Rory Atkins was visibly upset telling Crows teammates he was leaving but there were no objections to his honest approach

How does a player tell his teammates he is leaving with four rounds still left in the season? Go inside the Adelaide walls for the moment Rory Atkins broke the news and find out what the reaction was.

Adelaide midfielder Rory Atkins has played his last game for the Crows. Picture: Jono Searle/AFL Photos

Rory Atkins was visibly upset telling his Crows teammates he was leaving last week and no player objected to him declaring his hand so not to waste his or the club’s time in the final month of the season.

Teammate Brodie Smith told The Advertiser’s Lowdown Podcast that Atkins turned up to a team meeting on Friday but felt it best to inform his teammates of his decision and remove himself from all footy related matters at West Lakes.

He is still doing some cross-training and gym work at the club but is not training with the Crows or involved in any meetings after deciding to exercise his free agency rights after 101 games with Adelaide.

“I think everyone was pretty understanding of the situation, everyone knows Rat wouldn’t want to leave the group, he’s a well-liked player and gives a lot to the group,” Smith said.

“He’s one of those guys who is mates with everyone and he was visibly upset telling the group that he was leaving, so it’s probably not something he really wanted to do.

Rory Atkins has left the Crows as a free agent. Picture: Sarah Reed.

“He’s obviously been having conversations with the club and Nicksy about where he’s at and clearly he’s been out of the side and out of favour to get back in.

“I don’t know for sure if (a deal) has been done behind the scenes and he has a handshake agreement but to come out and say he’s leaving I’m assuming that he does.

“So I guess he just thought the time was right to move on from the footy club and from his perspective he didn’t want to feel like he was lying to blokes and wasting guys’ time so he got up at the start of the team meeting and let everyone know he would be exploring his options and won’t be at the footy club going forward.

“We used to live together a few years ago so I’m quite close with Rat but you’ve got to separate the footballer from the person, and just because he’s leaving doesn’t mean I’m no longer going to talk to him or be mates.

“From a football side of things we have a really important four weeks to get something out of this season and build some momentum going into next year.

“So from a football perspective I’ve got a lot more things to worry about but clearly as a mate I’m still going to get around him and see him off to wherever he goes.

“We’ll have a few beers at the end of the year and say see ya later.

Brad Crouch returns from a hamstring injury against Hawthorn on Tuesday night, but will he return to the club next year? Picture: Sarah Reed.

The Crows are back in action against Hawthorn on Tuesday night and so is another free agent in Brad Crouch who returns from a hamstring injury and remains uncontracted beyond this year.

Despite media commentary that Crouch has appeared disinterested and is all but certain to leave Adelaide post-season, Smith said he hadn’t seen those signs.

“He’s put a lot of work in rehab and it’s great to see him back, we know what he brings and hopefully he’s straight back to his best,” Smith said.

“It’s a bit hard to keep in contact with the rehab guys because of the (Covid) restrictions … but I know he’s been in there with Tommy Lynch and I haven’t seen that (signs he is leaving) around the club, I know he’s keen to play some really good footy for us for the rest of the year.

MORE AFL NEWS

Adelaide list analysis: Who will survive the club’s upcoming rebuild?

AFL Draft 2020: South Australia’s top 30 prospects

Special analysis: Does your club have a game plan that can win a premiership?

“It’s going to be a pretty crazy period for everyone but especially our club with where we’re at and the transition our list is going through, there’s going to be plenty of rumours getting around and we’re going to have to work through a lot of things with a lot of players.

“Fingers crossed he has a really good month with us, helps us get a couple of wins and stays around for a long time.”

[e-mail]

Originally published as Rory Atkins was visibly upset telling Crows teammates he was leaving but there were no objections to his honest approach