Sam Jacobs column: The characters that make up the Adelaide Football Club
Crows ruckman Sam Jacobs provides the inside word on the personalities that make up the Adelaide Football Club in his exclusive column.
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As much as I love playing football, the part I will miss the most when my career is over is the clubhouse banter.
It’s pretty special to be able to roll up at a place on a daily basis and “work’’ alongside 44 other driven young guys who, individually, are striving to be the best they can while, collectively, are aggressively chasing a premiership.
You don’t find that in too many other professions.
There also is a great care factor at a football club.
Unfortunately, I learnt that the hard way — through the passing of Crows coaches Phil Walsh and Dean Bailey and my brother, Aaron.
In times of difficulty, people at the club — players, coaches and staff — put an arm around you and offer tremendous support.
The camaraderie is brilliant and I cannot imagine a better support network.
The locker room is — apart from the wins, of course — the greatest fun of all.
There are so many different personalities that make up an AFL squad.
There are the up-and-about guys who tend to dominate the locker rooms, those who are just head down, bum up and others who are quiet and like to keep to themselves.
Co-captain Taylor Walker has a massive influence over the group at Adelaide because of his strong, commanding personality and natural leadership skills.
He is a strong motivator and is great at getting the boys together — inside and outside of the club — and keeping their spirits high.
Brodie Smith was very quiet in his first few years at the club after his drafting in 2010 but in recent times has displayed his passion and fun personality and is now incredibly popular and influential within the group.
Our other co-captain Rory Sloane has strong relationships with everyone, players and coaches, while veteran Richard Douglas doesn’t win our best team man award regularly for nothing.
He is a well-rounded person who cares strongly for his teammates and always has the club’s best interests at heart.
Not bad for a Victorian.
Here's my take on some of the personalities who make up the Adelaide Football Club.
COACH’S FAVOURITE
Rory Sloane. He’s very passionate about football and life and our coach Don Pyke just loves him. ‘Sloaney’ is a real pro on and off the field and takes great pride in the club, which is one of the reasons he stayed in Adelaide rather than return to Melbourne at the end of his last contract. He’s very unselfish, always puts the club first and can relate to everyone, which is one of the reasons he’s so popular.
THE PROFESSIONAL
Ice bath king Daniel Talia ticks every box to ensure he’s at his best on game day. He just loves his ice baths, massages, physio and recovery sessions and is almost manic with the way he goes about things. No-one at the club prepares better. This was never more evident than in the pre-season when he worked incredibly hard to overcome off-season knee surgery to put his name on the AFL whiteboard for round one. There is a reason Talia’s performances are at a consistently high level.
QUIET SUPERSTAR
Wayne Milera, still only 21, has the talent to become one of Adelaide’s greatest players. Still learning his trade, “Junior’’ is a freakish talent who loves to take the game on and has all the tools to be special — pace, athleticism, great skills and a terrific attitude. He epitomises the modern game in that he is that nice-sized 184cm utility who is not only good offensively but defensively. There are no obvious weaknesses in his game. He only has to have a bit of luck with injury for us to see the very best of him. Apart from being a fine footballer, “Junior”, who doesn't say much but is highly-respected by his teammates, is a great family man.
THE ALLIANCE/PRANKSTERS
Tex Walker, Brad and Matt Crouch and Paul Seedsman are pretty much inseparable. Popular among their teammates, they have similar interests — socialising, golf and horse racing — and are great fun to be around. They love stirring the pot and if there is a lot of action inside our clubhouse or some pranks being played, usually one of these blokes, if not all of them, is involved.
POINT BREAK CREW
Sloane, Hugh Greenwood, Paul Hunter and Cam Ellis-Yolmen are the surfers and campers among the group. They don’t need lavish surroundings and are more than happy to get away with their surfboards together.
FAMILY MAN
With four kids that title goes to Eddie Betts. He is a proud dad whose children play a big role in his footy. They always seem to be alongside him, including on game day, and Eddie smiles every time he talks about them. I’ve been told that Eddie is great at home, being a clean freak and helping with all the daily chores.
PROPERTY TYCOON
Richard Douglas just loves the property market. He’s always looking at real estate — in the paper, online or television for the next ‘bargain’- and is the go-to guy for any of the boys who are looking to purchase. ‘Dougy’s’ already had a hand in some development properties and I’ve got no doubt that he’ll be involved in the field post footy.
THE PATRIOT
You can’t go past Tom Lynch. While he plays a key on-field role for the Crows, he is as Victorian as it gets. His dad, Andrew, is chairman of selectors for Cricket Victoria and Tom defends his turf with great pride. He loves the Victorian cricket team and BBL side Melbourne Renegades and gives the boys plenty of grief when they come up against the Redbacks and Strikers. He — like great mate Josh Jenkins — also loves the NFL, particularly the New England Patriots and their quarterback Tom Brady.
DEEP THINKER
JENKINS thinks differently than most, outside the box. He's outspoken and is good at challenging people to try different things and, along with our old teammate ‘Danger’ (Patrick Dangerfield) is one of the guys driving AFL clubs and players to be more open with the media. As is well documented, Josh also loves his American sport, especially the NFL. He breaks it all down and is right into the analytics of sport.
THE AMERICAN
As much as Jenkins and Lynch like heading to the US to watch sport, our 2017 AFL Rising Star runner-up Tom Doedee is consumed by it. Another big Brady fan, he took his old man, Steve, on a sports trip to America at the end of last season to watch various sports in different cities, including Los Angeles, Boston and New York. Girlfriend Emily was left behind as Tommy decided to take his dad on a boys trip to thank him for his support as he pursued his AFL dream.
THE BALLER
Greenwood. He played college basketball at New Mexico in the US, dresses like a basketballer and has a natural swagger about him. When he arrived at the Crows as a Category B player he had the long, blond locks and a man bun. He’s changed his appearance to look more like a footballer now but some of the boys suspect he has olive skin because he applies fake tan.
THE GAMER
Rory Laird is our king of Fortnite. The boys who play the online video game tell me he is comfortably the benchmark. He loves gaming and has plenty of time to do it because he lives on his own. We have about 10 regular Fortnite players and ‘Lairdy’ has them covered.
BRAINIAC
I thought I defied the ‘dumb ruckman’’ theory but Reilly O’Brien takes it to a new level. He’s smart, really smart, so it figures he is combining his football with studying to become a doctor. He’s one of those blokes who, which is annoying to others, picks concepts up really easily. He’s played some good AFL football since being given his chance this season, which is a credit to him.
THE COUNTRY BOY
Darcy Fogarty grew up on a farm near Lucindale in the southeast of the State and used to ride bulls and loves wearing the jeans and work boots combo. He’s so proud of his upbringing that you can’t take the country out of the boy.
AND ME
I’d like to think I’m pretty well-rounded and would fit into a few categories. There’s the country boy — gee, I love my home town of Ardrossan and the Yorke Peninsula — who loves the outdoors while I’m a family man and big American sports fan, particularly of the NBA (go Warriors). I can relate to all my teammates and coaches and love picking up trends in footy and learning about the game. I can see myself being involved in some sort of coaching capacity when my playing career is over.
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