Crow Richard Douglas says the best way to get into former teammate Jake Lever’s head is to give him the silent treatment
VETERAN Richard Douglas says the Crows should give former teammate Jake Lever the silent treatment in Alice Springs on Sunday.
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VETERAN Richard Douglas says the Crows should give former teammate Jake Lever the silent treatment in Alice Springs on Sunday.
As the build-up to one of the most anticipated match-ups of the year continues, Douglas said keeping quiet — rather than taking an aggressive verbal and physical approach — could be the best way to put key defender Lever off his game for Melbourne.
“I’ve been thinking about it during the week and for me Jake is the type of guy who might enjoy a bit of banter, a bit of attention,’’ Douglas told The Advertiser.
“So I think the best way to go about playing against him is to give him the silent treatment.
“That might have more of an effect on him because he might wonder, ‘what’s going on, why is no-one talking to me?’.
“It’s a bit of a game within a game, so to speak, and hopefully we have the last laugh.’’
Former Crows first-round draft pick Lever is bracing himself for a hostile reception from his former teammates after walking out on the club after last year’s grand final loss to join the Demons on a four-year deal worth about $800,000 a season.
Adelaide captain Taylor Walker, who won’t play on Sunday as he recovers from a glute/hamstring injury, has been Lever’s biggest critic, publicly accusing him of chasing “money over success’’.
Both teams boast strong 6-3 records and sit third and fourth on the premiership table, with Melbourne ahead on percentage following its 109-point thrashing of Carlton last Sunday.
Douglas said that while some Crows might not have forgiven Lever, most probably have.
“It (changing clubs) is just a part of footy these days, blokes move on,’’ he said.
“Our focus will be on getting the win.’’
Lever is embracing his first test against his former teammates, saying “I always knew it would come around pretty quickly and it’s finally here.
“In the end it’s just another game of footy and I have still got some of my best mates playing for Adelaide. When they come over to Melbourne I still catch up with them.’’
Crows pocket rocket Eddie Betts has revealed the Adelaide players catch up regularly with Lever and another defector, Brisbane’s Charlie Cameron, to play online game Fortnite.
“They have their little group texts and they are like, ‘are you on tonight?’,’’ Betts told FIVEaa.
“They get a time, say 7.50pm, and are on it until about 12 at night. It’s crazy.
“Charlie is still pretty close with the boys as well because he’s on their Fortnite group too.’’
Betts, who will be at Lever’s end of the ground, said he was looking forward to getting his measure after three years of training together.
“He’s a good fella but I’ll get stuck into him a bit because I remember that at every training session he would try to (side) step me but he couldn’t,’’ Betts said.
“I would always tackle him and get him holding the ball. So when he tries to dummy me I’m going to tackle him and keep reminding him of what happened when he was at the Crows.
“I’ll say, ‘don’t try that ‘Snakey’ (Lever’s nickname), don’t try that.’’
andrew.capel@news.com.au
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