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Jericho on the ball
6:53:06 PM Mon 19 April, 2004
Alan Shiell
Sportal/exclusive to afl.com.au
If looks and first impressions count, Adelaide’s Luke Jericho has started a long, successful AFL career.
The 19-year-old utility made an auspicious debut against St Kilda at AAMI Stadium last Saturday.
Playing mostly as a half-forward, his statistics were modest enough – four kicks, seven handpasses, four marks and one goal – but it was easy to see why his teammates rate him so highly.
Jericho is deceptively tall (189 centimetres) and his speed and agility, particularly his leaping off muscular legs, stamp him as a formidable all-round athlete, which he is, as he proved statistically at the National AFL Draft Camp late in 2002, before the Crows claimed him from West Adelaide soon after with their first pick (No. 32 overall) in the draft.
His good looks, blond-tipped hair and acrobatics remind some Adelaide fans – dare it be said so soon? – of a famous, favourite son of West Adelaide and the Crows – Tony Modra.
And like Modra, Jericho seems quite a laidback, unaffected type who was not overawed by playing his first AFL match so soon into a new season, given that he had spent much of last year developing with West Adelaide reserves.
“It was great to get out there and have a bit of a run around,” Jericho said of his debut. “It was something different and I really enjoyed it.
“It was definitely a step up – the intensity and just being out there for the first bounce. It was amazing – the speed and just everything. Instead of running, you’re sprinting; instead of jogging, you’re running.
“It was great to play the first couple of games in the SANFL. I think I was a bit lucky to kick a few goals (six against Norwood last Saturday week) and get put up into the AFL team. Hopefully I can keep my spot and keep playing well.”
Was it hard to come into a side under pressure for a breakthrough win and looking to the younger players to blossom quickly?
“I didn’t really feel any pressure at all,” Jericho said. “I just wanted to go out there and play as well as I could. I felt a lot more comfortable as the game went on, and then in the third quarter I started taking a couple of marks and my confidence just kept going from there.
“We’ve been improving the last couple of weeks. I think we’re on the right track. If it had been pretty much any other team in the AFL (other than St Kilda), I think we probably would have got over the line at the weekend.
“Trent Hentschel (21) obviously played pretty well and we’ve got Brent Reilly (20), who missed out at the weekend (with a thigh injury), to come back and ‘Schuey’ (Jacob Schuback, 20) has been playing a few games, so it’s not all doom and gloom. We’ve definitely got some good young blokes coming through.”
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Didn't take long did it
6:53:06 PM Mon 19 April, 2004
Alan Shiell
Sportal/exclusive to afl.com.au
If looks and first impressions count, Adelaide’s Luke Jericho has started a long, successful AFL career.
The 19-year-old utility made an auspicious debut against St Kilda at AAMI Stadium last Saturday.
Playing mostly as a half-forward, his statistics were modest enough – four kicks, seven handpasses, four marks and one goal – but it was easy to see why his teammates rate him so highly.
Jericho is deceptively tall (189 centimetres) and his speed and agility, particularly his leaping off muscular legs, stamp him as a formidable all-round athlete, which he is, as he proved statistically at the National AFL Draft Camp late in 2002, before the Crows claimed him from West Adelaide soon after with their first pick (No. 32 overall) in the draft.
His good looks, blond-tipped hair and acrobatics remind some Adelaide fans – dare it be said so soon? – of a famous, favourite son of West Adelaide and the Crows – Tony Modra.
And like Modra, Jericho seems quite a laidback, unaffected type who was not overawed by playing his first AFL match so soon into a new season, given that he had spent much of last year developing with West Adelaide reserves.
“It was great to get out there and have a bit of a run around,” Jericho said of his debut. “It was something different and I really enjoyed it.
“It was definitely a step up – the intensity and just being out there for the first bounce. It was amazing – the speed and just everything. Instead of running, you’re sprinting; instead of jogging, you’re running.
“It was great to play the first couple of games in the SANFL. I think I was a bit lucky to kick a few goals (six against Norwood last Saturday week) and get put up into the AFL team. Hopefully I can keep my spot and keep playing well.”
Was it hard to come into a side under pressure for a breakthrough win and looking to the younger players to blossom quickly?
“I didn’t really feel any pressure at all,” Jericho said. “I just wanted to go out there and play as well as I could. I felt a lot more comfortable as the game went on, and then in the third quarter I started taking a couple of marks and my confidence just kept going from there.
“We’ve been improving the last couple of weeks. I think we’re on the right track. If it had been pretty much any other team in the AFL (other than St Kilda), I think we probably would have got over the line at the weekend.
“Trent Hentschel (21) obviously played pretty well and we’ve got Brent Reilly (20), who missed out at the weekend (with a thigh injury), to come back and ‘Schuey’ (Jacob Schuback, 20) has been playing a few games, so it’s not all doom and gloom. We’ve definitely got some good young blokes coming through.”
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Didn't take long did it
