Crows captain Rory Sloane explains why Adelaide fans should be optimistic for 2021

Should Adelaide fans be glass half-full or glass half-empty going into the 2021 season? Here are four reasons for optimism at West Lakes.

Crows fans who see the world glass half-empty may point to the two pre-season losses to Port Adelaide by a combined 123 points and season-ending knee injury to Wayne Milera as a sign another long year with few wins is on the horizon.

But all clubs enter new campaigns with optimism and there is enough evidence to shape a half-full view of noticeable improvement from last year’s wooden-spooner.

Finishing 2020 with three wins in its last four games, adding four top-30 draft picks, a strong summer on the training track and the continued development of the next generation of talent are just four things exciting Adelaide captain Rory Sloane days out from the club’s season-opener against Geelong at home.

“The boys have trained really, really hard, came back in great condition and have set themselves up for a solid year,” Sloane told The Advertiser.

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Rory Sloane believes there is plenty of reason for optimism at the Crows. Picture: Tom Huntley

“We’ve got a young side and a young list, so I’m just excited to see some of these guys play.”

Adelaide’s squad is the youngest in the league with an average age of 23.8 years.

Teenage draftees Riley Thilthorpe (pick two), Luke Pedlar (11), Sam Berry (28) are all likely to debut this season, along with mature-age goalsneak James Rowe (38).

Harry Schoenberg is among the second-year players looking to become mainstays, while Mitch Hinge (Brisbane) and Jackson Hately (GWS), who are just 22 and 20, have arrived from rival clubs.

The loss of Milera for six-to-nine months with a ruptured patella tendon should provide more opportunities for that younger brigade.

“We’ve got a bit of inexperience out there too and a different looking team so it’s about getting games into these guys and getting them comfortable at the level,” Sloane said.

That is not to say 2021 will purely be a rebuilding year for the Crows.

Sloane said last week the club was setting its sights on finals and was well ahead of its preparation for the new season compared to last year.

Adelaide’s first pre-season under coach Matthew Nicks was hampered by COVID-forced training restrictions and a less-than-ideal summer. The Crows then started the campaign 0-13.

Sloane said the players came back in better condition this pre-season, allowing them to focus more on football and match simulation.

“We’ve got a really great bunch of younger leaders who drove it,” he said.

“Guys like Andy McPherson, Brodie Smith, Will Hamill, Jordon Butts, Lachie Sholl, Ben Keays, they took the reins and drove our off-season and drove it together, which was the most pleasing part.”

Adelaide’s campaign begins against Geelong at home on Saturday.

Harry Schoenberg is a rising star at the Crows. Picture: Getty Images

WHY SLOANE ISN’T WRITING OFF TEX

Adelaide captain Rory Sloane says Taylor Walker has plenty left in the tank after returning to pre-season training in career-best shape and impressing over summer.

Critics have been quick to write off former skipper Walker in the wake of a 2020 yielding career-lows in goals (1.07) and marks (2.57) per game, even taking into account the shorter quarters last year.

Walker, who turns 31 next month, is out of contract at season’s end and there have been calls for him to make way so Riley Thilthorpe and Darcy Fogarty can spearhead Adelaide’s attack.

But the Crows’ all-time leading goalkicker has been the club’s best forward on the training track and in its trial games, moving well and kicking goals, including 3.1 against Port Adelaide on Sunday.

Sloane said his long-time teammate had an incredible summer.

Taylor Walker enters the season in good form. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

“He came back in I think his career-best nick and we’re certainly seeing that at the moment with the type of footy he’s playing,” Sloane told The Advertiser.

“He’ll be around for a while longer, the big fella.

“I think he’s got plenty of great footy left in him.

“You can never buy that sort of experience.

“You need a great balance of experience and inexperience (in the team).

“Tex (Walker), (Tom) Lynch and Tals (Daniel Talia) have been around a long time and played a lot of footy, and they’re sometimes the best teachers.”

Sloane also disagreed with the suggestion that Walker and Fogarty should not line up in the same forward line because they were too similar.

“They’ve jelled together quite well and work really well together, I’m sure they can play together, absolutely,” he said.

Rory Sloane at Crows training. Picture: Tom Huntley

While Walker remains unsigned beyond 2021, the Crows have handed new contracts to six players this year, including reigning best and fairest Reilly O’Brien on Thursday and two-time All-Australian Rory Laird last week.

Sloane said the extensions were a sign of a changing of the guard.

“They (those players) are slowly realising it’s their footy club – they’re the leaders who are going to be taking this footy club forward,” he said.

Leadership group members Matt Crouch and Tom Doedee headline the remaining Crows out of contract.

Sloane said he could not speak for their plans but the club loved them both and hoped they stayed.

Originally published as Crows captain Rory Sloane explains why Adelaide fans should be optimistic for 2021