The great reinvention of Crows halfback Brodie Smith is now rejuvenating his team’s forward line too
Former player-turned football commentator Ben Dixon gives his thoughts on the new forward/midfield role of Crows senior defender Brodie Smith and what that brings to the Adelaide side.
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You don’t become an All-Australian halfback for nothing. So when Crows defender Brodie Smith was named in the backlines of the 2014 All-Australian team, you could be forgiven for chalking the 189cm South Australian down as a defender for life.
It’s funny what the footy gods throw your way.
For the one they call “Smithers”, this season has been about reinvention and rejuvenation. And a long-awaited move into the midfield and through the forward lines in the later half of this season has given the 27-year-old an added dimension to his game.
According to Champion Data — the official statisticians of the AFL — since round 16, Smith has spent only 14 per cent of his game time in defence, instead splitting his time, 43 per cent each, between the midfield and forward.
It’s been an unexpected joy to watch.
Before the start of the 2017 season Smith was quoted by AFL Media as saying he’d abandoned his quest to move into the midfield. Instead, he told the media outlet, he wanted to concentrate on catapulting the Crows out of the backlines with his booming kick.
“I’m pretty comfortable across halfback,” Smith said then.
“When you look at our midfield, it’s pretty strong … that halfback, wing role is where I’ll play most of my footy.”
So what transforms an accomplished, respected backman into a versatile mid-forward? And why?
FOX FOOTY commentator — and former Hawthorn forward — Ben Dixon surmises it generally happens for one of two reasons: either the player himself is getting stagnant and needs a position change for reinvigoration, or the team has a glaring hole that needs filling.
“I can only have an opinion, because I don’t know what goes on internally at the Crows, but I can imagine (coach) Don Pyke, at the halfway mark had some conversations with the players,” Dixon says.
“That’s what footy clubs do, they have honest conversations on how do we make you better: ‘We drafted you because you were good at ‘this’, now what else can you do?’.
“For an outsider looking in, that’s the beauty of Pyke, that he’s happy to have those conversations.”
The move has worked well for Smith and according to Champion Data, since round 16 he ranks inside the top five at the Crows for metrics including score involvements, uncontested possessions, ranking points and disposals. He is ranked No. 1 for metres gained and this might have something to do with the reason behind the position change.
As Pyke explained last month: “Smith’s one of those guys who’s a high-metres-gained-type player, he covers the ground really well, he generally presses the game really well and we think that’s a good mix to explore in the mids.
“We know what he can do back, but he’s now getting an opportunity to play some mid minutes and it’s good for him and good for the balance of the team.
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“Certainly the way the game’s playing now … adding some of the other guys who provide a bit more balance and run as well is important so we’ll keep exploring that.”
Pyke has also moved Wayne Milera and Rory Atkins into that midfield mix as the side strives for balance.
Dixon — who has live commentated numerous Crows games this season, including the side’s 95-point drubbing of Gold Coast in round 17 and last weekend’s win over St Kilda — says he likes what he sees of Smith in the middle.
“I think the move to be more versatile has been really positive, not only for Adelaide, but for Brodie,” Dixon says. “He’s looked quite comfortable through stoppages and clearances. And his ability to play that high half-forward role, knowing that the Adelaide forward line at times this year has struggled, his running ability is pretty valuable.
“That flexibility he has now, (the Crows) would be like: ‘We’ve got a new player here’.”
It must also be personally satisfying for Smith who had most of the 2018 season off while rehabing the ACL he tore in his knee late in the 2017 season.
Dixon says versatility is key for longevity in the modern game.
“The reality with footy is that if you play multiple roles, it not only benefits the team, but it prolongs your career, because your magnet — as they say in match committee — stays on the whiteboard a little longer if it’s not always in the one spot.”
And Dixon should know: in his 203-game career spanning 11 seasons at the Hawks, the forward spent one season in the backhalf, kickstarted when teammate Trent Croad went down with gastro and couldn’t play Brisbane in 2004.
“I was playing forward and (coach) Peter Schwab said: ‘How would you like to play on (Lions) Jonanthan Brown?’ and I said no thanks.
“And then he said: ‘You’re going to because we haven’t really got anyone else’.
“And that one year in defence was unbelievable for me. As a player sometimes you need a challenge, something new to give yourself a better perspective on what your strengths are …
you can reinvent and rejuvenate yourself and I can see that with Brodie.
“Now that he’s shaken that (defender) tag, his best role for me is high half-forward because he can play a role at stoppages and play a part of hitting the scoreboard … and it’s probably what Adelaide needs with their mix upfront.”
And Dixon would love to see more of it: co-captain Taylor Walker could do with a reinvention too, he muses.
“If Adelaide are going to continue with this developing and rolling players through, then I’d love to see Tex on a wing,” he says.
Dixon says rolling players is an important part of a balanced team and he recalls (coach) Alastair Clarkson’s training methods encouraging it.
“Clarko always had cards facedown in the middle of Waverley Park and they had different positions on them and you had to come up and grab a card and if I grabbed a halfback, then I had to go and play halfback and learn the structures,” he says.
“That’s why he’s one of the great teachers because if you were in a game and had to go down back or go in the midfield and you’d never played there, you knew exactly what the role was and all of a sudden, you’d go: ‘Hold on, that guy can play down there’ and in a roundabout way you’re going to find out the multiple positions a player can play.”
So as Smith walks onto Optus Stadium Sunday afternoon to play his 165th game of AFL footy, Dixon says his performance will be vital to whether Adelaide can beat West Coast.
“I give them a big chance to beat the Eagles because last week they showed me they had a little bit more control over the ball,” Dixon says.
“Their uncontested game has been really inconsistent and their clearance game hasn’t been up to scratch, but when they possessed the ball against St Kilda, they actually looked really organised.
“They showed me a few things last week that I haven’t seen before with Adelaide, that ability to possess more, be a bit more patient rather than the ‘fast play, get it out the back and let the forwards do the work’.
“The forwards had to come to the ball last week as opposed to running back to goal and I thought that was a big step forward.
“I think Brodie can play a big role in how Adelaide go in the next three weeks with what he’s doing currently.”
Watch every match of every round LIVE in HD, with no ad-breaks during play on FOX FOOTY, channel 504 on Foxtel. West Coast v Adelaide from 4.30pm Sunday.