Adelaide Crows vice-captain Rory Sloane rejects concerns for his fitness - and those of key team-mates

RORY Sloane says he is fit enough to play a role in the Adelaide midfield, despite external questions over a foot injury.

UNDER WATCH. Adelaide captain Taylor Walker and vice-captain Rory Sloane are having their form judged amid concerns for their fitness. Sloane says there are no excuses from the medical rooms to ease his pain from the Crows’ loss to Collingwood at Adelaide Oval on Friday night. Picture: David Mariuz

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CROWS vice-captain Rory Sloane is offering no excuses. And the top-grade midfielder does not want to hear any as questions linger on his fitness.

Sloane’s form - and ability to shake off a hard match-up, as noted with Collingwood midfielder Steele Sidebottom at Adelaide Oval on Friday night - is linked to a foot injury he has carried since the AFL grand final rematch with Richmond at the end of March.

And the same microscope is on Crows captain Taylor Walker who had no pre-season as he nursed his left foot through another plantar fascia flare up.

Sloane insists he taking the field knowing he is fully capable of contributing to Adelaide’s team game - and is judging himself by results not medical reports.

“Every player - every player across the league - goes into games with little niggles,” Sloane told The Advertiser.

“It is your ability to be able to deal with it - and still play your role.

“I own that, so no - no - it is not about injuries ...”

Sloane’s emphasis on the Crows players’ mental attitude for the contest - rather than their physical state just a month into the AFL premiership season - is put to test when Adelaide returns to the Friday Night Football stage.

There is an enormous challenge in confronting Sydney at the SCG to stop the Crows’ win-loss count falling to a negative read (2-3) for the first time since coach Don Pyke’s first game in 2016.

Such a big test - against the AFL’s renowned hardest midfielders - while under the national spotlight is well timed for Pyke as he seeks a reaction from his erratic team.

“I know this group - and I know guys will be looking to respond, especially on Friday,” Sloane said.

“Sydney is always a tough game,” added Sloane in recognition of Adelaide having just one win in the past seven games against the Swans since 2012. “Again, it will come back to the contested ball - and Sydney is one of the best sides at the contest.

“To match-up against Sydney, especially after a disappointing loss, will make for a great test for us. We will certainly go up there looking to respond.”

Adelaide’s loss to Collingwood was so complete that it leaves Pyke - and his coaching staff and players - with so much to review at West Lakes.

“They beat us in pretty much every area of the game,” conceded Sloane. “They were cleaner, hard around the ball and used the ball better than us.

Rory Sloane is tackled by Steele Sidebottom during Friday night’s mauling at Adelaide Oval.

“Why it happens is always a tough question. We will review it strongly - and guys will own it because our individuals performances, including my own ... you can’t be happy with.

“This group does stick together. We have been through so much together, so we will make sure that we fight this out - and it starts with coming to training with a good attitude and making sure you train the right way.”

Inescapable in the post-game review is the question - that lingers from the AFL grand final loss to Richmond - as to how Adelaide never changed the game’s script against Collingwood.

Sloane notes the Crows’ well-noted spirit for the contest was blunted by its own technical failings.

“Our skills were poor, our cleanliness around the ball was poor and our fundamentals - our “one wood” - were down,” Sloane said. “Basic fundamentals ... that is something we pride ourselves on. We have not been beaten at contested ball like that for a while.

“Simple things that we value in footy were clearly not there.”

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