AFL 2021: Adelaide Crows news ahead of the Round 18 clash with West Coast
Crows forward Tom Lynch is back for the first time since Round 6 - but will he be at the club next year? Plus, a star’s surprise early return and all the team news.
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Some much-needed experience will return to the Crows side as it prepares to snap a three-game losing streak against West Coast at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.
Leading goal-kicker Taylor Walker will happily slot straight back into the forward line having rested his sore neck for a week, while veteran Tom Lynch will return from a toe injury, which has sidelined him since Round 6.
Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks said Lynch would add “some class and composure” to the side, as well as much-needed experience in ensuring the team’s mindset is right both on and off the field.
“Tom Lynch is fit,” Nicks said. “His body feels good. He’ll be putting his best foot forward.
“Right now he’s keen to play some footy and show what he’s got.”
In many ways, Lynch could well be playing for his future against the Eagles, with the out-of-contract 158-gamer coming under recent speculation that he is not guaranteed a 2022 guernsey.
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Nicks said there was a lot more involved in contract talks than just purely what Lynch did on the footy field.
“Lynchy sits in a similar category to Tex, and Matty (Crouch), these are the guys we want around our footy club,” he said.
“The experience they have is something that you don’t just have in a jar on your desk, Tommy Lynch is the ultimate ‘prioritising others’ that’s his strength, that’s his weapon, off-field, he’s as good as any I’ve seen.
“So for him to be around the footy club, is something I’d love to have as a coach going forward, and whether that’s as a player, whether that’s as a coach in some description, whether that’s both, that’s something we’ll look at over the coming months.”
First comes West Coast.
And the last time the two sides played, in Perth in Round 9, Adelaide came away with a 30-point defeat after a second-quarter five-goal blitz from Eagle Jake Darling proved the difference.
In that game, experienced defenders Tom Doedee and Luke Brown were both playing, but on Sunday, both are out - Doedee under the AFL’s concussion protocols and Brown with Achilles surgery.
FULL TEAMS: ALL THE INS AND OUTS FOR ROUND 18
This leaves the Crows’ selected backline looking a tad junior: 200-gamer Brodie Smith and Jake Kelly – 105 games – are the most experienced defenders, while Will Hamill, Jordan Butts, Nick Murray and Chayce Jones have 80 games between them.
But Nicks is confident the team can rebound against the Eagles after a poor 10-goal loss to Essendon last week.
“We didn’t defend the ground as well as we needed to (against the Bombers) and it’s something we’ve done well this year and unfortunately we didn’t bring that on the weekend and it affected us right across the game,” he said.
“So we’ve done some really good work this week, got some clarity around the way we play, I’m sure the guys will be really keen to get back out and make amends.
“On the training track during the week, the intensity has been up, they really enjoyed it, they got back in to getting their hands dirty and hopefully we’ll see that Sunday, I’m sure we will.”
Darcy Fogarty will also return, but Billy Frampton has been dropped, with Nicks saying Frampton needed to lift to an AFL-level standard forward of the ball, while Rising Star nominee Riley Thilthorpe will be rested after playing sore last week having copped a knock to his body.
CROUCH TO MAKE LONG-AWAITED RETURN
Out-of-contract Crow Matt Crouch will make his long-awaited return to footy on Saturday after finally overcoming a groin injury that has sidelined him all season.
The 26-year-old will pull on Adelaide’s SANFL jumper on Saturday against North Adelaide at Prospect Oval and will play restricted minutes, likely across four quarters.
The All-Australian hasn’t played since a practice game back in March and then underwent surgery in May following frustrating, persistent groin soreness.
Coaches have made no secret that Crouch’s five-month playing hiatus has been hard for the former club champion, with head coach Matthew Nicks on Friday describing the injury as “challenging” for the prolific ball-getter.
Nicks said the midfielder was keen to get back to playing.
“You’re going to see a pretty eager individual out there,” Nicks said.
“If his training on Thursday is anything to go by, he’s red hot and ready to play some footy.”
It’s expected Crouch - who will become a restricted free agent at the end of this season and is yet to announce a contract extension - will spend two weeks in the SANFL regaining match fitness, before hopefully being elevated for the final four games of the year.
“We want Matty to play some footy and show us that he can get back to the level he was playing at before he went out with injury,” Nicks said.
“(Crouch has) gone through quite a challenging time, but we’re confident he’ll (get back to the level).
“He pulled up reasonably well from Thursday’s (contact training session) and it’s going to be one of those ones where he’ll get better and better the more footy he plays.
“(But) that step up from a match fitness point of view is the main part.
“He looked really polished in the match practice on Thursday, so we’re confident he’s got a strong base under him, but it will be about getting a full game at SANFL level, which is slightly shorter than AFL and then he can be confident in himself, we can be confident, and it’s also then abut finding the right place for him to come in.
