Curtly Hampton, Cam Ellis-Yolmen stake claim for spots in Crows best 22

ADELAIDE’S historic AFLX winat Hindmarsh Stadium brought fresh hope into some of the careers on the fringe and while also bringing momentum into the Crows pre-season.

Adelaide’s Tom Doedee.

ADELAIDE’S historic AFLX win at Hindmarsh Stadium brought fresh hope into some of the careers on the fringe and while also bringing momentum into the Crows pre-season.

Only two members of last September’s losing Grand Final team took part in the tournament — Andy Otten and Jake Kelly — but the story that will be remembered will be those of players who had difficult seasons in 2017, most notably Cam Ellis-Yolmen, Kyle Cheney and Curtly Hampton.

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Assistant coach Scott Camporeale couldn’t speak highly enough of the trio and their young teammates.

“We’re really happy,” Camporeale said. “Clearly going in our focus is still Round 1, but it was a great opportunity to see some guys that didn’t get a lot of game time last year, either through injury or not being able to break into the team.

“So even a couple of great stories — Cam Ellis-Yolmen coming off an ACL and the guy alongside me (grand final captain Kyle Cheney) who has missed a lot of footy.

“We rate those guys really highly and it’s a great opportunity for those guys to show us where we’re at.”

Adelaide’s Curtly Hampton takes on Tom Stewart in the AFLX grand final.

It took Adelaide a while to get used to pace of AFLX — it was, ironically a slow start in the quicker version of the game.

The Crows used a squad dominated by younger players, but a couple of them showed calm and compose from the outset.

Jake Kelly stopped a certain Collingwood goal with old fashioned body-on-body work, Jordan Galluci marked athletically and sent forward some low and spearing passes by foot.

Ellis-Yolmen, who missed all of last year following a knee reconstruction, looked like he was back to his athletic best.

This game suited him with his explosive speed and agility making him difficult to contain in what was mostly played in a one-on-one manner.

But it wasn’t all about pace for the Crows. Otten, who had a breakout season last year, makes up for a lack of youthful speed with an impressive ability to read both the ball and opponent. Another who always looked like threatening to kick a goal — and to be blunt, goals can be kicked from close to half of the playing surface — was Hampton.

Tom Doedee looked composed in defence for the Crows.

The same went for Kyle Cheney, who couldn’t break into the side last year as he toiled away battling form and injuries. He will be, as the trackmen say, better for the run and has put himself in a good position to play a part in the two regulation practice matches.

Tom Doedee was another who kept running and chasing and did his prospects no harm.

Mature-age recruit Patrick Wilson was busy and his sharp kicking was suited to the format. He kicked a cracking goal to seal the match against Collingwood from outside of the boundary.

There were cameos from others. Cheney kicked a crucial goal after being rewarded for hard running at a crucial stage against West Coast, Lachie Murphy played with good energy in the grand final and Ben Davis looked comfortable in one-on-one contests in the forward line.