Crows veteran Daniel Talia says Adelaide young list have been challenged to train the house down in isolation to match rivals
Crows coach Matthew Nicks has challenged his young list to find a positive in the burden of COVID-19 isolation that could fast track the side’s progress this season.
Crows
Don't miss out on the headlines from Crows. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Daniel Talia says Adelaide’s stunning 2012 campaign is the blueprint for a youth-based resurgence this season while revealing Matthew Nicks’ isolation ‘edge’ that could fast track it.
Talia recalled how first year coach Brenton Sanderson rocketed Adelaide to premiership contention in 2012 after it finished 14th in 2011. Talia won the AFL Rising Star award in 2012 as Adelaide’s young bucks including Taylor Walker and Brodie Smith clicked.
Now Chayce Jones, Wayne Milera, Darcy Fogarty and No.6 draft pick Fischer McAsey must take flight around established stars including Talia, skipper Rory Sloane, Smith and Rory Laird.
“As a young group you can improve really quickly. I remember in 2012 when Sando came to the club and we made that preliminary final and were a kick away from the grand final,” Talia told The Advertiser.
“We had a really young group and guys improved really quickly and all of a sudden you are competing. There’s no attitude ‘we can’t win the flag in the next few years’, these young guys are as a good as they want to be.”
Talia says new boss Nicks wants his young list to salvage opportunity from the burden of self-isolation before returning for duty at West Lakes in May.
Nicks has put rebuilding Adelaide on notice to double down on training discipline during AFL’s season suspension – targeting a physical advantage to match hardened rivals.
“We spoke about all of that and that was certainly a point he emphasized, you can get a massive edge on the rest of competition if you do it well,” 186-game defender Talia said.
“The guys that do it well will have an advantage going into the season and the guys that don’t are going to be off the mark.
“We have gone into this four week break with that mindset and hopefully it can pay dividends because we are a young group and do need stay in touch and do what we said we would do.
“Nicksy wanted to put a lot of trust in our playing group. Nicksy has been amazing through the whole thing. We have little Whatsapp groups, are staying connected.”
Complicating training is a government imposed social distancing rule banning training in groups larger than two meaning Talia trains with Rory Laird or Jake Kelly.
“This is certainly tough,” conceded dual All-Australian Talia.
“You have to be self-motivated, have to have a plan how you go about training and when you do it and make it a priority otherwise you can not train at the intensity you need to.”
Luke Beveridge’s Western Bulldogs are the only side to win a flag over the past decade with an average list profile of age under 25 and less than 100 games. Adelaide’s first choice line-up has average age of 24.6 and 88.2 games but Talia believes it can make up ground fast should the season resume in condensed form.
“I think the guys are in a pretty good head space to attack the next four weeks,” said Talia with the AFL hoping to resume matches from May 31 having suspended the competition after round one due to COVID-19.
“It is going to be on individuals how they approach it.”
Talia confirmed AFL players are prepared to play ‘every four days’ if its means staging a season that could stretch to December.
“We think four weeks will be plenty of time to be right,” said Talia.
“We have done a lot of work and already played a game and looking at May 31st, the date we have been given. Whether that is realistic will depend on how this virus plays out.”