Adelaide Crows launched their 2020 AFL and AFLW seasons on Friday night with a nod to the past and a keen eye on the future
From Malcolm Blight’s stirring speech, to tears for Bob Foord and Daniel Talia’s message to his teammates. Here are our key takeaways from the Adelaide Crows’ season launch on Friday night.
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“We are entering a new era”, Adelaide chairman Rob Chapman declared in his opening address to the room full of Crows players, staff and sponsors on Friday night.
The new broom that has gone through the place since last season finished brought with it a freshness that was impossible to miss at the club’s season launch at the Convention Centre.
There was a nod to the past with the induction of life members, and a keen eye on the future with the anticipation of what is to come.
There was also a passing of the baton type moment when Malcolm Blight was awarded life membership and spoke about how proud he was to be a premiership coach, just minutes before Matthew Nicks got up to speak as his coaching journey begins.
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LIFE membership is right up there with hall of fame status for extracting emotion from a football function and the Crows used their season launch to do just that.
On Friday night, Yvonne Livingston spoke of her privilege at simply being able to cook and clean up after the players at training and to run the barbecue for Andrew McLeod’s indigenous programs.
Then Sheryn Foord – wife of the late Bob Foord, a former board member who died in 2017 – shed a tear when accepting life membership on his behalf.
Full back Daniel Talia also had to fight back tears when he spoke about Foord as his mentor and how special it was that they were receiving life membership on the same night.
Chapman lightened the mood by saying he will miss being whacked across the back of the head by Foord’s rolled up Footy Budget during games, and being told to “do something about that number 15” – referring to one of the field umpires.
BLIGHT admitted he was somewhat embarrassed by life membership after coaching just 54 games compared to the decades of service of others.
But he hoped he was representing everyone who was at the club during his time from 1997-1999, including those he took on Friday night as guests – his wife Patsy, Terry and Carolyn Moore, John and Di Reid, Steven and Sue Trigg.
“And that’s what football clubs are, they (people) contribute a lot more than I ever did, I just hope all those people who were there from 1997-1999, that I’m standing up here and representing them as well,” Blight said.
FRIDAY’S season launch was the first official Crows function Trigg had been to since he left in 2014.
It was also three years since he left Carlton as its chief executive and he was welcomed back into the room like an old friend, still highly respected and valued.
BLIGHT’S speech was typically stirring and included a pointed message to the playing group.
“Sure, they’re (flags) hard to win. Matthew Nicks, do you know you’ve got a 6.2 per cent chance of winning the bloody thing?,” he said.
“Anyone in business here, if you had a six per cent chance to be successful would you do it? The short answer is no.
“But if your heart and desire is there, I don’t care who you are or what you are, all the other fiddly bits, positioning, skill … Desire with a ‘capital d’ is the biggest thing you can bring to a football club.
“The club has made change and sometimes when you’re not successful that’s got to happen.
“Just how lucky I was when I coached here, a similar thing happened, and I call them sprouts. “I bet you there are some sprouts sitting in this room tonight.
“All those young players you don’t know about yet will get an opportunity.
“There is no ceiling, there is no limit on what anyone can do at the Adelaide footy club. “Believe in yourself and with desire.”
IT WAS a nice segue into Nicks’ speech as he embarks on his first season as a senior coach.
Nicks touched on his key theme at West Lakes, which had been “prioritising others”, and said the most recent example had been Taylor Walker and Talia’s omission from the new-look leadership group.
“If we had have picked the group on what we had voted, Daniel Talia and Tex Walker would have been in that,” he said.
“But speaking with them, they wanted what was best for the team and said it would be best to go with five leaders.”
TALIA used 95 per cent of his life membership speech to thank everyone involved in his 186-game journey at the Crows.
The last five per cent he saved to challenge the playing group.
He urged them to seize the day and believe that anything is possible.
THE Crows had a big week at training including match-simulation in the rain on Saturday morning.
On Friday night, Nicks asked the audience to excuse his hoarse voice, saying the team had been practising defence the day before.
“We’ve got a bit of work to do,” he mused.
But he said he was excited about the midfield mix this season.
“We have a group of players who bring a balance of speed on the outside and toughness on the inside,” Nicks said.
“I can tell you over the next six to 12 months you’ll see a lot of guys going through there (the midfield), there is a fantastic group of midfielders ready to step up and some are going to be a little hard done by when it comes to Round 1.”
TWELVE months after standing at the same lectern and admitting he had “no idea” how the Crows would fare in his first season as AFLW coach, Matthew Clarke returned to the stage with a premiership next to his name, but with the same message.
“The season ahead … as we know, nobody knows what’s coming,” Clarke said.
But he said what he does know is the team is “caring”, “selfless” and “committed”.
“If anyone’s seen them play, you’ll never walk away and think ‘they didn’t have a go today’,” Clarke said, as the Crows prepare to open their season against Brisbane this Saturday.
“It breaks my heart a bit when they tell me that they’ve moved all of their (annual) leave into the front half of the year so they can get to training and all of our matches … you go ‘wow, no holiday’.
“It makes me feel proud and also reminds me of the responsibility as coaches to make sure their sacrifices are worthwhile.”
CLARKE touched on the team’s injuries, but said there was a silver lining coming.
“How’s Erin’s knee? One or two people have asked me that over the last six months,” he said.
“I’m thinking Erin’s knee should have a podcast – a weekly update.
“The injuries are real and she’s not the only one clearly, but the flip side is they actually come back from the injuries.
“They get better.
“Chloe Scheer has come back from one knee, you might have seen her in the grand final, better and stronger.
“Erin has come back from one and guess what? She goes all right too.”
NICKS opened his speech by saying it was “lovely to have a premiership team in the building” and his team would learn plenty from their AFLW stablemates.
“I watched you guys at Richmond the other week and you played some outstanding footy, then you went to Perth and all I heard back from the likes of Adam Kelly is he couldn’t believe the culture that you girls have got, so congratulations on the way you’re going about things.”
reece.homfray@news.com.au