New Adelaide Crows coach Phil Walsh makes his mark at first training session in charge
PHIL Walsh has taken just one training session to make his mark at the Adelaide Football Club.
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PHIL Walsh has taken just one training session to make his mark at the Adelaide Football Club.
Vowing to bring a new level of professionalism to the club, the Crows’ new coach left no-one in any doubt as to who is in charge as he ran his players through their paces for the first time at Max Basheer Reserve yesterday.
An animated and loud Walsh took centre stage during the 90-minute training session — for first-to-fourth year players — in 30-degree heat.
His voice echoed across West Lakes as he barked instructions at his men and punished them for mistakes with push-ups.
“It was a pretty intense session but with Phil you know what’s expected of you,’’ defender Kyle Hartigan said.
“He’s really honest, says it how it is and if you don’t get to the standards he expects you’ll get left behind.
“He’s vocal but he lets us know where we stand and makes sure everyone is on the same page.
“It’s all about team work, elite standards and hard work.’’
Former Port Adelaide and West Coast senior assistant Walsh, 54, was red hot on any player who made an error during a fast-paced handball drill, highlighting his desire to eradicate turnovers.
Seventeen first-to-fourth-year players trained at Adelaide today, while the club’s No. 1 player Patrick Dangerfield and running defender Ricky Henderson also joined in after being granted permission to start earlier than required by the club.
Turnovers plagued the Crows last season as they missed the finals for the second consecutive year, leading to the shock dismissal of Brenton Sanderson as coach.
“Turnovers did hurt us, so anything we can do to improve, such as making us do push-ups if you stuff up a kick or something like that will make you think about what you are doing and executing under pressure,’’ said Hartigan, predicting a super-tough pre-season.
“He (Walsh) wants us to do everything right on and off the field, to set the right example and strive to be the greatest person and player you can be.
“As a team we want to do that together and help each other through.’’
First-year coach Walsh, who returned from a three-week overseas leadership mission on Monday night, put his men through a series of running and kicking drills, along with the handball session where slick, fast-paced footy was the order of the day.
While Walsh was front and centre with his hands-on approach to training, his communication with his assistant coaches was kept in-house as they were linked up by microphones and earpieces, similar to Walsh’s previous club Port.
The Crows’ SANFL skipper Ian Callinan also trained.
The full Adelaide squad will begin training on Monday.
Originally published as New Adelaide Crows coach Phil Walsh makes his mark at first training session in charge
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