Adelaide club champion to use Grand Final loss as summer fuel

ADELAIDE club champion Matt Crouch will use the hurtful grand final loss to Richmond as fuel as the Crows come to grips with its loss and begin to prepare for another premiership tilt in 2018.

Matt Crouch tries to stop Richmond champion Dustin Martin in the grand final. Picture: SARAH REED

ADELAIDE club champion Matt Crouch will use the hurtful grand final loss to Richmond as fuel as the Crows come to grips with its loss and begin to prepare for another premiership tilt in 2018.

Crouch beat Rory Sloane and Rory Laird to take out the prestigious Malcolm Blight Medal at a gala even at the Adelaide Convention Centre on Friday night but said the pain from the MCG six days earlier was still a constant companion.

It would remain with him as a spur to improve further next season.

“As an individual, I think it will still be in the back of my mind,” Crouch said. “Different guys will deal with it a bit differently but it will still be in the back of my mind.

Matt Crouch with Ellie Symons at the Crows Club Champion award dinner. Picture: TOM HUNTLEY

“Some guys might want to use it as motivation; some guys might want to put it behind them.

“It does hurt a lot, the grand final. That’s probably the main thing on my mind at the moment.

“It’s been a tough week. We obviously didn’t play the way we wanted to so yes, it’s been pretty tough for all the boys.

“We’ve just got to get back to it now and really concentrate on what we’ve got to do about it.”

Crouch’s comments were in line with those of coach Don Pyke.

During the night, Pyke spoke about how he had come back from a grand final loss to win the main prize with West Coast and also highlighted how both tennis champion Roger Federer and Jack Nicklaus had overcome finishing second.

Crouch said the magnitude of winning the award had only sunk in when he looked around at the walls and saw those who had been handed the golden jacket before him, among them Andrew McLeod, Mark Ricciuto and Simon Goodwin.

“Obviously it’s a huge honour and something you probably don’t expect,” Crouch said. “You see the names who have won it before me and I’m really honoured to be up there.

“I didn’t really put a lot of thought into it. It’s been a pretty tough week for everyone so I hadn’t really thought about it too much.

“But I felt like I had been consistent throughout the year so I thought that might have helped.”

With the award comes the obvious comparisons with brother Brad, who pieced together a fine season after finally shaking a long battle with injuries.

Matt had a laugh when it was suggested he was now ahead of his brother after taking out the award.

“That’s your opinion, is it?” he said with a laugh. Then, on a more serious note, he added: “It’s something that didn’t bother me too much.

“You’re always going to get comparisons to your brother and we’ll always will, for the rest of our careers.

“It’s something you just live with and deal with. I’m not too worried about that.”