OUR TOM FLYING HIGH WITH CROWS
HE WAS only 26 games into his AFL career before he was called on to captain Adelaide, but Tom Doedee is used to making a quick impact.
The former Geelong Falcon led the Crows out on Monday night, stepping in for injured skipper Rory Sloane.
The defender had no issues with the extra responsibility, collecting 18 disposals and 10 marks to be among the best players on the ground, even as the Crows lost by 23 points.
The quick promotion for the 23-year-old wasn’t a complete surprise to his Falcons coach Andy Allthorpe, who was always impressed Doedee’s maturity.
“(Doedee) was a really mature person and you could speak to him about pretty mature topics,” Allthorpe said.
“He certainly had the capabilities of leadership, and those roles were definitely something he was capable of given the person he was.
“It was more the way he impressed me with handling things. At the time he would manage his expectations and understand there was more to life than just footy.
“He could still focus on school and other things. Some of the other kids at that time were that immersed in footy that it was footy or nothing.”
A talented basketballer who played in representative sides for the Geelong Supercats, Doedee only spent one season with the Falcons.
The St Joseph’s product had to get through injuries to take the field in 2015 — he played practice matches in the reserves side — but when he did he immediately showed his ability.
Playing alongside future AFL players Darcy Parish, Charlie Curnow and Rhys Mathieson, Doedee did enough to be scooped up by Adelaide with the 17th pick in that year’s AFL Draft.
“We were aware of his talent, we just needed to see him play and once he did play there was no doubt he was pretty special,” Allthorpe said.
“As soon as he played he was more than up to TAC (Cup) level and he played nationals as well.
“I think at the Crows it took him a while to get a game with injuries and that sort of thing, but I reckon they would have seen the person he was and his c character would have come o out.”
It took until 2018 for Doede ee to make his AFL debut, but he settled in immediately down back and played 20 m matches in that year.
His 2019 was ruined by an a anterior cruciate ligament tear in Round 1 that ruled him out of the season but he has since bounced back to again establi lish himself.
Allthorpe watched on with p pride on Monday as Doedee to took on the role of skipper.