Crows defender Rory Laird asks for a bit of time in the midfield

He’s a dual All Australian and one of the Crows’ best creative defenders but Rory Laird is still pushing coach Don Pyke to give him more time in the midfield.

Rory Laird gets his kick away against Richmond in 2018. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

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Crows best and fairest Rory Laird is lobbying senior coach Don Pyke and his lieutenants for more time in the midfield this season.

It is not a first — Laird has had minutes on the ball before and handled himself well — but he said there had never been a better time for him to lodge a claim to spend more time around the action.

It comes as Matt Crouch, another Malcolm Blight Medallist, spent time in the backline in the Crows’ practice match against Port Adelaide in Port Pirie and Brodie Smith again seems earmarked to spend some time on the wing.

Adelaide defenders Daniel Talia and Rory Laird celebrate a win last season. Picture: Sarah Reed

Laird is hopeful the greater flexibility of his teammates can increase his minutes in the middle.

“I’ve been flagging it for a couple of years,” Laird said. “I sort of get a pinch-hit every now and again.

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“But I think we’ve got really good flexibility down there (in defence).

“We’ve got Bryce (Gibbs) who can come back, Mattty Crouch played back on the weekend, you saw Wayne (Milera) and Brodie go up on a wing.

“I think there are a lot of players who can cycle through the whole wing-mid-half back.

“It’s a good thing to have within the team.”

The thing holding Smith back from spending the bulk of his time in the midfield is his kicking.

He is the designated player to take the kick-in after a behind with his raking foot and the new rules — which means players can take off without kicking the ball to himself — mean he could be even more damaging.

“Brodie has basically said, ‘don’t even go near the ball’,” Laird said with a laugh. “That’s pretty straight forward.

“With him, if he gets a bit of a run-up, he can probably kick it near the centre circle.”

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