Part 2: Rory Sloane on letting go of Crows’ 2017 grand final loss, Taylor Walker, Matthew Nicks and serving as captain in 2020
Adelaide captain Rory Sloane can pinpoint when he moved past previous football failures. He spoke about leading the Crows in 2020 under new coach Matthew Nicks in Part 2 of an exclusive interview with The Advertiser.
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Rory Sloane can pinpoint the exact moment he let go of Adelaide’s 2017 grand final disaster.
It was early October that year and he was sitting on his surfboard halfway across the Indian Ocean when he thought to himself “how good is life?”
“It always stings losing a game that’s pretty important and one you want to win, but two weeks later I was in the Maldives and I had watched the NRL grand final and saw that other teams lose grand finals too,” Sloane said.
“Then I was surfing with three other people in a place down south in the Maldives and it literally took till that moment when I thought ‘how good is life?’ and that was where I let go of the grand final, really.
“I came back in the next year feeling great.
“Unfortunately I had that foot injury which kept me out for about 10 games, which was disappointing, but that’s the challenges that sport throws up to you.”
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Almost 12 months after the grand final as the Crows were still coming to terms with their missed opportunity against Richmond at the MCG, Sloane and his wife Belinda were also dealing with unimaginable grief when they lost son, Leo, who was stillborn at 34 weeks in August 2018.
It’s not that football didn’t matter to Sloane anymore, it’s just that he was reminded of its place in life.
“Losing Leo put a lot of life and sport into perspective for me,” he said.
“I certainly got a couple of great lessons in life from that and I certainly now enjoy life more than I ever have and I will continue to enjoy myself.”
Neither the fallout from the grand final or their personal heartbreak saw Sloane and Belinda consider returning to Victoria to be closer to family.
“As I spoke about when we were going through the contract negotiations (in 2018) that was always something Belinda and I were thinking about – what our life would look like back there,” he said.
“But we both love the footy club and South Australia as a whole and it came down to something as simple as that.
“The question was ‘are we happy?’ and we still are living where we are.”
Now going into the 2020 season, albeit under incredibly different circumstances with the coronavirus pandemic throwing the game and country into turmoil, Sloane remains upbeat as he prepares to captain the Crows in his own right.
As co-captain with Taylor Walker last year, the 30-year-old always seemed the logical choice to continue in the job on his own when Walker stepped down before an external review led to widespread changes to the list and football department.
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But he wanted new coach Matthew Nicks to get to know him and the entire list before any decision was made, and the rebooted leadership group wasn’t announced until late January.
“He’s one of my best mates, Tex, and sharing the captaincy with him is something I’ll cherish forever, I’ll look back on and think ‘how good was that year?’,” Sloane said.
“But when he stepped down, I was more than happy to do whatever this footy club needed or whatever was best for it.
“I chatted to Nicksy and I really wanted him to get to know me and everyone else in the footy club, and that’s probably why a decision wasn’t made for a long time because he can’t just come in and go off what previous people said, I wanted him to get a feel for what’s best for this footy club.
“I am incredibly proud to lead this group and incredibly excited too, we have a young list and had a lot of turnover (in the off-season), but it’s exciting to lead this group because it’s their footy club.
“I want to help them figure out what environment they want to be part of and what legacy I can help leave them.
“This is my 12th year of footy, I’ve been able to work hard from the very start of my career and enjoy every single season.
“I love what I do, I love this footy club and hopefully that can translate to some of the kids - that they can enjoy the club they come into and have as much fun as Tex and I have had the last 12 years.”
Not one of the competition’s rival 17 captains has tipped Adelaide to return to the finals this season after a two-year hiatus.
Many supporters don’t know what to expect from the new-look team, but Sloane assures them it will be an exciting ride.
“We’re extremely excited about where we can go, a core group of players on our list have played a lot of footy and are very experienced, and we are injecting some youth,” he said.
“Guys like Chayce Jones, Darcy Fogarty, Ben Davis, Shane McAdam, Tyson Stengle, Myles Poholke, guys who are itching to play senior footy and have speed and energy.
“Those along with our senior core, who are pretty experienced, I think is an exciting prospect, we just can’t wait to start playing.”
reece.homfray@news.com.au