Well-earned AFL start looms for former Falcon
GEELONG Falcons product Tom Doedee could make a fitting hometown debut for Adelaide at Simonds Stadium tomorrow night after producing an impressive run of form in the SANFL.
The Crows defender has featured in Adelaide SANFL’s best players and is banging down the door for an AFL debut.
Adelaide assistant coach James Podsiadly told the Geelong Advertiser Doedee would come into calculations to play the Cats under lights tomorrow night.
“(He’s) absolutely hunting a debut and we’re at the point now we’re starting to talk about him in match committee, which is a credit to him,” Podsiadly said.
“We haven’t talked about match committee (for tomorrow night) yet, but there’s every chance he could (debut).
“He had a bit of an interrupted pre-season and he’s only played a handful of games back — I reckon he might have played two games in a row, for the first time this year, in the last couple of weeks — so his form, we’re really, really happy with.”
A knee injury denied Doedee a JLT Community Series appearance, but the 20-year- old has been a standout in the Crows’ reserves, showcasing his ability to intercept marks across the backline.
Adelaide took a punt on the former elite junior basketballer in the 2015 draft, taking the St Joseph’s junior earlier than expected with pick 17, prompting howls of concern from Adelaide supporters who feared the Crows were taking an unnecessary risk on a player with limited football background.
Not dissimilar to when the Crows elected to draft Patrick Dangerfield over Brad Ebert, Adelaide made a similar decision in overlooking talented North Adelaide forward Ryan Burton for Doedee.
Burton, who went pick 19 to Hawthorn, has played all bar one game this season and was the Round 2 NAB Rising Star nominee.
But Podsiadly said the young defender displayed so much upside.
“He’s still got a fair bit of development to go, but we’re happy with the way he’s been developing,” he said.
“His ability to compete is something we absolutely love, so that’s going to hold him in good stead for a very long time.
“We’re looking forward to him making his debut some time this year.”
Podsiadly also praised Dean Gore, who the Cats parted with along with draft picks to lure Dangerfield back to Victoria.
Gore, who was also named in Adelaide SANFL’s best players last weekend, was drafted by the Cats with pick 55 in 2015, but is yet to make his AFL debut.
“His last couple of weeks at SANFL level have been pretty good as well,” Podsiadly said.
“We’ve seen him play a little bit down back and now back in the midfield where he played pretty well.
“Our development coaches are doing a fair amount of work with him to continue his progression at the AFL level.
“He’s a guy with a fantastic attitude to get the best out of himself and those players usually get rewarded.”