Fans deserve transparency over Crows’ decision to drop Josh Rachele | Michael Mkoka-Nicholson

Every time the Crows have a PR disaster in sight, they choose the wrong path. Fans deserve to know why an in-form youngster was dropped, writes Michael Mkoka-Nicholson.

• Editor’s view: Rachele scapegoated

“Here we go here we go Camry Crows” …

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

How did we get to this point in August with September glory around the corner – and the Crows are looking to book holidays to Bali rather than anticipating a home final at the Crowval?

Cast your minds back to February 28th and John Olsen was preaching from the Morphettville Racecourse pulpit.

“I can’t recall being as optimistic heading into a new season,” Olsen said.

“You might say, ‘why’? We’ve got the right people on and off the field. Expectation is higher both internally and externally. We embrace it, we are not intimidated by it and we’ve got something to prove after that game at the end of the season last year. With Tex (Taylor Walker) playing like an all-Australian, we expect to play finals this year.”

Josh Rachele training with Adelaide's SANFL team earlier this week. Picture: Dean Martin

With a call to arms this strong, the disappointment of finishing 15th is palpable.

And the icing on the apricot slice is that we’ve got Rachele-gate to finish the season off.

What is it about this club that feels like every time there’s a PR disaster in sight, they choose the wrong path.

Countless words have been written about training camps and superstars walking out on the club, yet here we go again with a toothless media nightmare surrounding the axing of an exciting future prospect.

Matthew Nicks says Josh Rachele has been dropped after a “number of conversations” about being team-first but won’t go into detail about what those conversations are.

The fans deserve to know.

I think sometimes people forget Josh Rachele is only 21, three years younger than Izak Rankine.

Rachele's third season (2024)
14.1 disposals per game
2.3 tackles
0.81 goal assists
30 goals (1.3avg, 3rd best at club)

Izak Rankine's third season (2022)
13.4 disposals per game
2.1… pic.twitter.com/NR5TjLwLtp

— bear 🧸 (@beartorius) August 22, 2024

If we are going to go into bat for his Ginnivan-esque behaviour on talkback radio, in comment sections and on social media – be transparent about what is going on behind closed doors.

Heading into last weekend, Showdown 56 was a dead rubber with no spice.

But almost a week later, we’re still dealing with the fall out and it has nothing to do with the result.

On form, Rachele is still in against the Swans. Behaviour-wise? There’s an argument for leaving him out, but when you’re going up against the ladder leader in an away game (in Sydney no less) with zero on the line other than trying to give your supporters hope for 2025, he stays in for mine.

Double bonus – you avoid this whole mess and take it up with Josh in the off season.

Adelaide has finished bottom, 15th, 14th and 10th (and now one more 15th) since appointing Nicks in late 2019.

To season 2024 I say, there it went, there it went, there it went …

Michael Mkoka-Nicholson is The Advertiser’s Digital Editor and a long suffering Crows supporter.

Originally published as Fans deserve transparency over Crows’ decision to drop Josh Rachele | Michael Mkoka-Nicholson