AFL Round 11: Josh Rachele’s rapid rise to stardom continues in Crows’ win over Brisbane
The Crows had big plans heading into the 2021 draft, ready to pounce on Jason Horne-Francis or Finn Callaghan. But today, everyone at Adelaide is relieved they failed.
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If Adelaide’s plans before the 2021 draft had actually come off then Josh Rachele wouldn’t have been a Crow.
Matthew Nicks and Crows fans must be very happy that they were thwarted.
Ahead of the 2021 draft the Crows twice tried to trade up from their pick No. 4 – which became No. 6 after father-son bids came in.
They went hard at No. 1 to take Jason Horne-Francis and also for No. 2 to target tall midfielder Finn Callaghan.
Following the Crows scalp of Brisbane on Sunday night Adelaide fans must be extremely happy that North Melbourne and GWS knocked back those offers.
Collingwood wonderkid Nick Daicos and Horne-Francis have had most of the headlines from the 2021 draft class, while there are big fans of Western Bulldogs young key position player Sam Darcy.
But Rachele is as watchable as any other player from his draft class and has star quality oozing out of him.
Quickly after the Crows’ 17-point win over the Lions, on First Crack David King said Rachele was a player who “can do things that are extraordinary”.
“You need moments like this to win a preliminary final,” he said of Rachele’s stunning third quarter goal.
An incredible goal from the right pocket, Rachele’s fine effort with just 30 seconds to go was a key moment of the game after the Crows were able to survive a Brisbane barrage in the third quarter and still emerge with a lead to go into the fourth quarter.
Rachele’s passionate celebrations have made him a fan favourite with the Crows but this was on a different level for the young gun.
One can only imagine what he would do if he replicated this in a prelim.
“I better do the team thing and acknowledge Izak (Rankine) with the handball to me but as soon as it went in I went berserk,” the 20-year-old told The Advertiser in the Crows rooms post game.
“I was tempted to jump in the bloody crowd I was that excited.
“All the adrenaline was rushing through my head, I’m surprised I actually had the composure to whip out the (Kylian) Mbappé to be honest.”
Rachele’s moment of magic to give the Crows a 15-point lead late on in the third came after Adelaide withstood significant pressure from the Lions in the quarter.
“Yeah we knew they were going to be a good side and would bring the heat early,” he said.
“But we feel that on our home deck that we can beat anyone, we had a game plan that we wanted to execute.”
Rachele’s sensational snap came after Rankine’s fine effort with his left foot from the pocket in the first quarter.
Nicks said having players who could do that greatly benefited the Crows.
“We were discussing that one and Izak’s, that’s the polish,” he said.
“It is nice having those guys there when you need that little bit of talent to just knock the ball through.
“I’m not sure what the expected score is from there but not many kick them so that is a bonus for us.”
But it was Rachele’s other big moment in the game that impressed Nicks even more than the stunning third quarter goal.
After Joe Daniher brought the margin back to nine-points Rachele looked to be in a good position to kick a goal when he turned around to snap on his left foot after stopping the ball from going out of bounds.
But rather than go for the glory himself, he decided to find housemate Jake Soligo in what he thought was a better position.
Soligo kicked the goal and the Crows had their 15-point lead back.
Nicks couldn’t hide his happiness at Rachele’s act when asked about it.
“You are starting to see the things that I like too,” he said.
“We love that.
“That is even more pleasing than the goal, I’m glad you noticed it and I’m sure our supporters have to.
“For a young kid to learn so quickly that it is about team, and he loves team.
“He loves to celebrate, his passion for the game.
“Both he and Izak have worked on that to bring others into the game and I thought that was outstanding and a real key moment of the game.”
Rachele himself said he would have probably tried to score himself if in a similar position last year.
“I definitely was but Jake has given me a few over my career so I thought I should repay him and do the team thing but I was definitely tempted to go for the snap,” he said.
“That is something I have really worked on this year, my composure inside 50.
“Watching back on the vision from last year there were times where I blew away goals and this year I want to make my opportunities count.”
Rachele started last season like a house on fire but faded towards the end of his debut campaign.
In his second season he has been playing a lot more consistent and his increased time around the ball has helped make the Crows midfield a lot more dynamic after it was previously criticised as too one-paced.
“I’m loving it, especially getting that time at the centre bounces it helps you start the game really well and it is awesome we are doing it with Soligo and (Luke) Pedlar so it is great to do it with the younger boys,” he said.
