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Adelaide are set to omit Josh Rachele for their final round clash with Sydney, following the controversial Crows young gun’s antics during and in the lead-up to the Showdown.
Rachele caused a stir heading into the match when he sledged Port Adelaide supporters for having ‘no teeth’, which he doubled down on during the match by celebrating a goal with a finger pointed towards his mouth as he ran to the boundary line.
The series of incidents were met with a mixed response from the wider footy world, with controversial media pundit and Power great Kane Cornes describing Rachele as an ’embarrassment’ and a ‘laughing stock’ on Nine’s The Sunday Footy Show, having failed to back up his words with actions by finishing the Crows’ Showdown loss with just 10 disposals and a solitary goal.
Star Crow Rory Laird added to the pile-on by saying Rachele’s comments were ‘misaligned as to how we approach these games’ on SEN SA.
According to afl.com.au’s Callum Twomey, the 21-year old is set to pay the ultimate price and be omitted from the Crows team to face Sydney on Saturday night, the first match he will have missed all season.
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The looming selection call has likewise divided opinion, with SEN’s Garry Lyon urging the Crows to be careful to not be too brutal concerning the talented goalsneak.
“He’s a young man who has brought a lot of attention on himself. He got roundly criticised after the weekend, and I understand why,” Lyon said on SEN Breakfast.
“Put yourself in Josh Rachele’s shoes right now. He’s been smashed, and I imagine in Adelaide it’s even worse, and now a senior player [Laird] comes out and says publicly they would’ve preferred if he hadn’t done it – and now they’re telling me that he’s going to be dropped.
“Tread warily on this, I think. He’s still a young kid, and some kids mature slower.
“If they drop him this week, is that what you want him stewing on for the next six months? Publicly called out by a teammate, a week of criticism, and then he’s got six months to think about it.
“Other people would say good, let that drive him, but wouldn’t you rather wrap your arms around him and back him in?”
Josh Rachele is set to be dropped from Adelaide’s team to face Sydney. (Photo by James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Former West Coast premiership player Will Schofield has expressed his disappointment at Laird’s public criticism of Rachele, saying the club should have kept that view in-house.
“As a player, I certainly valued keeping things inside the locker room, and I know in strong teams that’s what’s important,” Schofield said on Fox Footy’s AFL Tonight.
“So, to have senior players – I know Rory Laird was one of those guys – effectively putting Josh Rachele up on a pedestal, telling him he shouldn’t be doing these sorts of things in public, I think it’s a really bad look.
“Of course you need to sit Josh Rachele down and speak to him about how he speaks in public, and how he backs that up on the field. [But] that’s a conversation you have inside your four walls, never outside.
“You don’t ever want to hang out a teammate to dry, especially young ones; so I thought that was really disappointing for Adelaide, and probably summarises why they’ve been such a poor side this year.”
The Crows sit 15th on the ladder nearing the end of a disappointing 2024, having only missed finals in 2023 via a hugely controversial goal umpire mistake in the dying minutes of a late-season loss to Sydney who the Crows play to finish their year.
Should Rachele be dropped when the Crows’ team is announced, he will join star forward Izak Rankine on the sidelines, who entered the AFL’s concussion protocols following Dan Houston’s brutal bump, for which the Port Adelaide defender copped a five-week suspension from the AFL Tribunal.
Izak Rankine is knocked out by a late hit from Dan Houston. (Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)
Dual Richmond premiership player Marlion Pickett has joined Tiger greats Dustin Martin and Dylan Grimes in announcing his retirement.
Pickett, who became one of the AFL’s most memorable ever stories when he made his debut in the Tigers’ 2019 grand final win over GWS – the first grand final debutant in 67 years.
Having been selected in that year’s mid-season rookie draft, the then-27-year old rose to the occasion, gathering 22 disposals, kicking a memorable first goal and earning four Norm Smith Medal votes, also becoming the first debutant premiership player since 1926.
The week before, he had won the Norm Goss Medal as best afield in the Tigers’ VFL grand final win.
Pickett also played in the Tigers’ 2020 premiership team, with the wingman to finish up after the Tigers’ Round 24 clash with Gold Coast, which will be his 91st AFL game.
“To be drafted in black and yellow is an honour and to wear it is even more special,” Pickett said in a statement.
“My past and the way I grew up is different to everyone else’s and it was not easy to get drafted. I got overlooked for six or seven years and 2019 I was about to quit all my dreams.
“I had some people in my corner, and they told me to stick at it… They told me just to give it another year.
“Five years it felt like 10 years… but the sweat, blood and tears it was a pleasure and doing it with the bunch of guys it was really special.
“I am so proud to be a Richmond Man, and I am going to miss the footy.”
Pickett will head to court in Western Australia in October facing 12 charges relating to commercial burglaries totalling over $350,000 in late 2022 and early 2023, which include criminal damage and aggravated burglary, having reportedly been granted bail conditions allowing him to finish the AFL season.
Marlion Pickett after receiving his 2019 premiership medal. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/AFL Media/via Getty Images )
West Coast co-captain Liam Duggan is urging Harley Reid to continue playing on the edge, despite the No.1 draft pick falling foul of the match review panel yet again.
Reid has been slapped with a $3125 sanction for engaging in a melee/wrestle during Sunday’s 65-point loss to Carlton.
The fine was much higher than usual given it was Reid’s third offence this year – a rare occurrence for a player in their first season.
The 19-year-old was also suspended for two matches earlier this season for a dangerous sling tackle on St Kilda’s Darcy Wilson.
That penalty ruled Reid out of the running for the AFL’s Rising Star award.
Reid has instantly become one of West Coast’s feistiest players, with his aggressive attack on the ball and the man winning him legions of fans across the country.
The Eagles are keen for Reid to maintain the rage.
“I can’t question the way Harley goes about his footy,” Duggan said.
“I think he plays the right way, and I think there’s people coming after him too, and he’s responded a couple of times.
“I keep encouraging him to play on the edge. It’s not ill discipline. We all love the way he plays. I’ll stick by him.”
Reid’s combative nature and willingness to get his hands dirty are best summed up by his free-kick count, which stands at 40-44 for-and-against.
Three weeks ago against Gold Coast, Reid gave away seven free kicks and didn’t win one himself.
Often the free kicks Reid gives away come from holding-the-ball decisions – a risk that comes with his willingness to take on opponents with audacious fend-offs and bullocking runs.
When rivals do catch Reid with the ball, they let him know about it with harsh words or extra shoves.
“I can see why teams are putting a little bit of extra time into him, but I think he enjoys it to a degree as well,” Duggan said.
“He’s having a lot of fun out there.”
Harley Reid celebrates a goal. (Photo by Will Russell/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
West Coast will finish their season with a tough trip to GMHBA Stadium to take on Geelong on Saturday.
The Eagles will be without Tom Barrass (back) for a fourth straight game, while fellow key defender Jeremy McGovern has also been ruled out after undergoing thumb surgery.
Barrass still has three years remaining on his contract, but it appears increasingly likely he will leave West Coast for Hawthorn at the end of the season.
With Barrass’ exit looming, West Coast shored up their key defensive stocks on Wednesday by re-signing Harry Edwards for a further three years, tying him to the club until the end of 2027.
Brady Hough, who has been a standout player this year shutting down some of the league’s best small forwards, also re-signed for another three years, locking him in until 2028.
(AAP)
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