Adelaide news 2022: Stay up to date with everything happening at the Crows before Round 6
Taylor Walker had plenty to say about the MRO’s decision not to sanction Trent Cotchin after he lashed out with his leg. The Tiger has responded.
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Richmond midfielder Trent Cotchin says he was “trying to protect” himself when he threw his leg out at Adelaide’s Taylor Walker last Saturday.
The former Tigers skipper escaped a fine suspension but was fined $2000 by the AFL match review officer for kicking out at Walker in what was deemed “intentional” and “low impact” in an exchange on the boundary line at Adelaide Oval.
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Walker criticised Cotchin on Adelaide radio this week, saying the act was “deliberate” and suggested he would have been suspended for a month for a similar action.
“I think as I rolled, I was trying to protect myself,” Cotchin said on Channel 7.
“I know Tex has come out and said some comments. He is entitled to his opinion, but I have got bigger things to worry about than to comment on an action that happened in Saturday’s game.”
Cotchin said he had exchanged text messages with teammate Dustin Martin, who has taken a self-imposed break from the game for personal reasons.
He said he would be “shocked” if Martin chose to leave Punt Rd at any stage for one of the two Sydney clubs, believing he will return to the Tigers,
“I haven’t had any of those conversations with Dusty (about a rumoured move to Sydney),” Cotchin said.
“He is a very loyal person, so I would be shocked to see that be the situation.
“All we wish for him is to get better and to feel healthy and happy and get back to the club as soon as he can.”
The Herald Sun revealed this week that Martin had returned to Melbourne from Sydney and could soon reignite his AFL career, having not played since Round 1.
Tex slams MRO for preferential treatment
—Sam Landsberger
Trent Cotchin deliberately kicked Taylor Walker and was then given preferential treatment by the AFL’s judicial system, according to the frustrated Adelaide spearhead.
Walker couldn’t believe that match review officer Michael Christian only fined Cotchin $2000 for the incident which left the power forward furious at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
Walker immediately remonstrated with Cotchin and appeared to point at the nearest umpire, saying: “He kicked me!”
Commentator Chris Dittmar said on radio on Monday: “You can’t go around kicking blokes”, to which Walker added: “Especially when it’s deliberate”.
Christian graded the incident as intentional conduct, low impact and body contact, triggering a $3000 fine as a first offence or a $2000 fine with an early plea.
“If the shoe was on the other foot I would’ve been missing the next month,” Walker said on Triple M.
“(If it was Toby Greene) he’d be suspended for the whole year.”
Walker and Cotchin captained Adelaide and Richmond to the 2017 Grand Final, although Cotchin had a close call in the lead-up to that drought-breaking premiership.
In the preliminary final he left Greater Western Sydney midfielder Dylan Shiel concussed, which was also scrutinised however ultimately the MRO decided not to lay a charge.
But under the matrix for grading classifiable offences there was little room to move for Saturday’s incident.
The incident was clearly intentional conduct and body contact.
It would’ve been a stretch to grade it as ‘medium’ contact and suspend Cotchin for one match, given Walker didn’t even stumble to the ground.
Cotchin raised his leg as he fell to the ground when the pair tangled, with Walker almost tripping over because of the stray leg.
A contact grading of ‘high’ would’ve triggered a two-match ban, which, again, seemed inappropriate.
The only other possible way Cotchin could’ve been in hot water was if he was charged with serious misconduct and sent straight to the tribunal.
Walker was supremely confident ACL victim Rory Sloane would complete the nine months of rehabilitation required to return to football in 2023 as a 33-year-old.
Sloane, the Crows’ skipper, and his family visited Walker on Sunday.
“I reckon it’ll (knee surgery) freshen him up and he’ll get another year out of his body,” Walker said.
“I reckon we’ll see a little bit more of Rory Sloane. We’ll get him through this next 12 months and he’ll be ready to go, hopefully Round 1 next year.”
“He’s pretty sore. I’d imagine once he has surgery this week it’ll sink in,” Walker said.
Walker suspected the Crows might share the captaincy around Tom Doedee, Brodie Smith, Reilly O’Brien and Ben Keays for the next 17 matches, allowing each member of the leadership group to audition for the next full-time gig.
