Adelaide Crows young gun Josh Rachele’s journey from Melbourne City soccer academy to the AFL
Could Josh Rachele be the Showdown matchwinner? Those closest to him open up about the young Crows star who could have been playing A-League now instead of AFL.
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The cartilage in Jason Rachele’s right knee is long gone.
It wore away during his country football career for Shepparton Swans, where he played more than 250 games in the Goulburn Valley league.
Jason gets reminded of his knee issue whenever he takes part in a long-time family ritual – having a kick with his oldest son, first-year Crow Josh Rachele.
“Whether it was soccer or footy it was always ‘come on Dad, let’s shoot some goals or have some kicks of the footy’,” Jason tells News Corp.
“It wasn’t just half an hour, it was sometimes two or three hours.
“I’ve got no cartilage in my knee and my knee would be buggered for the whole night.
“We still do it now when he comes home. During pre-season, we’d spend time on his goalkicking.”
When he is back home in Shepparton, Josh hones his skills at the Swans’ base, Princess Park, or his family’s commercial orchard, just east of town.
Jason is a third-generation pear and stone fruit grower.
He was once a high-flying centre half-forward who was nicknamed “Kouta” after Carlton star Anthony Koutoufides.
“His favourite saying was ‘just put the ball up there and I’ll do the rest’,” ex-Shepparton Swans teammate turned club president Jarrod Sutherland says.
Jason adds: “I liked to play with a bit of flair and a bit of excitement”.
“I wanted the ball in my hands,” he says.
The fruit has not fallen far in the Rachele family tree.
Josh, Adelaide’s top pick in November’s draft at No. 6, has been one of the shining lights for the Crows during their winless start to the season.
Matthew Nicks has described him as a coach’s dream and good things are already happening when the ball is in the 18-year-old’s possession.
The small forward is only two games into his career but looms as a potential matchwinner in Friday night’s Showdown.
“When he’s got the footy in his hands, he’s always going to do something with it,” Jason says.
“He’ll try 110 per cent to make the game go his way and the team’s way, and do what he can to make it exciting.”
Josh certainly did that during his AFL debut in Round 1 against Fremantle a fortnight ago.
All that father-son goalkicking practise paid off as he booted five majors in the one-point loss.
About 20 family members and friends came from Victoria to watch.
“Josh definitely put a show on for us,” Jason says.
“You expect him to get a couple of kicks, maybe kick a goal but to get five was unbelievable.”
Josh’s performance earned him a match-high nine AFL Coaches Association votes and capped a proud week for the family.
Jason was at a chiropractor a few days earlier when Josh rang to say he would be debuting.
“I had a tear in my eye and I don’t usually get emotional,” he says.
“I was just excited for him.
“It will be a weekend we will never forget.”
Just as special to the Racheles was Adelaide drafting Josh in November.
When he revealed the news on Instagram, a former coach in another code reached out to congratulate him.
Davey van ’t Schip oversaw Melbourne City’s under-18s when Josh was in the A-League club’s soccer academy as a centre-back.
Considered one of City’s most talented youngsters at the time, Josh played most of the season in the under-21s, four age groups higher than he was eligible.
“He was quick, he was tall, he was good in the air, he had a wide passing range and he was more developed with his technical ability than others in his age group,” van ’t Schip tells News Corp.
“We had him listed as definitely a potential A-League player.”
Josh had juggled footy and soccer before quitting Aussie rules for a season to concentrate on the world game at 15.
Then came an invitation to an Australian Joeys training camp ahead of the Asian Football Confederation’s under-16 championship in Malaysia in 2018.
Josh went, only to get cut from the national squad at the initial stage.
“He wasn’t far away – I’m not sure they ever told him why (he was omitted) – but he’s such a competitive person that he wanted to make it and he thought he did,” Jason says.
“He was a bit younger than the rest of them and a lot of these guys had been playing just soccer, one sport, not both.
“That’s when he sort of switched to play a bit of footy again.”
Josh was asked to trial during soccer’s off-season for the V/Line Cup with some of Victoria’s most talented regional Aussie rules juniors.
“He went and trained … and he said ‘Dad, I think I want to go back and play football, I really do miss this’,” Jason says.
Melbourne City was aware Josh had snuck in a few footy games with mates at the Swans during his time as a full-time soccer player.
What it did not expect was him turning down a scholarship and the chance to train with their A-League squad to focus on Aussie rules.
Jason remembers Josh meeting twice with the club and asking him to reconsider.
“Usually they call you in because they’re going to let you go, but they kept calling him in because they wanted him to stay,” he says.
“They actually said a third time ‘please, go back and think about it’.
“We called them and said the same thing, he wanted to play footy.”
Van ’t Schip says the club had Josh “listed as one of our biggest talents so we were obviously disappointed to lose him”.
“Our academy director tried to convince him to stay and play soccer, and if he ever changes his mind, the door is open,” he says.
“But we also told him to give it his all and try to make a career out of that path.”
Sutherland says when Josh had a year off footy, he thought he may not come back.
When he returned his class always came to the fore.
Both with Shepparton and the Murray Bushrangers, whom he lined up for during the past two Covid-impacted seasons.
“He was probably the best player in each team he played,” Sutherland, a former coach of Josh says of the Swans’ first draftee since Jarman Impey in 2013.
“He was a very determined kid, polite, not a big shot, fairly quiet but he works very hard and that’s obviously why he’s got to where he has.”
Josh, who featured in two senior games for the Swans, was following in more than just Jason’s footsteps at the club.
His grandfather and four uncles – two on each side of the family – also played there.
The Rachele connection still runs deep at the Swans.
Josh’s twin brothers, Lucas and Isaac, play under-18s, while cousins Liam, Nathan, Jesse, Lewis and netballer Emma are also at the club.
Christian, a cousin on Michelle’s side, is there too.
As Josh forges his career at the top level, he has been sparing a thought for his brothers who are recovering from broken legs.
Isaac fractured his in a practice match last week.
Lucas broke his leg last season.
“They’re always on the phone together,” Jason says of his three sons.
“They’ll tell Josh how he’s going, whether it’s good or bad, they’ll let him know about it.”
Josh texts two or three times a day, speaks to his Mum, Michelle, daily and chats with Jason several times a week.
The family was his sounding board before he added two more years to his contract in February.
“He said he was enjoying it here, enjoying the club, really loved Nicksy, the boys and the coaching group,” Jason says.
“I said ‘at the end of the day it’s your choice and whatever you want to do, we’ll back you’.
“It was pretty straightforward.”
The Racheles hope to get to most games in Adelaide.
Jason and Lucas are coming over for the Showdown with two friends.
There is an added edge to this game against Port Adelaide.
Not only is it the first Friday night meeting between the clubs, they are both 0-2.
Playing in prime time against a fierce rival will bring the best out in Josh, according to Sutherland.
“He was definitely always up for the big games when he played juniors,” he says.
Van ’t Schip – the son of former Melbourne City A-League manager and Dutch international John van ’t Schip – concedes he does not know too much about Aussie rules.
But he is happy for a player he recalls having an unbelievable attitude, workrate and ability to improve.
“Kids you’ve coached in soccer, you’re always proud when they end up making it into the A-League or any other set-up,” he says.
“With Josh it’s obviously different because he’s gone into a code I’m not familiar with but it’s still great for him that he’s able to find a career in a sport he loves.
“Josh made the decision purely for himself, he’s got his head screwed on and I think he’ll have a great career in AFL.”
Originally published as Adelaide Crows young gun Josh Rachele’s journey from Melbourne City soccer academy to the AFL
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