Taylor Walker, Brodie Smith and Brad Crouch key to Adelaide’s resurgence in 2019
Adelaide is coming off a poor season after failing to feature in the finals series only a year after playing off in the Grand Final. So where will their improvement come from to rise back up the ladder? The key Crows to look out for.
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Adelaide is coming off a disappointing season after failing to feature in the finals series only a year after playing off in the Grand Final.
So where will the Crows’ improvement come from to rise back up the ladder?
ANDREW CAPEL looks at the Adelaide list and names the players to watch in season 2019.
BRODIE SMITH
The 2014 All-Australian played just two AFL games last season after breaking down and undergoing a knee reconstruction following the 2017 qualifying final against GWS.
Smith’s professionalism and meticulous training regimen saw him return to action in the SANFL just 317 days after his injury.
The 26-year-old playmaking defender showed what Adelaide had been missing by hardly missing a beat on his return to AFL action.
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He averaged 22 disposals and five marks in two games against Port Adelaide and the Giants in Rounds 20 and 21 before missing the final two rounds with a corked calf.
Smith’s pace, run and carry and long kicking from defence is crucial to the Crows' attacking game plan — he ranked No.1 at the club in 2017 for metres gained and second for effective kicks and rebound 50s — and his absence was one of the reasons they stumbled from second to 12th last season.
Smith has enjoyed a strong start to pre-season training, declaring he is “fresh’’ and ready to hit the ground running in round one.
“I was actually excited for pre-season for once, which is a bit different,’’ he said, adding his confidence had been boosted by returning to action late in the year.
“It was good to get a good performance in (a 29-disposal effort against the Giants) because it gives me confidence heading into round one that I’m ready to go and get back to my best.”
BRAD CROUCH
Highly-rated but injury-prone midfield ball magnet Crouch did not play an AFL game last season because of a chronic groin injury.
He struggled with the injury in the pre-season and after a period of rest underwent surgery in June and was ruled out for the rest of the year.
Crouch’s shocking setback came after he played a personal-best 20 games in 2017 following just 41 games in the previous four years.
Runner-up for the AFL Rising Star award in 2013, Crouch averaged a career-high 28 disposals in 2017 and was a key factor in the club making its first Grand Final in 19 years.
“It was very frustrating missing an entire season,’’ Crouch said.
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“I’ve had a few injuries over the past few years, so it’s been a frustrating time but I’ve just tried to stay as positive as I can so I can get back to playing the footy I know I can play.’’
Crouch returned to pre-season training ahead of schedule by joining the first-to-fourth year players at the start of November and is slowly building up his training loads.
“I’ve been doing about 80 per cent of the program and after Christmas I should be doing 100 per cent of the pre-season with the boys and building up to games,” he said.
“I’m feeling really good physically and have been virtually pain free since I had the surgery in June.
“I’ve spent the past six months getting my fitness back and I’m starting to feel really good running now.”
TAYLOR WALKER
Adelaide’s skipper wasn’t as chronically injured as Smith and Crouch this year but he never really got going because of a succession of injuries and suspensions.
His nightmare year started with the dreaded foot condition plantar fascia in the pre-season, resulting in him missing key training sessions and the Round 1 clash against Essendon.
The key forward returned for the Round 2 Grand Final rematch against Richmond but suffered back/hamstring soreness against Gold Coast in Round 6 and after missing a week and returning against Port Adelaide in Round 8 he was shut down by the Crows for a month and ordered to do a mini pre-season to build up his fitness base.
Walker battled his way through the rest of the campaign before being suspended from the final two rounds and sent for left foot surgery.
He kicked just 26 goals for the year — 28 fewer than 2017 and his worst return since 2013 when he kicked 10 goals in five games before rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and missing the rest of the season.
Walker described his year as “challenging’’.
“I only did 10 or 20 per cent of pre-season so historically when you do that much, it definitely hinders you to be able to perform the way you want to,’’ he said during the season.
“I would put my hand up and say that I haven’t been able to perform the way I know I can.
“Knowing my body, I need to be able to train to be able to perform each week and for whatever reason I haven’t been able to do that.”
Walker has returned to pre-season training in good shape and should hit back hard in 2019.
WAYNE MILERA
Showed why he was the Crows’ top draft pick in 2015 (No.11 overall) with a breakthrough 2018 campaign.
The silky-skilled 21-year-old played a career-high 19 games and averaged a career-best 19 disposals and five marks.
But what was most impressive was the class and poise he displayed under pressure.
Moving from the wing to halfback to replace the injured Smith, Central District product Milera had a career-high 33 disposals against Gold Coast in Round 6 and nine times registered 20 or more possessions, including in seven of the last eight games.
His ability to win the ball in traffic, dodge and weave his way through wannabe tacklers with breakaway speed and deliver the ball with precision was reminiscent of Adelaide’s dual Norm Smith Medallist Andrew McLeod.
“He’s a great young player and someone who we want to have the ball in his hands because he's a smooth mover who finds a target,” teammate Rory Atkins said.
Milera — recruited as a midfielder/forward — has made his mark as a damaging half-back but with Smith’s return the Crows have to decide where he best fits next season.
“I’m training at half-back at the moment but I’m open to anything, we’ll see how we go,” Milera said.
“Half-back’s been good, but I’m happy to play wherever, wherever they need me.’’
DARCY FOGARTY
The Crows spectacularly swooped on the one-time No.1 draft pick contender with pick No.12 at the 2017 national draft after he slid down the pecking order following a knee injury that adversely affected his form and ended his draft season prematurely.
The big-bodied key forward/midfielder from Glenelg played 10 AFL games in his first year in Adelaide’s tricolours — a credible effort — and while he didn’t set the world on fire, kicking nine goals and averaging eight disposals, he showed signs of being a fine, long-term player.
Just 19, Fogarty is powerful and dynamic and has some Nat Fyfe qualities about him.
He has re-signed until the end of 2021.
“I love him, he’s tough, tough as a cat’s head,” Walker said.
“He just understands the game. He’s got great leading patterns, he’s not afraid to stand up for himself and he’s going to have a bright future.”
The controversial departure of tall forward Mitch McGovern to Carlton has opened the door for Fogarty to establish himself in coach Don Pyke’s best 22 next season.
THE SMALL FORWARDS
Jordan Gallucci, Shane McAdam, Tyson Stengle and Lachlan Murphy
Veteran star Eddie Betts remains Adelaide’s best small forward despite a poor season by the star’s standards, which saw him kick just 29 goals after averaging 61 in his first four years at the club after signing as a free agent from Carlton.
But the battle for the next livewire forward spot will be on in earnest after the Crows’ recruitment of SANFL ace Shane McAdam, an excitement machine from Sturt, and former Richmond goalsneak Tyson Stengle.
Add them to last season’s rookie surprise packet Lachlan Murphy and 2016 first-round draft pick Jordan Gallucci — a midfielder who produced a career-best performance as a forward in the round 23 thumping of the Blues with four goals and 17 disposals — and the competition to be Betts’ main sidekick will be hot.
Gallucci will eventually move into the midfield but he already has proved his value as a small forward, giving Adelaide a quartet of options to run alongside Betts and talls Walker, Josh Jenkins, Tom Lynch and possibly Fogarty in attack.
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