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Young Crows waiting in the wings
September 6, 2003
When you break into the Crows side, you've earned it. Emma Quayle reports.
Whether Adelaide surges or squeaks into the second week of September won't matter to Hayden Skipworth. Provided the Crows get past West Coast, the young midfielder will open tomorrow's paper feeling mildly optimistic.
First, Skipworth will scan the stats and injury status of his senior teammates; then, he will check out what everyone else outside the senior team did in the local league. "You're always trying to think how you might find a way in," he said. "I look through and see who's played well in the SANFL. You just try and think how everyone will match up against you."
Not that Skipworth will easily imagine himself slotting straight into an Adelaide semi-final team. That the Crows value experience as much, if not more, than any other AFL team was emphasised at Thursday morning's selection meeting, where Brent Reilly, Chris Ladhams and Ian Perrie were predictably replaced by the proven Ben Hart, Mark Stevens and Nathan Bassett.
As the oldest team in the league, Adelaide starts this finals series not only with a reputation for continually topping up its team with established footballers capable of keeping the club's fortunes bubbling at a threatening level (read: Wayne Carey, Ronnie Burns and Jason Torney) but a supposed reluctance to blood young players.
It is a theory not immediately backed by the numbers. In the past three seasons, the Crows have granted 12 players their first AFL games.
It is worth remembering that Adelaide has in the past two years adopted Kris Massie and James Begley, players who crossed from Carlton and St Kilda semi-fledged, but who are only 23. "In some ways, they'd both already forged their paths in footy a little bit," Crows assistant coach Mark Mickan said. "But they're still only young. Topping up your list doesn't always mean recruiting old players."
It is also worth noting that the Port Adelaide side that has hovered at the top of the ladder for the past two years has blooded two fewer players than the Crows since 2000.
Still, the dozen Adelaide debutants have racked up a games tally of just 173, where West Coast has given its own debutants 291 matches. Melbourne's 12 new players have been exposed in 187 games, the draft pick-rich Saints have launched 14 careers for an immediate, impressive return of 334 games and even the Power's 10 debutants have played more than 160 games. Nine of today's Eagles are 23 or younger, compared with two Crows. So does life for an Adelaide kid, like, really suck? Reilly, picked at No. 12 in the talent-laden 2001 national draft, is the most highly-ranked draftee on the Crows' list and after one game last season and an eye-catching summer, played his sixth senior match in last Sunday's showdown.
The 19-year-old midfielder reluctantly arrived in Adelaide with the consoling thought that he would probably be playing some senior footy soon. When Reilly instead started out in the Sturt reserves, as former Calder Cannons teammates Andrew Welsh, David Rodan and James Kelly were thrust almost immediately into their own new teams, it was hard not to wonder why he was taking so long. "At first, you think, 'I wish that was me', and it got to me a couple of times, but then you think, 'Hang on, he's my best mate and he's getting a game, so that's fantastic'," Reilly said.
Once you get into the team, you know that you've done a heap of work and that you belong there.
HAYDEN SKIPWORTH"The other thing is, the opportunities you get depend totally on the club you're at, and anyone who gets drafted to Brisbane or to Port Adelaide would have to wait just as long as here. But at the same time, you'd be playing for Brisbane or Port Adelaide, and even here you learn heaps of things just being around successful people.
"There were a lot of times I thought I'd definitely be getting a game somewhere else. But when you look at the midfield here, all our midfielders are just superstar players. Anyone would have a hard time breaking into that midfield."
Still, that its young players generally have to wait longer than others for their chance to break through is something the Crows are aware of, and the club counsels its draftees about.
That there are few free rides at the Crows is highlighted in today's team. Graham Johncock grabbed his chance quickly and has not left the senior side since starting in it. Robert Shirley played 17 games in 2001, was an emergency for last year's semi and preliminary finals, got delisted, redrafted, and will play an important part in defence today.
Reilly had to wait 17 weeks (and overcome a shoulder injury) between his fifth and sixth games, and Skipworth's start has been even more hard-earned. He played five games in 2001, graduating straight from the SANFL under-19s, none in 2002 and after being cut at the end of last season, won a spot back on the rookie list and was promoted for two more games.
"It would probably be really easy to get frustrated but I reckon it goes the other way here, too. We all know there aren't too many spots that come up and that actually gives you confidence. Once you get in to the team, you know that you've done a heap of work and that you belong there," Skipworth said.
"Once you get a game here, you definitely know you've earnt it."
