Former Falcon sets up date with Hawk, Jezza
ADELAIDE leadership group member Brodie Smith does not believe fellow Crow Tom Doedee needs to return to an intercepting role ahead of a date with Cats star forwards Tom Hawkins and Jeremy Cameron on Saturday.
St Joseph’s junior Doedee has played his best footy as a third tall, but Smith said he did not expect him to go back to that role for the GMHBA Stadium clash, despite key defender Jordon Butts looking a likely inclusion for the Crows.
Butts held Hawkins well in a shock round 1 victory last season for the Crows.
Smith said Doedee, a former Geelong Falcon, had played well in a lockdown role.
“He’s playing really good footy for us, he still has the ability to do that,” he said. “He reads the game really well, so we know that he can get a job done, but he can come off and intercept.
“No doubt when he is on a tough key forward ... he has to focus a little bit more on defending there, but the more he is playing, the more times he is finding a way to drop off and help out so we will back him in.”
Smith conceded it looked bad when St Kilda star Max King kicked a decisive six goals in the Saints’ win last weekend, but he was confident the Crows’ developing defence could still curb Coleman Medal pair Hawkins and Cameron.
“He (King) is obviously a quality player and really tall for a key forward and very rangy as well,” he said.
“He just took some quality grabs, our focus was to help each other and push up, and that gave him some jumps at the footy and he took them.
“We didn’t feel like being undersized would hurt us, I know it looks bad that King kicked six.”
Josh Rachele will be on a modified training program this week as he seeks to recover from a corked thigh to play in Geelong.