Josh and I Have Talked, as we do Every Week
For the final time in 2024, the Adelaide Crows will take to the field in the AFL.
The Crows have a clash with the ladder-leading Swans at the SCG on Saturday night, a massive opportunity for the Crows to end the season on a high.
Adelaide have recalled Taylor Walker and Billy Dowling to the 23-man squad, while Josh Rachele was dropped due to not adhering to the Crows’ team-first policy in Showdown 56.
When asked about Josh Rachele’s actions, Adelaide senior coach, Matthew Nicks, said this;
“There’s a number of things that we look at, what we value, certain standards we’ve got to uphold as a group and we didn’t have our best week in that space.
“We had some pretty good discussion around that and this is both on and off field.
“Josh is a really passionate young lad, a really important part of what we’re building at this footy club.
“We sat down as a group, we sat down with numerous individuals and talked through their experience, what they learnt, how we get better.
“We want to have characters in our game, people love that. It’s tough for some of these young guys when they sit in an interview and do 20 minutes worth of work and 95% of that is [complementing] your opposition for how good they are.
“One of our key values is prioritising others, so if you bring it back to that, there’s some stuff to work on.”
Taylor Walker’s experience was missed on Saturday night, and Nicks is relieved to have him back against Sydney;
“The understanding of what’s needed in certain moments [comes from experience].
“We wanted to fly the flag as a group on the weekend and stick up for our mates, as did our opposition. I thought both teams did that.
“It was our ability to get back to the job at hand that we didn’t quite get right on the weekend.
“[We needed] a slightly more experienced head around the group to just calm ourselves down and calm ourselves back to what’s needed. Taylor brings that.”
A massive moment in Saturday’s Showdown was Dan Houston’s bump on Izak Rankine;
“Izak’s a quality player and to lose someone of that quality doesn’t help,” Rankine’s teammate, Lachlan Murphy, began on Monday morning.
“Injuries happen in footy and we just hope that Rankine is getting the best care, which we know he is.
“He is at home at the moment in concussion protocol , so he won’t be playing next week.”
Nicks also added that Rankine was back at the club on Wednesday to raise some money for charity;
“I’m hoping today he comes in and shaves off Riley [Thilthorpe’s] beard.
“We’re pleased with how he’s recovered. I think initially it was a bit of a concern on Saturday night, but he’s in good spirits.”
Murphy also elaborated on how hard it is to stay focused as a player when something like that happens;
“It was a turning point, we lost discipline and in the end, it didn’t help us.”
Heading into 2024’s final game in Sydney, Adelaide’s playing group have a very simple goal;
“Take momentum into the off season and into next season,” Murphy said.
“We’ve been pretty strong the last six, seven weeks on trying to achieve that and playing the brand of footy that we’re proud of.
“Sydney are a quality side and they’ve hit a bit of form the last two weeks. We want to win the game and finish our season on a good note. It’ll be good to go over there and challenge them.”
Nicks echoed Murphy’s thoughts;
“There’s not much need for motivation. Our guys, they’re pretty strong in that space. They want to perform, we’re going up against the best.
“It’s been an interesting finish to the season. The last six [weeks] or so, we’ve played the top six or thereabouts. Now we go up against the best team in the competition.”
The game is on Channel 7, Foxtel and Kayo, with coverage beginning at 7pm Adelaide time, from the SCG.