AFL 2021: Adelaide Crows return to training as rookies impress
Which Adelaide players shone brightest at the Crows’ first post-Christmas training session? See the photos.
AFL News
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
If there’s one young Crow making his presence felt as Adelaide’s pre-season recommences after the Christmas break, it’s Lachlan Sholl.
“Gliding” is how sports commentators are describing his running style.
Adelaide captain Rory Sloane uses “floating”.
“He runs past everyone and we’re just trying to catch him,” Sloane said.
As the Crows returned to training at West Lakes on Thursday Sholl was one of many young players upping the ante as Round 1 approaches.
Kayo is your ticket to the best sport streaming Live & On-Demand. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >
There’s Riley Thilthorpe: “His ground balls are just as good as (Rory Laird’s) I reckon,” Sloane said.
And James Rowe: “He’s so enthusiastic”.
And Darcy Fogarty: “Fog has done an enormous amount of work, a couple of boys have taken him under their wing and put a lot of time and effort in”.
There’s there the slimmed-down Harry Schoenberg. And newly arrived Jackson Hately from Greater Western Sydney.
“These young kids are really driving the standard, which is raising the bar for a few of us older blokes,” Sloane said.
“Coming back and seeing everyone together again … everyone’s just really excited to get underway and we’re already looking forward to games.
“We’re only training in groups of 10 (to comply with the AFL’s newly-announced COVID-19 training restrictions), but the feeling out there is awesome.
“The group is in better nick that it has been for a while.
“It’s a very driven, young group … it’s very exciting because these young guys are sponges, they’re just absorbing everything and working their absolute butts off as well.”
Having finished 2020 with the club’s first wooden spoon, Sloane is confident the 2021 squad has the right combination of youthful exuberance as well as experience to pull itself up and off the bottom of the ladder. He said the Crows would also take the momentum from winning three of their last four 2020 games into the new season.
“Last year it took us a little too long to really gel on the field,” Sloane said.
“We’ve got a really solid base of our game plan from last year and the way we finished, so we’ve got a really clear understanding of how we want to start this season and getting fit, healthy and strong was the first part and now we’ve got to work on our footy.”
He said he expected the midfield to cope without former club champion Brad Crouch.
“(Last season) we saw the progression of Lairdy; ‘Midfield Laird’ I’ve been calling him.
“I really enjoy ‘Midfield Laird’, he works really well with Rob (ruckman Reilly O’Brien) and his ability to win the ball has been phenomenal.
“And we’ve still got Matt (Crouch), we’ve seen Harry Schoenberg come and pinch hit in there, Ben Keays, Lachy Sholl, Jackson Hately.”
Sloane added the squad would benefit from new assistant coaches, Nathan van Berlo and Scott Burns.
Midfielder Crouch (hip) and veteran defender Daniel Talia (knee) spent the first training session of 2021 in the rehab group after both undergoing pre-season arthroscopic surgery, while Luke Brown, Andrew McPherson and Tom Lynch will all be eased into the main sessions over the 10 days.
Meanwhile, Sloane described former captain Taylor Walker – who in 2020 overtook Tony Modra to become the Crow’s all-time leading goal-kicker – as “very fresh” at training, thanks to working smarter, not harder, on his fitness in the off-season.
Port youngster forgotten in backline battle
— Matt Turner
Competition for spots is always said to be fierce at this time each AFL pre-season but Port Adelaide’s selection puzzle, particularly in defence, appears trickier than most clubs.
Not only does it need to squeeze Sydney recruit Aliir Aliir into its backline, but 18-year-old Woodville-West Torrens premiership player Lachie Jones will be pressing for a spot at half-back.
Then there is Miles Bergman.
With much of the Power’s external hype over summer surrounding Jones, Aliir and goalsneak
Orazio Fantasia, it is easy to forget about Bergman, the Power’s top choice (No.14) in 2019.
Converted into a half-back flanker, the Victorian 19-year-old was an emergency several times in 2020 but could not break into a settled team that won the minor premiership and used a league-low 30 players.
When the Power returned to training at Alberton on Thursday in groups of 10, due to coronavirus protocols, Bergman caught the eye.
Not simply because his blond locks looked even longer, but because he had noticeably bulked up.
Port Adelaide is very bullish about him but the club’s backline is stacked with small and medium defenders, such as reigning best and fairest Darcy Byrne-Jones, Ryan Burton, Dan Houston, Hamish Hartlett, and now Jones.
