Murphy injury updates are positive for resurgent Adelaide Crows
When Lachlan Murphy limped off late against the Hawks, it took a lot of gloss off Adelaide’s victory. Here’s the latest prognosis on the same ankle he had surgery on earlier in the season.
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Adelaide small forward Lachlan Murphy’s ankle is structurally fine, in a boost to the Crows.
Murphy had to be subbed out in the final quarter of the Crows’ win over Hawthorn after injuring his ankle in the third quarter at Marvel Stadium.
The small forward had to have surgery on a syndesmosis injury earlier this year and the knock against the Hawks came on the same ankle.
“Lachie has irritated his right ankle which is the one he had surgery on earlier in the season,” Adelaide head of player health and performance rehabilitation Tim Parham said after the game.
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“There was an incident in the third quarter where he experienced both joint and bone pain.
“He was able to continue playing until another incident in the final term which caused the situation with his ankle to further deteriorate and he was in turn substituted.”
But on Sunday Murphy’s ankle was found to be structurally fine.
The small forward still may have a scan on Monday depending on how the injury settles.
Adelaide captain Rory Sloane has been cleared of any damage to his eye after it was poked in the last quarter.
It was not the eye that Sloane required surgery on earlier this year.
Forget Horne - Crows already have their star in the making
Now that it looks like Jason Horne won’t be on the board when Adelaide has its first pick at the draft Harry Schoenberg becomes even more important for the Crows future.
If at the start of the season you were asked to pinpoint the under 21 Crow who would be on track to establish themselves as a key part of Adelaide’s midfield — Schoenberg wouldn’t be the general consensus.
The 24th pick of the 2019 Draft was solid enough in his debut campaign last year, with an average of 11.75 disposals and nearly two tackles in his eight games in 2020.
Jackson Hately was expected to quickly find a spot after he came to the Crows from GWS, while pre-season performances of Sam Berry and Luke Pedlar had Adelaide fans excited about the prospect of getting the two hard-tackling 2020 draftees in the engine room as quickly as possible.
But on the back of being given more time in the midfield by Matthew Nicks of late, it is Schoenberg who is looming as the youngster who looks set to add the most to the Crows engine room right now.
The reason why Crows fans were getting excited about Horne, rated as the best prospect to come out of South Australia in a while, was that he would give Adelaide the burst from stoppages and provide the great ball use the midfield can lack at times.
The Crows midfield has made great strides this year, but Rory Laird, Rory Sloane and Ben Keays are more in and under players rather than explosive.
Exploding out of the midfield and finding a teammate is Schoenberg’s weapon, as he showed in the Crows 19-point win over Hawthorn in which he had 24 disposals and six tackles.
Crows leadership group member Tom Doedee said they were excited at how Schoenberg was developing.
“We loved what we saw from him last year and this pre-season and he just has a natural ability to explode out of the midfield and lace someone out,” he said.
“Some of the kicks he hits I don’t know how he sees them, I’m running behind him telling him to kick long and he just laces Ned (McHenry) or Tex (Taylor Walker) out and you don’t know how he pulls it off but he does.
“If he keeps working the way he does and he keeps putting his mind into the game he can be something special. we are looking forward to seeing what he can become.
“It’s just the position that Schoeny gets himself into and he explodes out and gets himself a bit of space and he can see them and lower the eyes.”
The class the 20-year-old contains was particularly evident in the fourth quarter at Marvel Stadium.
He recorded seven disposals, three tackles and a clearance to help Adelaide to a much-needed win to end their losing slump.
For Crows senior coach it was another good step forward by Schoenberg, after tagging Darcy Parish in Round 17 and then being one of few shining lights for Adelaide against West Coast in Round 18.
“He was a standout in that last quarter (against Hawthorn),” Nicks said.
“Harry is doing some fantastic work on his game, he is embracing some different roles that we have put him in and he has really added to his game.
“He is fantastic with the footy in hand, he is a really good decision maker and uses the ball well.
“What we are trying to do is add a more roundness to his game and he is embracing that.”
STAR LAIRD
If Schoenberg is looming as the future of Adelaide’s midfield there is no doubt that Laird is the present.
After being shifted from defence onto the ball by Nicks last year, Laird has been in fine form in 2021.
He was the third highest disposal getter this year coming into the clash against the Hawks, but Laird took his game to another level at Marvel Stadium.
He got 36 disposals, but was able to impact the scoreboard in ways he hasn’t this year.
He kicked two goals and had 10 score involvements, and Doedee said the rest of the AFL was seeing just what a star Laird was.
“He is one of the hardest workers at the club. He knows his body well, he knows what he needs and he knows how to look after himself in terms of diet, preparation and recovery,” Doedee said.
“For him to come out and perform like that it is no surprise to us, we know what he is capable of, we know that he has it in him.
“It’s a pleasure to watch. I have the best seat in the house from down back in terms of the centre bounce stuff
“He is just in and under, he is so low to the ground already because he is five foot nothing but to get the ball forward like he does and get involved in scores and now to hit the scoreboard it has been good to see.
“No surprise from our end.”
Laird’s performance even had Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson, who did not tag him until the final quarter, giving him praise.
“They had 13 centre bounce clearances for the game and he had eight of them,” Clarkson said.