How battling Crows can overcome Sloane disaster
—Jasper Bruce
Rory Sloane will remain captain of the Adelaide Crows despite his season-ending ACL injury but coach Matthew Nicks is calling on the remaining members of the leadership group to step up in his absence.
Sloane tore his ACL in the Crows’ round five win over Richmond and went in for successful surgery on Wednesday.
That afternoon, Nicks revealed the remaining members of the leadership group – Tom Doedee, Ben Keays, Reilly O’Brien and Brodie Smith – would assume the on-field captaincy until the end of the season.
Nicks stressed Sloane would remain a leader at the club despite his injury.
“He’s our captain and will be going forward; it will be on-field where we will be challenged,” Nicks said.
“What we’ll now need is for others to step up and fill that void that we’ve got with him missing.
“Off-field, we’ll get him back into our program as quickly as possible. There’ll probably be a role for him on game day, whether that’s on the bench or upstairs with us. He sees the game really well; he’s the ultimate leader.”
Nicks said he had confidence the leadership group could handle the extra workload.
“There’s four guys there who are outstanding leaders in their own right and they will work through the rest of the year and make sure we have that leadership on-field,” he said.
“It’s being influential in key moments and leading that young group that we have.
“Everyone will need to step up from this point.”
Nicks said the four members of the leadership group all had the chance to prove themselves as worthy successors to Sloane.
Sloane has a year to run on his contract and while Rory Laird indicated on Tuesday the injury was unlikely to force his captain into retirement, Nicks said the Crows were looking to the future.
“This is about those four stepping up for the remainder of the year and then being ready, come the end of the year or possibly the year after, to step into what is a pretty tough role at any footy club, let alone the Adelaide Football Club,” he said.
Nicks said coin toss duties were likely to be shared between the four leaders, starting from Saturday’s clash with the Western Bulldogs in Ballarat.
“When you play in Ballarat, you play against a very, very good side in the Bulldogs. They’ve been that now for a number of years,” Nicks said.
“When they’re on, they’re a very hard team to play against. We know that.”
The Crows won’t be shying away from the challenge, though, especially not after defeating the Tigers last week.
“We go down there with some confidence ourselves around the footy we’re playing, off the back of a good win against a very good side,” he said.
“Our challenge now is to show some consistency and back it up.”
Crows’ worst fears confirmed with Sloane future in balance
—Simeon Thomas-Wilson
Adelaide captain Rory Sloane will miss the rest of the season after scans revealed he has suffered a ruptured ACL.
The Crows skipper came from the ground early on in the final quarter as he hunted the ball in Adelaide’s win over Richmond.
Scans on Sunday have confirmed the Crows worst fears that Sloane has suffered a ruptured ACL.
The 32-year-old is now expected to have reconstructive surgery in the coming week before starting his rehabilitation back to footy.
Adelaide high performance manager Darren Burgess said it was a big disappointment for the Crows.
“After initial assessment of Rory’s knee on Saturday night we feared this might be the case and unfortunately scans have confirmed it,” Burgess said.
“Obviously it is bitterly disappointing for both Sloaney and the team, he is one of our most important players and as our captain his influence on what we do is obvious.
“But typical of his character he is already speaking positively about the challenge in front of him and I have no doubt he will attack his rehabilitation the same way he approaches his football — with the utmost professionalism and determination and we look forward to him returning to the field next year.”
At 32, and battling injuries in recent years, the ACL rupture does raise questions over Sloane’s future — with the Crows captain contracted until the end of 2023.
He said he was determined to still help the Crows despite being sidelined.
“For me at 32 doing a knee is not ideal but it’s a great challenge to come back fitter and healthier, it’s a little reset on the body for me to go again,” Sloane said.
“I’ve seen my sister Shae go through it before and I have been inspired by her positive attitude and diligent approach to her rehabilitation.
“Saturday night was an incredible result for us as a team, we’ve been building and that was a good, solid grind against a quality side, so while I’m obviously disappointed I won’t be on the field for the rest of the season I will be doing everything I can off it to help us keep improving.”
Originally published as Adelaide news 2022: Stay up to date with everything happening at the Crows before Round 6
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