Ready for September: Adelaide Crows stars are hungry for first ever finals berth
Adelaide stars are among the list of AFL players with the most games and no finals, but forward Darcy Fogarty declares they are ‘hungry’ for September footy.
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Adelaide key forward Darcy Fogarty says the team is incredibly hungry to play finals.
It is no surprise.
Fogarty is like so many at the club who are desperate to get to September for the first time.
Of the top 25 present-day AFL players with the most games and no finals, four are Crows.
Hardworking forward Ben Keays, who spent three seasons at Brisbane before joining Adelaide ahead of the 2020 campaign, ranked eighth on 152 matches.
Ruckman Reilly O’Brien sat 15th on 137, pressure forward Lachie Murphy was 24th (119) and Fogarty was 25th (117).
Only six players from this year’s Crows squad were on the list when the club last made finals in 2017, reaching the flag decider: key forward Taylor Walker, half-backs Rory Laird, Brodie Smith and Wayne Milera, midfielder Matt Crouch and ruckman Reilly O’Brien.
Milera and O’Brien did not feature in the major round that year, so they were still waiting.
Adelaide’s team that beat Melbourne at home on Sunday included seven players with finals experience: Walker (10 games), Laird (seven), Smith (eight), captain Jordan Dawson (one at Sydney), half-forward Alex Neal-Bullen (10 at Melbourne, including a premiership), wingman Isaac Cumming (seven at GWS) and on-baller James Peatling (three with the Giants).
Walker, 35, Laird, 31, and Smith, 33, will be itching to return to the major round in the twilight of their careers, particularly after going through a long rebuild.
Crouch, 30, is in a similar boat as he eyes a comeback from a hip injury in the next two to three weeks.
Matthew Nicks is chasing his first September tilt as senior coach in his sixth season in charge.
Adelaide is in a strong position to end its finals drought this year.
It sits third on the ladder with an 11-5 record – one win and almost 30 per cent clear of ninth-placed Fremantle – with seven matches remaining.
Fogarty said the group was eager to play in September, but was not thinking about it just yet.
“Personally, I’m very hungry,” Fogarty told this masthead.
“I haven’t played finals and the club’s been out of finals for a while.
“That’s obviously the goal and what we’re all hungry for.
“We understand what it takes to get there and that’s taking it one week at a time and focusing on who’s coming up.
“We’re not focused on that time of year yet, we’re just focused on next week.”
Gold Coast veteran David Swallow ranks first all-time for most games played without a final with 245 – 15 clear of St Kilda champion Trevor Barker.
The next three present-day players (Touk Miller, Jarrod Witts, Alex Sexton) are all from the Suns, who are yet to make the major round since entering the AFL in 2011.
North Melbourne’s Jy Simpkin, ex-Sun turned Brisbane forward Sam Day, North Melbourne’s former Docker Darcy Tucker and Gold Coast duo Lachie Weller and Sean Lemmens are the others in the top 10.
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Originally published as Ready for September: Adelaide Crows stars are hungry for first ever finals berth
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