Adelaide Crows draftee Fischer McAsey is pushing hard for a Round 1 debut - and in SuperCoach teams
Adelaide’s prized top-pick Fischer McAsey is in the mix for a Round One debut after impressing new coach Matthew Nicks on the track. The Phantom takes a look at his SuperCoach value.
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Adelaide’s top draft pick, Fischer McAsey, is on track for a Round 1 debut after an impressive first pre-season at the Crows.
The 18-year-old, who won Vic Metro’s MVP award at last year’s national under-18 championships, ahead of No. 1 pick Matt Rowell, has drawn admiration from teammates and, most importantly, new coach Matthew Nicks.
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“At the moment he’s playing in such good form in some of our match play that he would be one we might have a look at for Round 1,” Nicks told Sportsday SA.
McAsey was the top-ranked key-defender at the national carnival, taking more contested marks than any other player and leading all in his position for disposals, intercept marks, intercept possessions and total marks.
The skilful 18-year-old is clean below his knees when the ball hits the deck and, like the player he models his game on, young Bulldogs star Aaron Naughton, McAsey can have an impact at the other end of the ground.
But it’s a part of Adelaide’s back-six where McAsey is likely to start his AFL journey.
Playmaking half-back Rory Laird has worked closely with the talented teenager over summer and he can see why the Crows’ recruiters rated him so highly.
“He’s got really good hands and is very skilled for a big man,” Laird told the club’s website.
“He’s great, he wants to learn a lot.”
And he’s had some good teachers in his short time at West Lakes.
“The night we drafted him we said you are in for a treat because you’re about to work with one of the best in Daniel Talia, who hasn’t let us down in that,” Nicks said.
Talia has had some help, too, with returning young gun Tom Doedee, who has be promoted to the club’s leadership group, and Kyle Hartigan showing their fellow Victorian the way.
“All those guys have been really great, (they) obviously have got so much experience,” McAsey said on the Over The PA podcast.
“Just passing that onto me has been really helpful.”
Hartigan’s pre-season ankle injury - and subsequent surgery – however, could be the small opening McAsey needs to make his case.
And the benefit of Nicks throwing his prized top pick straight into the heat of battle against the Swans in March is obvious.
The 195cm McAsey would, arguably, become Adelaide’s most-skilful tall and, alongside Talia and Doedee, as well as medium-defender Jake Kelly, would be allowed to showcase the attacking side of his game in his debut season.
His inclusion would also give Adelaide fans another young star to pin their future hopes on.
The needs of SuperCoaches, however, are more immediate.
Rookie-price players are the foundation of any successful SuperCoach team and, opportunity, is often the biggest reason they succeed.
McAsey averaged 97 points per game for Vic Metro and 88 in seven NAB League matches for Sandringham, with one a 10-mark, three-goal performance in attack.
Don’t be scared off by the old ‘key-defenders don’t feature in SuperCoach’ theory, McAsey is likely to be a much better scorer than the title suggests.