Crows draftee Myles Poholke is leaving no stone unturned as he continues to improve and adjust to the rigours of League football.
The tough midfielder was a standout with the Dandenong Stingrays in the TAC Cup and featured in all four games with Victoria Country at last year’s Under-18 National Championships.
Drafted to Adelaide with the Club’s second pick at the 2016 National Draft, Poholke has already shown plenty of promise in his first few games as a Crow in the SANFL system.
Poholke said he’s been leaning on several senior teammates to fast-track his own development.
“I’m trying to learn what I can from a variety of different people around the Club,” Poholke said.
“Scott Thompson has helped me with a lot of my body work and positioning on the inside. Rory Sloane has guided me with running patterns and how I can improve my work rate.
“ROK (Ryan O’Keefe), Nathan van Berlo and Paul Thomas were all outstanding midfielders themselves so they’ve been fantastic for me so far.
“Jordy Gallucci and I also try to help each other a lot, because we’re quite different players and we can give each other a few tips to become better balanced players.
“That’s just the way it is at the Club. Everyone is driving each other to constantly improve.”
SANFL match report: Crows v Panthers
It’s been a massive few months for the well-spoken 18-year-old.
Poholke got a taste of AFL action in Adelaide’s opening two JLT Community Series matches earlier in the year.
He was then thrust into the thick of things against two of the SANFL’s strongest midfields in reigning premiers Sturt and South Adelaide.
“It’s a bit different to last year playing against 18-year-olds and immature bodies,” Poholke admitted.
“The game’s a bit faster, the hits are a lot harder and the bodies that much bigger. I’m doing my best to adapt and hopefully I can keep improving with each game I play.”
The athletic Crow showed glimpses of his natural talent against the Panthers on Easter Sunday.
Already unafraid of winning his own ball on the inside, Poholke pushed forward to slot two important goals in the third term to help Adelaide kick away to a 13-point lead at three-quarter time.
“That’s something I’ve tried to show this pre-season,” Poholke said.
“I’m confident floating forward and jumping at the footy to take a few marks. It gives my game another dimension which hopefully will hold me in good stead into the future.”
Adelaide managed to hang on for a cliffhanger SANFL victory for the second week in succession on Sunday.
Back-to-back goals to Harry Dear and 150-gamer Jonathon Beech gave the Crows a handy 26-point buffer early in the last term before South Adelaide stormed home with four of the next five goals to almost steal the win.
“If we keep doing it like this I don’t think ROK’s going to have any hair left by the end of the season!” Poholke laughed, acknowledging last week’s two-point win over Sturt which came in similar circumstances.
“It was hard work out there but a well-fought win in the end by the boys.
“It’d be easy to let those ones slip, but thankfully we’ve hung in there and got the job done.”
