Fitter and stronger after injury ruined his rookie campaign, energetic Crow Ned McHenry is creating a buzz – on and off the field
Fit again and stronger after a back injury ruined his rookie campaign, Crows excitement machine Ned McHenry is determined to make up for lost time.
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He is a self-confessed extrovert who says he plays football with the same high-octane energy that he approaches life.
So when 2018 first-round draft pick Ned McHenry spent 11 weeks on the sidelines in his first season at Adelaide this year he went close to pulling his hair out.
“It was certainly a frustrating time,’’ the bubbly 19-year-old said.
“I wanted to get out there and play, show people what I could do, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to do that for quite a long time.
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“I didn’t really have a very good understanding of what rehab was like until I got injured, because I hadn’t been injured before.
“You don’t realise how much you love footy until it gets taken away from you for a while, so it was tough.’’
Selected at pick 16 from Victorian NAB League side Geelong Falcons, McHenry – a diminutive forward/midfielder with a touch of Hayden Ballantyne about him – featured in the Crows’ first seven SANFL games of the year.
This included standout performances against Central District at Elizabeth in round five, where he had 28 disposals and 11 tackles, and Norwood at The Parade the following week, when he had a remarkable 19 contested possessions.
But McHenry was dealing with increasing back pain and stiffness while he was ruled out of one match with concussion symptoms after he was rear-ended in a car accident on the way home from training and suffered whiplash.
“My back got to the stage where I coudn’t perform at the level I wanted or the club expected of me, so we made the decision to try to get it right,’’ McHenry told The Advertiser after the squad’s final pre-Christmas training session in 40-degree heat at West Lakes.
“There wasn’t too much structurally wrong, I was just sore in the lower back region, so we decided to give it a rest and then strengthen the core muscles to support the back.
“Our club medical staff was brilliant with that. I was put on strength programs, including advanced core movements, abdominal roll downs and side movements, to strengthen the core region.
“I also worked on my running mechanics to ensure there wouldn’t be any ongoing issues.’’
McHenry refused to give up on his season and returned for the club’s SANFL finals campaign, where he illustrated why Adelaide took him so high in the draft.
The 179cm, 75kg running machine made his long-awaited return in a losing qualifying final against Port Adelaide and then set the Crows alight in the first semi-final against the Redlegs with four goals from 17 disposals, along with five tackles, in a dominant 62-point win.
Suddenly Adelaide fans were calling for him to start the 2020 season in the AFL side.
While the Crows lost a half-time lead to fall to eventual premier Glenelg in the preliminary final a week later, McHenry had another strong game, with 18 disposals and seven tackles.
“It was nice to get back and finish off with SANFL finals,’’ said McHenry, who was only denied an AFL debut in his rookie year because of injury.
“It was just good to be playing again and now I’m focused on having a good, strong pre-season and worrying about what I can control.’’
McHenry has hardly missed a beat in the pre-season.
He has continued to work at strengthening his core muscles and has added 2kg of muscle to tip the scales at 75.5kg, having arrived at West Lakes at 70kg.
Ultimately, he wants to get to 80kg.
The only training session McHenry missed was the last one on December 19, due to “general soreness’’.
“I’ve had almost 100 per cent training completion, which has been nice,’’ he said.
“With all the strengthening work that I’ve done my body feels a lot stronger this pre-season and I’m hoping it will allow me to play every game next year.
“Getting my body right has been my main focus and hopefully that leads to a spot in the JLT (pre-season) series.
“If I warrant selection and my form is good enough there, then I’m sure ‘Nicksy’ (new coach Matthew Nicks) will play his best team in round one. Obviously I’d love to be in that.’’
McHenry is renowned for his running ability.
He won the Yo-Yo test at last year’s AFL Draft Combine and famously – in a Forrest Gump-type moment – went for a jog in Geelong 10 days prior to the draft and ended up covering 30km.
Not surprisingly, he won Adelaide’s 2km time trial at his first attempt last year and this year was second behind fellow 2018 first-round draftee Chayce Jones, who played eight AFL games in his rookie season.
“My running has always been a strength but I think I can go to another level across the pre-season,’’ said McHenry, who played most of his SANFL games rotating between the forward 50 and a wing.
“It's important because my game is built on running up and down the ground, creating pressure and tackling, so the more territory I can cover the better.’’
McHenry, who signed a two-year contract extension this year tying him to the club until the end of 2022, is the life of the Crows clubhouse.
“Some people say the way I play is the way I am in real life, a high-energy type of guy,’’ he said.
“I’m quite energetic and passionate about what I do, a little bit of an extrovert who likes to just be myself and connect with people.
“I’m excited by life and have always been a bubbly and positive person and struggle to contain it sometimes.
“But I think it helps with my footy because I like to bring that energy and pressure to my game.’’
Just like the Crow he is modelling his game on.
“I love the way Rory Sloane plays, his tackling pressure and second and third efforts that make him such a ruthless competitor,’’ McHenry said.
“I look at the way he goes about it and think, ‘that’s pretty cool’.”