Coach Brenton Sanderson has ruled out starting Brad Crouch as the substitute in his debut game against the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba on Saturday.
Crouch, 19, earned a call-up following a dominant performance for West Adelaide last week. Sanderson said the North Ballarat recruit had impressed enough to force his way into the first 21.
“Crouchy deserves to start because his form last week was fantastic” Sanderson said.
“He’ll get first crack at it, which will be good for him. I don’t think it’s very fair to put a first gamer in for the sub, but at the same time we’ll always pick our best team to win. If that means Crouchy starting as the sub, then we’ll do it but he warrants being in the 21 this week.”
Crouch has been named on a half-forward flank, but will rotate through the midfield.
“He’ll play through the midfield and give us a bit more run and drive through there. Crouchy will compliment Scott Thompson, Patrick Dangerfield, Rory Sloane, Matt Wright, Richard Douglas and Bernie Vince,” Sanderson said.
“He gives us another tough midfielder around the contest. He’s also got a good kick and is a great decision maker outside of the contest.
“It’s really exciting for Crouchy, the Club and our supporters.”
The hype surrounding Crouch has been building since he was recruited by Adelaide as a 17-year-old in the Greater Western Sydney ‘mini-draft’ in October, 2011. The classy onballer was too young to play AFL last year, and spent the season developing his game at SANFL club, West Adelaide.
Sanderson said he didn’t expect miracles from the debutant this weekend.
“We won’t put too many expectations on him this week. One trap players can fall into on debut is trying to do too much,” he said.
“We’ll identify a role for him to keep his own expectations at a reasonable level. His family will be heading up for the game and all his mates will be ringing him. He’s got all those distractions, but he’s just got to focus on playing well and playing his game.
“We’re not going to ask him to do anything he didn’t do for West Adelaide last week or last year.”
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