Patrick Dangerfield’s parting words to Adelaide Crows teammate Jake Kelly has helped him improve his game

PATRICK Dangerfield’s parting words to his teammate and housemate Jake Kelly when he left Adelaide two years ago have set the young defender on the right track.

Adelaide Crows defender Jake Kelly in his club’s gym at West Lakes. Picture: Calum Robertson.

PATRICK Dangerfield’s parting words to his teammate and housemate Jake Kelly when he left Adelaide two years ago were advice to chill out.

Kelly had arrived at the club in 2013 as a rookie and knew he needed to work harder than most to get a game but now, looking back, he says he took it a bit too seriously.

“The one thing he (Dangerfield) said to me when he left was ‘you need to relax a bit more and stop being so intense’,” Kelly told The Advertiser this week.

“I got quite close with Pat living with him for a year and he just said ‘spend less time at the club and back yourself in’ and that’s what I’ve done.

“Hearing it from a teammate and someone like Pat, obviously I saw how he prepared and he was professional but he was relaxed and had quite a good balance of life and football.

“I’ve tried to do that, football is not everything to me. I still want to succeed and win a flag at this club but I know there are other important things as well.”

In his first three seasons at West Lakes Kelly has developed a reputation of being somewhat fanatical about his preparation for training and games.

“I wouldn’t say I’m manic, I am strict with my diet to an extent but I’m not OCD,” he said.

Former housemates Jake Kelly and Patrick Dangerfield compete for the ball at Kardinia Park. Picture: Michael Willson (AFL Media/Getty Images)

“When I arrived at the club I had to work harder and didn’t know how to relax.

“It was always go, go, go, I wasn’t anxious but intense is probably the right word.

“But last year was the big development for me, I just really relaxed about everything, I started chilling out and backed myself in on game day.

“It was more when you’re at the club switch on, think about football, when you leave, switch off, and that’s what I’ve learnt to do and I’m a more relaxed person and it’s helping me.”

To do that he plays golf, is a big fan of Netflix and one of his best mates in Adelaide is Power defender Darcy Byrne-Jones which is good because they would not talk footy even if they wanted to.

“We went to school together and travelled around America together last year,” Kelly said.

“It’s funny that we both ended up in Adelaide.”

Kelly was drafted by Adelaide as a rookie at Pick No. 40 in 2013 and spent his first season at the club in the reserves.

His major breakthrough came in 2015 when he made his AFL debut in Round 3 and played 10 consecutive games.

But things changed in the off-season and a combination of winning form and no injuries meant he didn’t play any AFL footy in 2016 and spent the whole season in the reserves.

This year the wheel turned again and Kelly was back in the side where he has played every game except one after copping a nasty poke in the eye. But he doesn’t feel like he’s on the edge every week.

“I try not to, I try to believe that I’ll play every game this year, that’s what I want to do and that’s the mindset I go into games with,” he said.

“Some guys would like to go in and find they get motivation from that but everyone is on the edge I guess at a club like this because if you don’t perform then you’ll be out.”

Before this season senior coach Don Pyke said there were players on the list who didn’t play an AFL game last year but had still improved their game — and the obvious example was Kelly.

“Offensively I tried to improve my decision making and executing the ball, and I felt like my kicking improved since I got to the club,” he said.

Kelly celebrates a win on his AFL debut in Round 3, 2015. Picture: Sarah Reed.

“Then defensively it was more learning the system that Don had implemented.

“I felt like I had a fair grasp of it (AFL structures) when I got to the club but I had no idea about half the stuff I know now in terms of proactive defence, where to set up, structures. There are a lot of things as an 18-year-old you don’t really know.”

Kelly played his TAC Cup footy with Oakleigh Chargers in Melbourne but Adelaide was a good fit for him when he was drafted.

Both his grandparents live in SA and his dad Craig played at Norwood before joining Collingwood, where he played in the 1990 premiership.

Craig comes to Kelly’s games when he can but they don’t really talk footy.

Kelly’s dad, Craig, playing on Geelong great Gary Ablett. Craig played 122 games and in the 1990 premiership with Collingwood.

“I speak to him about football for probably 10 seconds each week after the game, we’ll talk briefly about how I went but in very little detail because it’s too hard when you’re external to judge a person’s game,” Kelly said.

“Games where he says he thought I did all right, I don’t always think so.”

But there was one bit of advice Craig gave him when he was younger that has stuck.

“He said to me once that I’ll probably have to work harder than most other blokes. It was quite a reality check when I was young,” Kelly said.

“I realised that pretty early on, I don’t say I don’t have any natural talent but I’ve learnt to work hard to get here and he instilled that in me.

“If you’re going to do something, do it properly — that was his main message.”

Kelly played a bit of everywhere as a junior but by under-18s had moved to the backline permanently.

With his running capacity he would like to get up the ground further into his career but right now is relishing the chance to learn as much as he can under defensive coach James Podsiadly.

“Pods and I both arrived at the club at the same time,” Kelly said.

“We became quite close, he was good friends with Pat and I bounced a lot of things off him.

“He’s a great coach, a modern coach because he’s just come out of the game and he makes it interesting, he’s definitely not old school but he’ll tell you how it is.”

Despite their age difference the one thing Kelly and Podsiadly have in common is that as two rookies they had to fight for everything they get.

“I probably knew I would either be drafted late, or as a rookie so I was prepared to go that way,” Kelly said.

“Then as a rookie the next step is to try to get onto the senior list.

“It was challenging but in saying that a lot of guys will tell you that it’s rewarding.”

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