Adelaide assistant coach Matthew Clarke talks up Taylor Walker’s back-up ruck prospects ahead of Showdown 48
Shortened quarters are here to stay in the 2020 AFL season after being implemented in Round 1. And it could result in the Adelaide Crows resorting to a surprise pre-season ruck tactic.
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It was a surprise move in Adelaide’s final pre-season game and with shorter quarters to stay when footy resumes, don’t be shocked if Taylor Walker again pinch-hits in the ruck.
After the Crows went with a smaller forward line against the Gold Coast at Noarlunga, Walker was the second tallest and therefore was required to give Reilly O’Brien a chop out.
Sam Jacobs’ departure to GWS during the off-season has left the Crows’ ruck stocks looking a bit bare on paper, after O’Brien.
But ruck coach Matthew Clarke said after a solid match simulation session on Friday, the club was happy with its back-up options.
“Billy Frampton has come in from Port and played Round 1 as a, sort of, key forward and pinch-hitting ruck, and his ruck work was really solid,” he said.
“Kieran Strachan came over last year as a development ruck, (he) competed really well today in that session and Elliott Himmelberg is probably the other one who has played the key forward/ruck role.
“His ruck craft is really solid and he is starting to get the frame size where he competes against genuine rucks.
“So, we have some options there, it’s going to be an interesting selection piece as to how teams structure up.”
The AFL’s decision to continue with 16 minute quarters, after they were introduced for Round 1, means teams could enter games with one ruckman.
O’Brien’s aerobic capacity – he is among the top finishes in the Crows pre-season time trials – has him primed to be a solo ruck option.
But Walker could add flexibility, and a chop out, by again pinch-hitting.
“We played the last pre-season game without a second traditional ruck and therefore Tex came in and had a go,” Clarke said.
“He has a strong body, but when the ball hits the ground his capacity at ground level is really good as well.
“All clubs will be mixing and matching that role a little bit and we’ve looked at those alternatives as well.”
Clarke has been working closer with Walker upon the resumption of group training, having taken charge of the forwards while Ben Hart serves his AFL imposed suspension for the Barossa Valley training breach.
Clarke said he was enjoying the new role.
“That is a unique situation, fortunately Ben has left them in outstanding shape,” he said.
“We have two great leaders in Taylor and Tom Lynch and I’ve just come in and asked questions.
“The group under Benny’s leadership has been really self-motivated and driven.
“Basically it has been ‘you tell me’ and fortunately there has been a great level of compliance, great level of understanding and we are going about it really well.”
Jones ready to make midfield his own
Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks says Chayce Jones is ready for ‘serious’ midfield minutes and the elite draft pick is ready to answer the call in Showdown 48.
As Adelaide rebuilds under first-year boss Nicks, Jones is relishing more midfield responsibility.
Any improvement in an Adelaide unit absent from finals since 2017 must come from outside the ranks of established stars including skipper Rory Sloane, Matt and Brad Crouch.
Jones, Adelaide’s first selection at the 2018 AFL draft, represents Adelaide’s premiership future with Wayne Milera.
“I have been setting myself for it and just trying to train and definitely speaking to Nicksy and the line coaches that is where I want to develop my footy,” Jones said.
“All I can do is train hard and earn the minutes on the track.”
Being roughed up by experienced defender Daniel Talia in Monday’s return to full contact training at West Lakes was just the jolt Jones needed after months in lockdown slumber.
“It was actually nice to get a bit of contact after nine weeks without it. I was a bit winded at the time, a bit sore, but it’s something you get used to; you have those weeks off without contact,” Jones said.
“I think it is important to be able to have the respect of your teammates and that comes down to whether it is from that (physical) contact or the trust you might have.
“Whatever it may be I think it is important for any player to have that.”
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Whether ‘working on technique’ or ‘stoppage’ there is always something to learn in an engine room led by Sloane.
Jones has shadowed the Crouch brothers and dual club champion Sloane in a bid to fast track a promising football education that started in Launceston.
“The Crouch brothers love the training, leading by example. Sloane will help you and show you on the track,” said Jones, drafted a decade after Sloane arrived at West Lakes from TAC side Eastern Ranges.
“It has been great the knowledge they bring, have different styles of footy, it is amazing.
“I take any chance to play with them or against them at training.”
Showdown 48 will be the first played without fans, but the on-field competition will be just as fierce.
No Crow will want to board the plane with Port Adelaide rivals after Showdown 48 to their Gold Coast hub without bragging rights.
“It is just that rivalry and if you get that ball between the opposition and yourself you want to win,” Jones said.
“I know all the boys are raring to go.
“That shutdown period was a bit different not knowing what was happening, just trying to train and stay fit.”
Power learn from the NRL
Meanwhile at Alberton, Port Adelaide head of high performance Ian McKeown has been picking the brains of his rugby league counterparts.
The NRL resumed games on Thursday with the Brisbane Broncos taking on the Paramatta Eels.
The May 28 resumption date by Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V’Landy’s was widely panned by those in the AFL when he made the ambitious declaration.
But McKeown has rather been interested in how the NRL clubs have approached the resumption of training and games, and has been in constant contact with Broncos high performance staff to try and get an edge for the Power.
“It’s the high performance mafia, we are talking all the time seeing how people are challenged,” he said.
“It’s more about how things are around the periphery, we need support as well so having that community around us has been really, really strong and I’ve certainly leant on that.
“We have strong relationships with the (Brisbane) Broncos boys and they are a week ahead of us seeing how they felt it went and we have been able to give them our feedback as well so it all works together really.”
