AFL 2021: Adelaide Crows news ahead of the Round 4 clash with North Melbourne
The Adelaide Crows have suffered a massive blow with captain Rory Sloane ruled out for up to a month.
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Adelaide has suffered a major blow on the eve of its clash with North Melbourne with captain Rory Sloane ruled out for up to a month.
The Crows have announced that Sloane reported blurred vision during training on Thursday.
He now requires surgery to remedy a retinal detachment in his eye.
Crows head of football Adam Kelly said this ruled Sloane out of the clash against the Kangaroos, and he would likely miss several more games.
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“Rory’s health and wellbeing is obviously our number one priority,” Kelly said.
“At this stage, it is hard to give a definitive date on when he will return to the field but we are hopeful of it being in the vicinity of 2-4 weeks.”
The 31-year-old had been enjoying a resurgence in form as part of Adelaide’s good start to the season.
In the Crows last game against Gold Coast, Adelaide senior coach Matthew Nicks labelled Sloane’s performance as “one of the best captains games I’ve seen” after he amassed 35 disposals, 20 contested possessions and 11 clearances.
It comes as a big blow for the Crows ahead of a match they are expected to win, with the Roos smarting after a huge loss to the Western Bulldogs last week.
Tom Doedee captained the side in Sloane’s absence last year, when he broke his thumb, but as for who comes into the engine room to replace the skipper isn’t as clear.
Jackson Hately has been named in the SANFL side to take on West Adelaide on Saturday, but could be withdrawn.
Darcy Fogarty and Chayce Jones are not yet named in that team, indicating they could be in the mix for the AFL side, with Fogarty recently playing around the ball in the SANFL.
Fogarty was spoken about by Nicks as a potential replacement for Tom Lynch, if a toe injury rules him out.
On Friday Crows senior assistant Scott Burns said Lynch would be given right until the last minute to prove his fitness for what will be his 150th game for the Crows.
“We will probably go right to the death with Tommy and have a good look at him (on Saturday),” he said on SEN SA.
“They were still pretty positive he can front up on Sunday.”
Defender Josh Worrell is another who is yet to be named in the reserves, with Nicks revealing he was closing in on an AFL debut for the club.
TALIA GROUNDED LONG-TERM
Veteran Crows defender Daniel Talia is set to be sidelined for eight to 10 weeks as he recovers from foot surgery.
Talia, who has been sidelined this year due to an off-season knee procedure, has developed pain in his left foot over the past fortnight and scans have shown an inflammation of a tendon.
SCROLL DOWN: KELLY REVEALS CONCUSSION TOLL OF DANGER BUMP
Crows head of football Adam Kelly said Talia saw a specialist, who determined surgery was the best outcome.
“It is the result of a bone spur which is irritating a tendon,” Kelly said.
“Post-surgery we will develop a return-to-play plan, but at this point it’s too early to make a call on when that will occur.
“This course of action will give Daniel the best chance of playing a meaningful role in the second half of our 2021 season.”
Talia is out of contract at the end of the campaign.
His absence should provide more opportunities for emerging defender Jordon Butts and first-year rookie Nick Murray.
Midfielder Matt Crouch is expected to resume running this week as he builds his training loads but there is no timeline on when he will return.
Veteran David Mackay (hamstring tightness) will have a fitness test and the Crows expects he will be available.
Hard-nosed on-baller Luke Pedlar has overcome an abdominal strain and is in line to play his first game for the club.
Pedlar, who was taken at pick 11 in last year’s draft and was managed during pre-season due to groin soreness, should be available for selection to feature in the SANFL on Saturday.
Mitch Hinge (shoulder) and Lachlan Gollant (finger) had their respective surgeries last week.
Hinge will miss the remainder of the season, while Gollant is eight to 12 weeks away from returning.
CONCUSSED KELLY A FAN OF LEAGUE PROTOCOLS
Adelaide defender Jake Kelly says it was “comforting” to be ruled out for an extra week under the AFL’s new concussion protocols.
Kelly was severely concussed for the first time in his career in Round 1 in a sickening head clash with Patrick Dangerfield after the Geelong star chose to bump his former housemate.
Kelly returned for the Crows in their thrilling Round 3 win over Gold Coast after satisfying the AFL’s new concussion protocols.
Under the new rules, players cannot play a game again 12 days after they suffer a concussion, up from a previous guideline of six days.
Kelly said he was a big fan of the changes.
“I feel great now, after about five or six days I went back to complete normality,” he said.
“Last recollection of the concussion was probably the handball and since that I can’t really remember anything after the game, going back on the ground, seeing people in the rooms.
“I got my bearings back the next day and started to remember bits and pieces.
“The AFL is really strict now which is great, they have brought in the initiative of having to sit out 12 days.
“They were really strict on each days you have to tick off certain boxes, days one to two were complete rest and then you build from there in being able to do light exercise and then main training.”
Kelly said this increased time out really helped him with his recovery.
“I felt OK enough in myself to play after six or seven days but it felt really comforting to know that I could not play in a way… and I knew after my period (out) my brain would be OK,” he said.
“It was comforting to know it (a return after six days) was out of the question.”
Dangerfield received a three-game suspension for the bump on his former teammate and housemate.
Kelly said the Cats star texted him the following day, and that the penalty was an adequate one.
“I lived with Pat so I have a great deal of respect for him for what he was able to do for me and my time there,” he said.
“I’m incredibly grateful for that and it was unfortunate decision he made and unfortunately I came off second best, although he did get three games.
“The AFL is very clear about where they want to go from a concussion standpoint and if you elect to bump and a player is going to get concussed I think it fair that you miss a couple of weeks.
“So I think it was a fair result and I think the AFL is doing a fantastic job of stamping it out of the game and having a duty of care for the head because we don’t know how it is going to affect guys 20 or 30 years down the track.”
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Originally published as AFL 2021: Adelaide Crows news ahead of the Round 4 clash with North Melbourne
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