“He’ll come in and play midfield when he’s shown that he’s ready to play at AFL level; we’re not going to guarantee that after two games.
“But I’m pretty sure that Matty’s got the ability and history behind him that he will show us he’s ready after two games.”
The 125-gamer last played for the Crows on September 16, 2020, in the team’s Round 18 loss to Richmond at Adelaide Oval, where he 30 touches, three clearances and two inside-50s, afterwards undergoing off-season surgery on his hip, from which he successfully recovered before injuring his groin.
In the SANFL, Adelaide are sitting eighth on the ladder, with four wins from 13 games.
For sale: Crows backflip on baseball team ownership
- Matt Turner
Adelaide’s three-year plunge into baseball is coming to an end.
The Crows are seeking to sell Australian league club Adelaide Giants and are in talks with interested parties.
Adelaide acquired the Giants – then known as the Bite – in June 2018 under former chief executive Andrew Fagan to attract commercial opportunities, particularly in Asia, and broaden its supporter base.
But as the Crows’ on-field results declined, some people outside the club criticised the move into baseball and eSports.
Adelaide chairman John Olsen said earlier this year those ventures were under review amid a football-first focus in the wake of Fagan’s resignation.
Fagan’s replacement, Tim Silvers, said the club’s strategic direction had changed because of Covid-19.
“A great deal has changed since the club acquired the baseball licence and, like all professional sporting clubs, we have been heavily impacted by the global pandemic,” Silvers said.
“This has forced us to take on debt and significantly reduce our staffing levels and we are pushing ahead with an 18-month strategic recovery plan.”
The Giants missed the playoffs in Adelaide’s first season as owners, finished runner-up in 2019/20 then was a semi-finalist last summer.
In the Crows’ statement on Thursday, the club said the Giants had forged strong ties with international teams, such as the Major League’s Philadelphia Phillies.
“We are currently in discussions with prospective buyers and we want to see the Giants’ potential realised,” Silvers said.
“The team has a strong following and maintains an important place in the South Australian sporting landscape, while also having exposure to national and international markets.”
Giants general manager Nathan Davison told the team’s website it was business as usual during sale discussions.
Baseball Australia chief executive Glenn Williams said the Crows had made a significant contribution to the sport and league by “taking the Giants to new levels on and off the field”.
“We remain committed to working closely with the Crows to find a new licensee for the Giants who will continue to contribute to growth of the ABL and baseball in South Australia,” Williams said.
KEY CROW’S SEASON OVER - BUT ANOTHER SET FOR RETURN
Crow Luke Brown’s season is officially over after Adelaide’s medical staff decided the 178-game defender will have surgery on his troublesome left Achilles tendon.
The 28-year-old has been battling his sore Achilles for much of this season, restricting him to just 11 matches.
A date for Brown’s surgery remains pending, but the Crows head of football, Adam Kelly, said the surgery would put him in the best position to attack the next pre-season.
“He has scar tissue around the Achilles which can be attributed to an old ankle injury,” Kelly said.
“The good news is Luke’s Achilles tendon is healthy and the surgical intervention will be debridement of tissue around his Achilles and posterior ankle and we anticipate a smooth recovery.”
Crows’ assistant coach Nathan van Berlo said while it was disappointing that Brown’s season had ended prematurely, his on-field absence presented a huge opportunity for someone else in the squad to step into the tough defender’s spot.
“We’ve had a number of guys roll through that backline this year … I look forward to seeing over the next six weeks who that is who wants to take that position,” he said.
Brown’s omission isn’t the only defensive selection dilemma facing Adelaide as it prepares to take on West Coast at home on Sunday.
Tom Doedee will miss the Round 18 game under the AFL’s concussion protocols, after suffering blurred vision and a bruised chest following a collision in the first quarter of Friday night’s horror 63-point loss to Essendon.
Van Berlo said the Crows were determined to rebound after their 10-goal thumping, which saw them post their lowest-ever score of 21 points.
“It was really disappointing across the board, but the midfield in particular got outworked and out-hunted around the ball, which has been one of our strengths this year, which was really disappointing,” he said.
“It hasn’t sat well with (the boys) over the last few days, so all we can do is get back to training good habits and backing in the large body of work we have put in for the year and backing in a response against West Coast, who are probably searching for a similar response at the moment (after a 10-point loss to bottom-placed North Melbourne).
“It’s going to be a massive challenge for us, but I know our boys are up for it.”
In positive news, three veterans are pushing their cases to return to the 22 against the Eagles.
This season’s leading goal-kicker Taylor Walker moved well in a light training session at West Lakes on Tuesday, following a severely sprained neck, and, should he get through contact work at Thursday’s main training session, is expected to put his hand up.
