Brodie Smith reflects on his AFL journey ahead of his 250th game for the Crows and reveals how he will regain form

Brodie Smith will play his 250th game for the Crows against Fremantle on Friday. He reflects on his journey so far, and how he will rediscover form after a slow start to the season.

Brodie Smith who plays his 250th game for the Crows with his biggest fan his Grandmother Josie Franklin. Picture: Mark Brake

So far in his career Brodie Smith hasn’t “really soaked in” the milestone games.

This one will be different.

On Friday against Fremantle Smith will play his 250th AFL game for Adelaide, becoming just the 10th player to achieve the mark for the Crows.

He said after watching teammates Taylor Walker and Rory Sloane chalk up their respective 250 games last year, it meant a lot for him to bring his up against the Dockers at Optus Stadium.

“It means a lot, I guess along the journey the milestones along the way I haven’t really bought into or really soaked it in this much but I think I have with this one,” he said.

“With Tex and Sloaney doing it last year and knowing I wasn’t too far away it is a pretty cool moment to know that I have played as many games as legends of the footy club and seeing the weeks they had leading into theirs.

“Yesterday (on Monday) we had a morning tea with all the staff, which was really cool and having a few of the boys speaking was special and I have a really big crew going over to Perth and hopefully we can go over there and get the win.

“It is 14 years now at the same footy club. I have loved every minute of it and hopefully there is more to go.

“But I have done a little bit (of reflecting) this time, you reflect a little bit more this time around.”

Brodie Smith who plays his 250th game for the Crows with his biggest fan his Grandmother Josie Franklin, 85, who lives in the SA Uniting nursing home that looks over the Crows training ground where she watches her grandson train. Picture: Mark Brake

PLAY AFL OR BUST

It is a journey for the 32-year-old that started in the western suburbs of Adelaide.

A footy tragic, Smith concedes that he had no “plan b” during school, it was just to be an AFL player.

“I didn’t always think I was going to get there until I went through the (Woodville-West Torrens) Eagles pathway and that was probably the first goal I wanted to tick,” he said.

“I remember being at the gym at Woodville-West Torrens and all I wanted was to get my name on the board there playing a (SANFL) league game and to be standing here now on the brink of 250 AFL games it is still pretty surreal and can’t believe it has happened.”

Until Smith was selected by the Crows with the 14th pick of the 2010 Draft he was a mad Port Adelaide supporter - along with dad Gordon and sister Hayley.

Mum Tracey was a Crows supporter, and worked at the club when Smith arrived.

Now the family are passionate Crows.

“The parents have been huge, mum was actually working at the footy club when I got here so she has been a big part,” he said.

“They are sort of the self-employed leaders of the parents so whenever someone gets drafted they get the numbers of the parents, call them and welcome them and have them around to their place.

“So they have been a big part of the culture of the footy club and I’d hate to know how much they have spent on away trips and travelling around Australia watching footy.

“But they are self-admitted footy nuffies, I think if I wasn’t playing they would still go to games.

Smith in action. Picture: Getty Images

“They are going across, I organised 20 tickets and dad has worked behind the scenes to get it to 40.”

Another Crows supporter in the family is grandmother Josie Franklin.

A fan from before Smith was drafted, having gone to Crows games at Footy Park, the 84-year-old is now living at Uniting Care West Lakes where she can watch her grandson train from her window that overlooks Adelaide’s training base.

“I have a lot of support around me. That has been the good thing about staying home at West Lakes is having all your family and friends (nearby),” he said.

THE REBOUND GAME

While it is a milestone game, it has been a bit of a weird week for Smith.

He comes into the match down on form in the Crows 0-2 start to the season.

“Certainly I know that I need to be better and my form needs to be better and I have put in a lot of work over the past two to three days on the track, off the track,” he said.

“Just tinkering with a few things to get myself in a good mindspace to play well this week and then take it into the rest of the year.

“I am under no illusions that I can’t play like I did last week going forward.

“I have put that behind me, done the review of the game and know what I need to do going forward.”

The Crows are 0-2 to start the season. Picture: Getty Images

He said it made the lead-in different.

“A little bit yeah, I’m not in the form I’d like and the team isn’t in the form that we’d like and you come in and start celebrating what is going to be my 250th this week,” he said.

“So it has been a little bit strange but maybe that is what I need and what the team needs just to put a positive spin on what has been a poor start so far, get a win this weekend and take it into the rest of the year.”

Summing this up was a shank that barely hit his boot and went out on the full at half-back late in the third term of the Crows’ loss to Geelong at Adelaide Oval on Friday night.

It has contributed to kicking efficiency of just 63 per cent so far this season - his worst rating since his debut season in 2011.

“It was a shock, that is probably the best way to describe it. I was trying to punch it down the line and I don’t think I have ever kicked a ball that bad at training let alone in a game,” he said.

“Hopefully that is one and done, it doesn’t happen again.

“I don’t know how it happened and it rattled me that is for sure.”

Walker saw the funny side on Monday, clapping every kick that Smith pulled off at training.

“In typical Tex fashion he likes to take the mick out of you,” Smith said.

“He did it in a nice way, he said some nice words yesterday and he managed to slip that one in as well.”

Originally published as Brodie Smith reflects on his AFL journey ahead of his 250th game for the Crows and reveals how he will regain form