“If they had been winning the game by six or eight goals then you try and stamp him out a hell of a lot earlier, we tried to send (James) Worpel to him for a period of the game late.
“But even that didn’t curtail his influence, he still had 10 touches and a goal in the last quarter.
“He had his tail up by then, he was a very good player for the Adelaide side.”
Nicks flagged before the game that Laird could be shifted forward of the ball in the run home, given he has played the entire year to date in the midfield.
But after just how good Laird was, Nicks said he might have to reconsider that plan.
“Yeah you don’t want to take that weapon away from around the footy,” he said.
“But it is something that we will continue to look at and Lairdy and I had a chat during the week and he is more than open to it.
“He knows how long the season can be.
“He is an ultimate professional in terms of the work he does during the week to play, you’d be amazed at how bruised and battered he is now because he goes so hard at the footy.
“Tonight was even another level up again on the performances we’ve seen all year. He was outstanding in the midfield, an ultimate first possession player and he does everything for the team.
“We will continue to look at the role and whether we are able to look at him ahead of the ball.”
YOUNG CROWS STAND TALL - BUT HAS IT COST THEM HORNE?
A stellar performance by Rory Laird has helped Adelaide snap out of its late-season funk with a hard-fought 19-point win over Hawthorn at Marvel Stadium.
The Crows were staring down the barrel of a fifth loss in a row, and were coming off a dismal second half in a big loss to West Coast, but found their mojo in a 16.6 (102) to 13.5 (83) win on Saturday night.
With the top-of-the-table clash between the Bulldogs and the Demons taking place across town at the MCG, this match was very much off Broadway, but both sides came with an intent to attack the game and put on a fast-paced, entertaining show.
Laird was the leading man with 36 possessions and two goals, with Ben Keays, Paul Seedsman and Harry Schoenberg all prominent on the ball, while Taylor Walker kicked four goals.
Matthew Nicks hailed the resilience of his players, who were hastily moved out of South Australia on Tuesday ahead of the state’s lockdown.
“We got a little bit more of our game back that we saw earlier in the year and it was really pleasing that our young group was able to do that with limited training in a challenging week,” Nicks said.
“I’m really proud of what they put out there.”
Tom Mitchell and James Worpel led the way for the Hawks, who trailed for most of the night, but rallied to be just one point behind with nine minutes remaining.
FOG ALERT
Darcy Fogarty booted two of Adelaide’s three unanswered goals to open the contest. In an end-to-end first term, Brodie Smith bounced a goal through with a jaw-dropping 65m snap from inside the centre square and Lachie Murphy somehow slotted a stunning major over his shoulder while running away from goal.
But the Hawks were up for a shootout and counter-punched, with Jacob Koschitzke and Mitch Lewis goaling late to slice Adelaide’s lead to 12 points at the first break.
OFF A STEP FROM 70?
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TEX TIME
Walker kicked the opening goal of the match after former teammate Kyle Hartigan gave away a 50m penalty and the big Texan was the focal point in the second term, adding two more goals to his tally to help is side to a 15-point half-time lead. The former skipper is right back in the hunt for the Coleman Medal with his season total now at 46.
PRIME MOVER
Coming off back-to-back 39-possession games, Mitchell helped spark the Hawks after they fell 22 points behind early in the third. The Brownlow Medal winner slotted a set shot to make it four unanswered goals that briefly gave his side the lead.
Hawthorn trailed by 12 points at three-quarter time, but showed the same spirit that saw them draw with Melbourne last week. Lewis made it a one-point game with his third, but the Crows went on to boot the last three goals of the contest.
“The game was up for grabs, we were in it for the whole contest, so we were pleased with our endeavour,” Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson said post-match.
“We gave ourselves a chance but probably in the end was the difference in polish between the two sides.”
HORNE BLOWN?
Matthew Nicks is rightly determined to play the season out strongly to instil winning habits, but some fans wouldn’t be too upset if the Crows collected another wooden spoon. Star South Adelaide midfielder Jason Horne is touted as the No.1 pick-in-waiting, but the Crows moved further away from the gun youngster with the win. Adelaide leapfrogged Collingwood into 15th spot, while the Hawks are 17th by percentage ahead of the improving Kangaroos.
SCOREBOARD
CROWS 6.1 9.1 12.4 16.6 (102)
HAWKS 4.1 6.4 10.4 13.5 (83)
PHELAN’S BEST
CROWS: Laird, Keays, Seedsman, Walker, Schoenberg, Doedee.
HAWKS: Mitchell, Worpel, Moore, O’Meara, Wingard, Bramble.
GOALS
CROWS: Walker 4, Fogarty 2, Murphy 2, Laird 2, Himmelberg 2, Keays, Smith, Lynch, McHenry.
HAWKS: Lewis 3, Phillips 2, Breust, Koschitzke, Mitchell, Moore, O’Brien, Worpel, McEvoy, Brockman.
INJURIES
CROWS: Murphy (ankle).
HAWKS: Cousins (leg).
UMPIRES Hosking, Toner, Gianfagna
MARVEL STADIUM
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
JASON PHELAN’S VOTES
3 R Laird (Adel)
2 T Mitchell (Haw) 1 B Keays (Adel)
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