Adelaide coach Don Pyke tells players to recharge during the week off with family and friends
ADELAIDE coach Don Pyke told his players to spend quality time with their friends and family in the week off as captain Taylor Walker refuses to give up on the Crows’ floundering season.
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ADELAIDE coach Don Pyke told his players to spend quality time with their friends and family in the week off as captain Taylor Walker refuses to give up on the Crows’ floundering season.
The Crows go into their mid-season bye 11th on the ladder with a 6-7 record after four consecutive losses and ahead of a testing month against West Coast, Richmond and Geelong when they return.
As they look to maintain morale, players were told to get away from the club for a few days and recharge their batteries.
“He (Pyke) was really clear — ‘boys go and spend time with your family and friends, that’s the most precious thing to everyone’,” Walker said from his home town of Broken Hill on Triple M radio on Tuesday morning.
“Everyone will get a (training) program but the most important thing is to stick the batteries in and recharge them for the second half of the season.
“There are some guys like myself who need to treat it as an opportunity to get a little bit fitter so there is a mixture of programs the boys would have.
“We’re not playing with confidence, not taking the game on, winning our fair share of contested footy, so the break has come at a good time.
“We can take a deep breath and keep our head above water because I seriously think our season is still alive and we’ve got some areas we need to tidy up on as quickly as we can going into the second half of the season.
“When you’re not playing consistent footy that we’ve set as a benchmark for the last couple of years, then people ask questions why. I’m really confident we can get back to playing our best footy in the second half of the season.”
Crows players return to the club on Thursday and are expected to train on Friday with Rory Laird (hand), Tom Lynch (side strain), Luke Brown (ankle), Rory Sloane (footy) all a chance to return to play West Coast at Adelaide Oval on June 30.
“That’d be four big ins if that’s the case, they’re a big chance for next week and I’m looking forward to hopefully having all four of them back for West Coast,” Walker said.
reece.homfray@news.com.au
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