Rory Sloane a definite starter for Adelaide’s preliminary final

AFTER undergoing appendix surgery two weeks ago, Crow Rory Sloane says he’s a certain starter to play in his side’s home preliminary final next weekend.

Crows skipper Taylor Walker and Rory Sloane at the AFL Players' MVP Awards. Picture: Tony Gough

RORY Sloane has declared he will “absolutely” be ready for Adelaide’s preliminary final.

The star midfielder had appendix surgery two weeks ago and missed the Crows’ qualifying final win over Greater Western Sydney.

Speaking at the AFLPA MVP awards, Sloane conceded that he had attempted to rush back, but has now rejoined the main training group and is determined to play next Friday night as the Crows attempt to secure a Grand Final berth.

“Absolutely (I’ll be definitely back),” Sloane said.

“I was trying to push it — maybe a little bit hard — to make that first final but I was a little bit short in the end.

“As long as I train well and get through (I will play).

“I’ve done a couple of solid sessions the last couple of days.”

Rory Sloane (left) sweats it out on the Gold Coast. Picture: AAP

Adelaide trained on the Gold Coast on Tuesday morning before Sloane and captain Taylor Walker flew to Melbourne for last night’s AFL Players’ Association MVP Awards.

Sloane, 27, said he will start to advance his training from today.

“I’ll start ramping it up from here on in. I’ve done some solid running in the last couple of days and a bit more solid training (yesterday) — a lot more football-like training,” he said.

“I’ll join in with the main squad from here on in. We’ll have a solid session on Saturday, I’d imagine, and get things moving.”

Teammate Eddie Betts underwent the same surgery merely weeks before Sloane, with the midfielder saying hayfever has proven his biggest hurdle in his recovery of late.

“I’ve tried not to sneeze, and that’s been hard because I get a bit of hayfever at this time of year,” he said.

“Every time I get a little tingle, I try to just block that out. But everything’s been fine — I’ve had a really good build up. I had Eddie to learn off, which has been nice. He reckons he would have played in nine days, but he wasn’t running as quick as I was, so I’ve got that on him.”

Sloane always puts his body on the line and was named Most Courageous at the AFLPA MVP awards. Picture: AAP

The Crows escaped to Queensland’s warmer weather in recent days and Sloane said the team is positioned as strongly as he can remember in his nine-year career.

“We certainly feel as ready as we ever have in my time here,” he said.

“I’m just excited to play. Watching the guys and seeing how well prepared they were, it was really exciting times and I think we’ll carry that through the finals series.”

Brodie Smith has undergone surgery on his ACL injury, with Sloane saying the team will do everything it can to involve the rebounding defender in its campaign.

“He unfortunately missed out on the Gold Coast trip, but the surgery went really well for him,” Sloane said.

“The boys are certainly getting around him.”