He did have a down game against Geelong in Round 8 with just the eight touches.
But since then he has had a goal and 15 disposals against St Kilda and two goals and 16 disposals against the Bulldogs.
“I went into that game pretty sore actually, I almost missed that game but I knew if I went in I could fight it out,” he said of the Round 8 loss to the Cats.
“I’m not going to blame that, it was one of my poorer games of the year so a big focus for me over the past two weeks has been workrate.”
Despite the Sunday twilight time spot, it was a finals-like game between the Crows and the Lions.
And that definitely suited Rachele and his love of the big stage.
“We just want to be playing in the big games now,” he said.
“We are just hoping that we can keep this up and play finals at the end of the year.”
When the Crows do return to finals action then Rachele can be a big trump card for them.
So they must be pretty happy at West Lakes that their plans ahead of the 2021 draft were knocked back.
Because in Rachele they have a star.
Nicks: Crows showed traits that will ‘get it done in finals footy’
Adelaide senior coach Matthew Nicks has praised the “grit and resilience” shown by his players to withstand a Brisbane barrage, traits he says “gets it done in finals footy”.
The Crows claimed a serious scalp on Sunday evening at Adelaide Oval with a 17-point win over the Lions.
The win, which keeps Adelaide in the top eight, came despite the Lions’ dominance when it came to the inside 50 count.
Brisbane had 66 to Adelaide’s 47, but the Lions couldn’t convert these chances and the Crows defence was able to stand firm in the face of constant pressure.
Nicks praised the Crows’ ability to deal with the barrage from the Lions.
“As a coach you talk about momentum in games and they had a lot of momentum,” he said.
“We knew it would be a challenge for us because they have done that all year, this is a genuine premiership contender who has won seven in a row.
“We knew we would have moments where we were under pressure, probably more than we would have wanted tonight.
“But we showed grit, we showed resilience. We had 30 d50 stoppages and we were 1.3 against.
“So that shows that the group just hung in, and that is pleasing as a coach because that is what we believe gets it done in finals footy. The ability to defend under pressure.”
In the third quarter the Lions had 19 inside 50s but only managed 1.9 on the scoreboard.
Two late goals by Ned McHenry and Josh Rachele eased the pressure on the Crows and in the fourth they were able to kill the game.
Nicks said those two goals late on in the third were key.
“When we had our momentum we were able to convert, we showed some real composure and polish where we finished our work off and that got us the win,” he said.
“It gives you some momentum into the last, a belief that if we hang tight we can do it again
I think we came out and kicked the first four of the last, that was our opportunity and we took our opportunity which was really pleasing.
“Some of the work coming off a disappointing week last week in just hanging in and being resilient that was the most pleasing part from my point of view.”
After a disappointing showing last time out in Ballarat against the Western Bulldogs, the Crows now have a finals spot firmly in sight following the scalp of the Lions.
Nicks said the Crows knew they could fight with the best teams in the competition.
“Even if we are coming off a poor performance we still have the belief,” he said.
“But when you come off a win like that the belief goes to another level.
“They way we went about it will give us more belief, because it wasn’t on our terms.
“We had to bring a complete game, we had to defend, we had to attack, we had to fight.”
Leadership group member Brodie Smith was a pre-match withdrawal after it was forecasted by Nicks in the build-up to the game.
Nicks said Smith was close to playing and it was hoped he would return for the Crows next match against Gold Coast in Darwin.
CROWS 3.3 7.7 10.8 14.11 (95)
LIONS 3.5 5.8 6.17 10.18 (78)
PHELAN’S BEST CROWS: Laird, Dawson, Keays, Rankine, Milera, Murray, O’Brien, Sholl. LIONS: Neale, Dunkley, Rich, Cameron, Zorko, Bailey, McCluggage, McInerney.
GOALS CROWS: Walker 3, Thilthorpe 2, Pedlar 2, Rankine 2, Rachele, McHenry, Fogarty, Soligo, Keays. LIONS: Cameron 4, Daniher 2, Zorko, Rich, Rayner, McCluggage.
INJURIES CROWS: Smith (back – late withdrawal). LIONS: Nil.
UMPIRES Johansen, Hosking, Meredith, Fleer
33,188 at ADELAIDE OVAL
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
JASON PHELAN’S VOTES
3 Laird (Adel)
2 Neale (Bris)
1 Dawson (Adel)
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