Adelaide players try soccer tournament and a trip to AFL Max before Thursday’s main training session amid intense week of scrutiny
Following their Sunday pizza session, the Crows will participate in a soccer tournament and a trip to AFL Max to help lighten the mood this week while Port players are hitting the go-kart track. Hugh Greenwood and Tom Jonas lift the lid on The Lowdown
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ADELAIDE’S attempt to lighten the mood among its playing group will include a soccer tournament at training and a trip to AFL Max this week.
After coach Don Pyke put on pizza and beers at his place on Sunday following the weekend’s shock loss to Carlton, the light-hearted week is set to continue before Thursday’s main training session in preparation for Saturday’s game against St Kilda.
Speaking on The Advertiser’s The Lowdown podcast, midfielder/forward Hugh Greenwood said after being smashed on the training track before the Blues’ game last week the Crows were trying a different approach.
“We’re trying just about everything at the moment, we tried the extreme other way last week where we trained very, very hard, and everything was super serious,” he said. 0
“The Wednesday session was brutal, like a pre-season session, and obviously that didn’t quite work for us.
“So we’re going the other way and that’s back to having fun, that’s when we feel like we play our best footy, when we’re free flowing.
“The message has been we’re over-thinking and are too tight in the way we play, so we just want to go back to basics and enjoy it.
“We can control the environment by making it a positive one, so a little soccer tournament and AFL Max and just try something different, get some rejuvenation and refreshment in the group and really attack this last month knowing we are a legitimate chance to play finals.”
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Greenwood said there was no footy talk at Pyke’s on Sunday but the 360-degree swing from last week’s intense week at training did not mean the Crows had taken their eye off the ball.
“What was great was all the partners were there and all the kids running around too, so that puts everything into perspective,” he said.
“That’s not to say that we’re doing this stuff because we’re giving up on the year, we’re doing it to try to save our year and maximise the next four weeks.”
Asked whether he subscribed to a theory that Pyke had “lost” the playing group, Greenwood said in his view “no”.
“You never like to think that and I can’t speak on behalf of the entire playing group but the vibe is that’s certainly not the case at all,” Greenwood said.
“We trust Don and trust the entire coaching staff that they’ve got the best intentions for the club and the team so I would argue against him losing the playing group, that’s a pretty big call to make.
“They’re (fans) disappointed and we’re just as disappointed as they are, we feel for them, but they’ve got to understand we are trying, we’re not just giving up and rolling over.
“We are doing all that we can regardless of the results not going our way, we are a proud football club and invested in this year and will continue to try to dig ourselves out of this hole.”
Port Adelaide also has its own problems after losing four of its past five games and public pressure mounting is on everyone from chief executive Keith Thomas and coach Ken Hinkley down.
The Power has also tried to galvanise the group away from the footy club with some players and coaches including co-captain Tom Jonas going karting last week.
Jonas said a suggestion a coach had “lost the players” was extreme and thrown around too often.
“That is a big call and that’s something that gets bandied around a fair bit,” he said.
“Coaches are almost a father figure, you have kids straight out of home in Victoria who come over here and spend six days a week at a footy club, the coach is basically a father figure and they’ve got to do something pretty wrong to lose the trust of the playing group.
“It’s almost at our own peril that we would follow our own coach into battle sometimes because seriously our loyalty is almost unquestionable and it’s like that at most clubs.”
Asked whether the players feel guilt or responsibility at seeing Pyke and Hinkley under the blowtorch, Greenwood and Jonas said they did but their coaches were under no illusion as to their responsibilities or the pressure and expectation that comes with their job.
“You don’t feel entirely responsible but it’s certainly unfair that a coach when stuff doesn’t go right the coach is often the first one to be blamed,” Greenwood said.
“You look at our playing list and we are more than capable and talented enough to win games of footy, but it’s not right to blame everything solely on a coach, it’s from a whole football program perspective.
“It’s hard to factor which one area is breaking down but it’s quite unfair to blame one person.”
Jonas said responsibility also rested on him as co-captain.
“At the end of the day the buck stops with the coach and probably CEO and the captain, yes it’s not ideal to see Kenny or Don on the front page and you do feel a little bit of responsibility but those blokes know what they’re signing up for,” Jonas said.
“Yes we would love to be winning every game and coaches have their jobs to do, so when we can’t execute on game day we feel partially responsible and if you’re out of form and play poorly you feel culpable as well, so there are a lot of moving parts.”
reece.homfray@news.com.au