Adelaide Crows coach Don Pyke is not worried about vice-captain Rory Sloane’s signature

WHY Adelaide coach Don Pyke is not stressed about Rory Sloane’s contract as the Crows vice-captain’s signature becomes one of the most in-demand items in the AFL.

Adelaide coach Don Pyke and Rory Sloane ahead of last year’s AFL grand final. Picture: Michael Klein

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ADELAIDE coach Don Pyke is confident speculation about Rory Sloane’s contract will not be a distraction as the club has another tilt at the AFL premiership in 2018.

Pyke, who has just signed a three-year extension that keeps him at the club until the end of 2021, said the maturity of Sloane would keep the talk about his future from getting to the group.

Rory Sloane with Crows coach Don Pyke. Picture Sarah Reed

Rory Sloane signs autographs at the Adelaide Crows season launch at West Lakes on Monday. Picture: Tom Huntley

Pyke’s call comes as several Melbourne-based clubs have expressed interest in his services as Sloane enters the final year of his contract.

“I know the quality of the bloke,” Pyke said. “That’s why I’m really confident (it won’t be a distraction).

“It’s going to be similar, I imagine, until Rory signs — there will be this interest.

“But our guys have gone through this a few times now and I think, knowing Rory, that he’ll avoid any unwanted attention on himself.

“That’s not in his personality and we will deal with that.”

In recent years, the Crows have had to deal with similar speculation over the futures of Patrick Dangerfield and Jake Lever, who both left the club, and Mitch McGovern, who stayed.

LISTEN | "We know he loves the club".

Are the Crows confident of re-signing Rory Sloane?

Their chairman Rob Chapman joined @SENAfternoons to discuss that and Don Pyke re-signing until 2021.https://t.co/AL0plZxuDB pic.twitter.com/HtYu6mL8ZD

— SEN 1116 (@SENNews) January 25, 2018

As Pyke was speaking about Sloane in Adelaide, club chairman Rob Chapman told Melbourne radio Sloane’s signature was a big deal for the club and that contracts could be distractions.

“We’ve started those discussions and hopefully those discussions wrap up pretty quickly,” Chapman told SEN Afternoons on Thursday.

“We’re not sure and there are no time frames on it, but we know they’re distractions.

“It’s no different to us. We took a couple of players from other clubs last year, every club is doing it. But the microscope does land on us at this time of year.

“We acknowledge that’s going to be a big deal, but I can’t sit here and say is he going to stay, is he going to go, what’s the probability of him staying…

“All I can say is we’re going to be doing our best, putting our best foot forward to give him the opportunity to sign with us.”

Chapman said he hoped Sloane’s love for Adelaide would see him put pent to paper for the Crows.

“He loves our football club. He loves to play for our football club. He loves everything about it – he loves Adelaide,” Chapman said.

“There’s a lot of things beyond football these days that goes into making these decisions.”