New Adelaide Crow Jordan Gallucci could be the next Rory Sloane

CROWS top draft pick Jordan Gallucci had a strong signpost at Saturday night’s AFL national draft in fellow midfielder Rory Sloane.

CROWS top draft pick Jordan Gallucci had a strong signpost at Friday night’s AFL national draft in fellow midfielder Rory Sloane.

Both come from the hills on the eastern outskirts of Melbourne, a good hour out of town where the Dandenongs become a community in itself, and both are rare underage midfielders.

Both were leaders at a young age: in 2008 Sloane was the captain of the Eastern Ranges, the TAC Cup side for players from the region. Gallucci was the co-captain of Vic Metro in the national carnival this year.

Sloane was one of the reasons Gallucci, who is a self-described “footy head” and follows the game with close scrutiny, saw Adelaide as an ideal destination.

The other was the ground work and interest the Crows had put in; recruiting manager Hamish Ogilvie and his delegation sent a delegation to visit more than once and by the time the draft came around the Crows had been a preferred choice for Gallucci.

“I wasn’t really sure; you had that contact with a lot of clubs,” Gallucci said.

“But I was really hoping for Adelaide, actually ... the whole family was.

“We had Adelaide over a fair bit over the season and we loved them from the start.

“I was really excited about the prospect of moving over there.

It wasn’t lost on Gallucci that he will join a group of young midfielder who will have the capacity to keep a premiership open together as they develop through their 20s, much like other successful sides have a core group that is of a similar age.

New Adelaide Crow draftee Jordan Gallucci.

He joins players such as Cam Ellis-Yolmen, Crouch brothers Brad and Matt, Wayne Milera and Paul Seedsman as players for the future.

“I’ve definitely thought about that — I mean I’m a bit of a footy head,” Gallucci said.

“I’ve thought about that a fair bit and I’m really excited about that.

“And Rory Sloane has been an Eastern Ranges boy who I’ve watched really closely.

“He’s probably the main one.”

Ogilvie speaks highly of Gallucci, because he had not only been impressive in his year leading up to the draft. He also comes across as one of the more mature players from this year’s crop.

Outside of the game, he has become known for doing all the little things: choosing water when mates were on the beer, subjecting himself to ice baths before school in the morning in a bid to speed up his recovery and also excelling in other sports such as volleyball and martial arts.

“He’s a high-level performer,” Ogilvie said.

“He’s tested really well and performed really well right though the year.”

The martial art element was a strong influence from father Mario, who also studies the art of Wing Chun.

Looking back, there was only one thing that disappointed him in his final year of underage football.

“It would have been good to win the TAC Cup grand final with the Eastern Ranges,” Gallucci said. “That was the only thing that I didn’t tick off, personally and team-wise.

“But I think it was a great year overall.”

Those around him have little doubt he will succeed in his new surrounds.

Essendon premiership coach Darren Bewick, who coached him at the Ranges, compared him with the speedy Jason Johannisen after his man-of-the-match effort in the Bulldogs landmark premiership this season.

Others, as comes with Crows territory, have found similarities between him and Brownlow Medallist Patrick Dangerfield for his breakaway burst from packs, a lightning five or 10m that gives him some clear space to use the ball.

Gallucci, though, now has a chance to make his own name, rather than trying to live up to comparisons.

Originally published as New Adelaide Crow Jordan Gallucci could be the next Rory Sloane