Adelaide defender Josh Worrell is turning the disappointment of last season’s finals series into the driving force behind his desire to improve in 2026. 

The 24-year-old was one of 17 Crows to play their first final last season, and although the experience didn’t go the way he had hoped from a results point of view, the lessons learned have fuelled his desire to improve this pre-season.

Speaking to AFC Media, Worrell explained how the end of the 2025 season had sharpened the squad’s mindset throughout the pre-season. 

“We obviously had those tough couple of losses at the end there, especially after ending the season in such a strong position, so it definitely hurt at the time and still hurts now,” Worrell said.

“But I think now that there’s been a bit of time to digest it, the learnings from that experience are really starting to come through, and you begin to understand just how valuable those two games were for our development as a team.

“You can see on the track this pre-season just how motivated the boys are as a result of how last year ended, and long term I’m confident we’ll be better off for the experience.

“It’s definitely given myself and all the other boys that little bit more fuel to attack the pre-season hard and improve to hopefully put us in that position again.” 

Although the 2025 campaign ended in disappointment, it was the season that Worrell cemented his position as a key cog in Adelaide’s backline and announced himself as one of the competition’s premier defenders.

Looking ahead to this coming season, he eyed continued improvement and outlined how he hoped to better himself.

“If I go into this season focusing on that one game at a time mindset, I think it will put me in great stead to keep improving,” Worrell said.

“My best footy comes off solely focusing on playing my role for the team, not worrying about anything else and just being really clear on what I have to do out there on the field.

“Hopefully I can be a pivotal point in something special this year.”

This pre-season has been slightly different for Worrell and his teammates, with the introduction of new High Performance Manager Ian McKeown.

He said the change in training style had been a challenge, but one he had relished throughout the early parts of the Crows’ pre-season.

“The 2026 pre-season has been amazing so far, it’s always fun getting back into the swing of things and the boys are looking really fit at the moment,” Worrell said.

“It’s definitely been a different pre-season for us, we all loved Burgo (Darren Burgess) and it was sad to see him go, but Mackers has been great.

“He’s good fun to be around, but he’s definitely letting us know he’s a fitness coach, it’s been a tough start to the pre-season and our last session before Christmas was absolutely brutal. 

“It’s all part of being a footballer though and they are challenges I really relish when this time of year rolls around.” 

Adelaide kicks off its 2026 Toyota AFL Premiership Season against Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday, March 14.