“He’ll be one you’d like to see play some footy this year,” Jonas said of Bergman.
“He was very close last year.
“He’s really professional the way he goes about things, he’s really driven and I know he’s got a great attention to detail.
“The coaches are really happy with the way he’s developing.”
Aliir was absent on Thursday because he was about a week into quarantine, having recently returned to Sydney for a check-up on his jaw.
Burton wore a pink cap to avoid contact but that was due to managing knee issues he had as a junior, not the quad problem that troubled him last year.
Ex-Bomber Fantasia was on the field in the Power’s second training group, while another prime candidate for the best 22, Willem Drew, moved without issue after missing all of last year with foot problems.
“It’s going to be tough for spots,” Jonas said, using the AFL’s pre-season cliche.
“On paper it looks pretty good, doesn’t it?
“This time of year everyone’s (supposedly) in career-best form and running stronger than they ever have but you really find out when games start.”
Jonas said the return of the Magpies to the SANFL – after sitting out last year amid COVID-19 – would be a huge benefit to players pushing for spots.
Jonas said the club was happy with how it went last season, when it lost a preliminary final to Richmond, but was not satisfied.
He has watched that defeat to the Tigers once – a week after it happened.
“It’s not just going to happen this year because we were around the mark last year, we’ve got to come with an extra hunger to go those two steps further,” he said.
The Crows are back at training on Thursday.
COVID testing new pre-season norm for Crows, Port
- Liz Walsh and Reece Homfray
Adelaide and Port Adelaide will have almost their entire lists together for pre-season training to resume on Wednesday after navigating border closures and COVID-19 testing protocols.
Only Sydney recruit Aliir Aliir will be missing from Alberton when training recommences after the Christmas break while he serves a 14-day home quarantine in Adelaide after returning from NSW.
The 27-year-old returned to Sydney for a check-up on his jaw which was operated on last year and will join his new Power on the track next week, while Todd Marshall – who is from Denilliquin in NSW – has not been affected by SA’s decision to close its border on January 1.
The Victorian border remains open while the state battles with relatively low COVID cases but SA Premier Steven Marshall says the NSW border will not re-open until the state records 14 days of no community transmission.
Power players had mandatory COVID-19 tests on Monday to pave the way for them to return to training this week in line with AFL regulations.
Crows AFLW players were COVID tested on Monday morning ahead of their first training session of 2021 on Monday night.
Crows players are set to have their tests on Wednesday ahead of their first training session on Thursday at West Lakes.
When Adelaide returns to the track on Thursday, it will be without Paul Seedsman and Elliot Himmelberg, who are in mandatory self-isolation: Seedsman was near a COVID-19 hotspot while back in his home state of Victoria, and Himmelberg spent some time in NSW during his holiday. Himmelberg is currently self-isolating in his home state of Queensland, and will miss only two days of training. Seedsman will fly back into SA from Victoria on January 7.
It was hoped AFL clubs would return to normality in 2021 but training restrictions remain in place for both men’s and women’s competitions with the AFLW season set to start on January 28.
They must train in groups of no more than 10 after the league was forced to make changes to its pre-season plans due to COVID-19 outbreaks in Victoria and NSW.
The AFL sent an email to clubs on Sunday advising them of restrictions on training which may remain in place until all players on club lists return negative test results.
Greater Western Sydney’s AFLW coach Alan McConnell – whose team has been forced to leave Sydney for regional Albury for training – said the swift changes meant he had to alter his planned program for Monday night.
“We had training planned and we’ve changed it,” McConnell said.
“It gets a little bit more difficult and the fewer the staff we’ve got and the more you isolate the groups, the harder that gets, but it’s the same for everybody so we’ll just get on with it.”
Men’s competition starts with the AFL Community Series on February 18. Port Adelaide plays Carlton and Hawthorn over a three-week period while Adelaide plays North Melbourne and Richmond in its practice games.
Join the conversation
Ablett family reveal details of son’s condition
Jordan and Gary Ablett had been reluctant to discuss many details about their little boy’s heartbreaking condition until now.
Read more
Four Cats sign on as flag trio remain without deals
Four Cats have signed short-term contracts with the club, including a free agent. It means three ageing stars are the only uncontracted Geelong players at the club.
Read more