September 6, 2003
When you break into the Crows side, you've earned it. Emma Quayle reports.
Whether Adelaide surges or squeaks into the second week of September won't matter to Hayden Skipworth. Provided the Crows get past West Coast, the young midfielder will open tomorrow's paper feeling mildly optimistic.
First, Skipworth will scan the stats and injury status of his senior teammates; then, he will check out what everyone else outside the senior team did in the local league. "You're always trying to think how you might find a way in," he said. "I look through and see who's played well in the SANFL. You just try and think how everyone will match up against you."
Not that Skipworth will easily imagine himself slotting straight into an Adelaide semi-final team. That the Crows value experience as much, if not more, than any other AFL team was emphasised at Thursday morning's selection meeting, where Brent Reilly, Chris Ladhams and Ian Perrie were predictably replaced by the proven Ben Hart, Mark Stevens and Nathan Bassett.
As the oldest team in the league, Adelaide starts this finals series not only with a reputation for continually topping up its team with established footballers capable of keeping the club's fortunes bubbling at a threatening level (read: Wayne Carey, Ronnie Burns and Jason Torney) but a supposed reluctance to blood young players.
It is a theory not immediately backed by the numbers. In the past three seasons, the Crows have granted 12 players their first AFL games.
It is worth remembering that Adelaide has in the past two years adopted Kris Massie and James Begley, players who crossed from Carlton and St Kilda semi-fledged, but who are only 23. "In some ways, they'd both already forged their paths in footy a little bit," Crows assistant coach Mark Mickan said. "But they're still only young. Topping up your list doesn't always mean recruiting old players."
It is also worth noting that the Port Adelaide side that has hovered at the top of the ladder for the past two years has blooded two fewer players than the Crows since 2000.
Still, the dozen Adelaide debutants have racked up a games tally of just 173, where West Coast has given its own debutants 291 matches. Melbourne's 12 new players have been exposed in 187 games, the draft pick-rich Saints have launched 14 careers for an immediate, impressive return of 334 games and even the Power's 10 debutants have played more than 160 games. Nine of today's Eagles are 23 or younger, compared with two Crows. So does life for an Adelaide kid, like, really suck? Reilly, picked at No. 12 in the talent-laden 2001 national draft, is the most highly-ranked draftee on the Crows' list and after one game last season and an eye-catching summer, played his sixth senior match in last Sunday's showdown.
The 19-year-old midfielder reluctantly arrived in Adelaide with the consoling thought that he would probably be playing some senior footy soon. When Reilly instead started out in the Sturt reserves, as former Calder Cannons teammates Andrew Welsh, David Rodan and James Kelly were thrust almost immediately into their own new teams, it was hard not to wonder why he was taking so long. "At first, you think, 'I wish that was me', and it got to me a couple of times, but then you think, 'Hang on, he's my best mate and he's getting a game, so that's fantastic'," Reilly said.
Once you get into the team, you know that you've done a heap of work and that you belong there.
HAYDEN SKIPWORTH"The other thing is, the opportunities you get depend totally on the club you're at, and anyone who gets drafted to Brisbane or to Port Adelaide would have to wait just as long as here. But at the same time, you'd be playing for Brisbane or Port Adelaide, and even here you learn heaps of things just being around successful people.
"There were a lot of times I thought I'd definitely be getting a game somewhere else. But when you look at the midfield here, all our midfielders are just superstar players. Anyone would have a hard time breaking into that midfield."
Still, that its young players generally have to wait longer than others for their chance to break through is something the Crows are aware of, and the club counsels its draftees about.
That there are few free rides at the Crows is highlighted in today's team. Graham Johncock grabbed his chance quickly and has not left the senior side since starting in it. Robert Shirley played 17 games in 2001, was an emergency for last year's semi and preliminary finals, got delisted, redrafted, and will play an important part in defence today.
Reilly had to wait 17 weeks (and overcome a shoulder injury) between his fifth and sixth games, and Skipworth's start has been even more hard-earned. He played five games in 2001, graduating straight from the SANFL under-19s, none in 2002 and after being cut at the end of last season, won a spot back on the rookie list and was promoted for two more games.
"It would probably be really easy to get frustrated but I reckon it goes the other way here, too. We all know there aren't too many spots that come up and that actually gives you confidence. Once you get in to the team, you know that you've done a heap of work and that you belong there," Skipworth said.
"Once you get a game here, you definitely know you've earnt it."