Fellow forward Tom Lynch has been solid in the SANFL, while midfielder Matt Crouch is reportedly itching to get back to playing footy.
“If he gets through Thursday and gets the all-clear we might be able to see some footy minutes from Matty this weekend which would be great for us, but also for Matty, it’s been a pretty long year for him,” van Berlo said.
Kelly confirmed Crouch was in line to be available for selection in the coming weeks.
“We’re really happy with the progress that Matt has been making, he is running strongly and there is a chance he may be available to return to football earlier than anticipated,” Kelly said.
“We have maintained a cautious approach with him throughout the season and a decision on when he is ready to play will become clearer later this week.”
Where’s the dare? Blight slams Crows ‘chipathon’
- Simeon Thomas-Wilson
Adelaide’s dual premiership winning coach Malcolm Blight says the Crows need to get their dare back and not be so consumed by worrying about turnovers after their toothless loss to Essendon.
In the Friday night prime time slot the Crows put a performance coach Matthew Nicks said “embarrassed” Adelaide and apologised to fans following the 63-point drubbing.
The tone for the loss, in which the Crows kicked the lowest score in club history, was set in the opening minutes of the match by Adelaide slowly kicking the ball around its backline and refusing to move the ball forward with any fluency.
The Crows just had 12 inside-50s in the first half, 19 fewer than the Bombers.
Blight, the coach of Adelaide’s two premiership triumphs in 1997 and 1998, told The Advertiser the Crows had no “dare” in the opening stages of the match.
“There are always reasons for that, such as the age of the group, but when you start a game off I’ve always been a believer of you go out and test the opposition,” he said.
“Because some individuals in that team might have had a bad night’s sleep, they may have had a blue with someone. So I always think you have to test them out, as individuals and as a team.
“And I just thought, what they did by chipping the ball — the chipathon out the back — just didn’t test any of the Essendon players, whether they were in good form or not in good form.
“And the pattern of the game was almost set from there, I just never understand why you wouldn’t go (at the Bombers).
“If you look back at the Geelong game and the win over Melbourne, they were much more daring with the ball.
“So I find when the dare goes the defeat comes.”
Adelaide defender Jake Kelly said over the weekend the Crows’ laborious ball movement came as a result of them trying to address the high scores being kicked off the team’s turnovers.
Nicks has spoken about this concern throughout the season and while the Crows are one win away from doubling their output from 2020, in 2021 they have slid from 15th to last in the competition for opposition points from turnover.
This is just part of an ugly defensive picture for Nicks’ side in 2021 compared to their 2020 wooden spoon season, according to figures from Champion Data.
They have only jumped one spot for points against, from 18th to 17th, have gone from last in the competition to 15th for opposition points from stoppages, and for opposition score per inside 50 percentage the Crows have gone from 13th last year to 16th this year.
The Crows have risen from 16th to 10th when it comes to opposition defensive 50 to forward 50 percentage.
Blight said the Crows needed to not worry about turnovers.
“You don’t get better at it by not doing it,” he said.
“How do you get better when you are not doing it under pressure and when it’s required.”
The Crows next take on West Coast at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.
THE FRINGE CROWS WHO NEED TO STAND UP
Adelaide defender Jake Kelly says the Crows need to find a way to stem turnovers in attack and midfield after an “embarrassing” prime-time performance against Essendon.
The Crows kicked the lowest score in their history on Friday night at Marvel Stadium, going down by 63-points come the final siren.
Matthew Nicks’ side is now second in the AFL for points against (1472) and average losing margin (32).
Nicks has said throughout the season the Crows are being scored on far too easily from turnovers.
Kelly said it was a big concern.
“We’ve had issues all year with attacking/mid turnovers,” he said on Grandstand SA.
“We are getting slingshotted the other way quite badly, game in, game out.”
The Crows were porous with their ball movement and offered little attacking threat against the Bombers.
Kelly said the Crows were slowed down by Essendon.
“It was quite embarrassing after not playing Friday night footy for a long time at the club and when everyone was watching it wasn’t good enough,” he said.
“We did speak about during the week that we have really nailed that we do bring our seek to the contest and we fight really hard at the contest but what we need to do is getting some really crisp ball movement going.
“But Essendon, credit to them, really slowed us down and we could not move the ball the way we wanted to.”
The woeful performance came without Taylor Walker, with the Crows talisman ruled out because of a neck injury suffered the week prior.
Walker is expected to return for this week’s game against West Coast at Adelaide Oval.
But Kelly said the way the Crows struggled without Walker reinforced the likes of Billy Frampton, Elliott Himmelberg and Darcy Fogarty needed to step up to the plate.
“One of them does need to stand up,” he said.
“We know Riley Thilthorpe is going to be a fantastic player but one of those guys really need to own it and become that second key forward.”
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