Crows new No. 1 ruckman re-signs with the club on a two-year deal after breakout 2019 season
Reilly O’Brien has ended speculation about his immediate football future by re-signing with the Crows on a two-year deal that will see him stay at the club until at least the end of 2021
After the standout season he was never meant to have, the Crows new No. 1 ruckman Reilly O’Brien has re-signed with Adelaide on a two-year contract extension.
The 23-year-old will now continue at West Lakes until at least the end of 2021.
After playing two games for the Crows in 2016, the 201cm ruckman had to bide his time in the SANFL, until unexpectedly coming into the Crows line-up replacing the injured Sam Jacobs in round three.
Since then, his solid performances have seen him grow and then flourish into a confident ruck who averages 34.7 hitouts a game.
His round 13 performance against Richmond at Adelaide Oval was particularly astonishing, ending the night with a mammoth 54 hitouts and a huge Champion Data ranking point tally of 181 — the most of any ruckman to that point, including Brodie Grundy and Max Gawn.
Earlier this month, O’Brien detailed how his ongoing stint in the SANFL had begun to feel like “groundhog day”.
“Before this year, (I was) probably a little bit frustrated the last couple of years playing in the SANFL and not really getting a look in, and feeling a bit like groundhog day, each year doing the same thing,” he said.
“To be honest, while I was playing reserves the last couple of years, I was thinking: Is footy the way for me?
“Because I do a bit of study outside of footy and you can’t really do that as well, when you’re playing, not that I was considering doing that, but it crosses your mind.
“It would have been another tough year and it was looking like that at the start of the year, so, it’s been awesome just to play.”
Crows General Manager List Management and Strategy Justin Reid told the Crows website that O’Brien was a valued member of the playing group.
“Reilly had to wait patiently for his opportunity, but he’s really seized it this year on the back of a really solid pre-season,” Reid said.
“After seeing Reilly develop over a few years, we knew what he was capable of and he’s really growing as an AFL ruckman every single week.
“We always wanted to keep him at the footy club, so we’re delighted he’s signed for two more years.”