Adelaide’s young gun Josh Rachele has stolen the headlines following comments regarding his lack of midfield presence in the Crows’ 27-point loss to Hawthorn on Saturday.
Rachele took to 9News on Monday to state that he does not “really know what’s going on” in regard to his drop in midfield minutes, particularly with Izak Rankine out of the team.
RACHELE’S STARK ADMISSION OVER LACK OF MIDFIELD MINUTES
The 21-year-old attended just two centre bounces in the clash with the Hawks, down from 14 in the club’s 99-point smashing of West Coast just a week prior.
While many have been quick to criticise the youngster for making the comments on national television, presumably without addressing the situation with coach Matthew Nicks, former Crows captain Mark Bickley believes it’s a learning curve for the highly rated prospect.
“I hear a 21-year-old young man who’s making his way in the AFL,” Bickley told SEN SA Breakfast.
“He’s doing a weekly segment on the TV and also a weekly segment on radio.
“The way that works is generally they interview you for 10-15 minutes and just keep talking and talking and eventually you say something like that.
“I reckon Josh would have looked at that and thought, ‘I said so much other stuff, but they have picked that out’.
“That to me, that is inexperience.
“It’s saying stuff that is probably best said between the coaching staff and the players and probably not best said out in public.
“If you are seeking clarification as to why you aren’t spending more time in the midfield, then you talk to the coach about that and you get some clear feedback.
“I still think that he’s going through a huge growth phase.”
Bickley’s co-host Jarrod Walsh was quick to support Rachele, who has come under the media spotlight several times over the course of his short career.
“For someone who has played 46 games of football, we analyse him when he’s showing too much emotion and then we analyse him when he’s not showing enough emotion,” Walsh added.
“I’ve never seen a 46-game player be under the spotlight this much.
“Externally now, when he is not showing emotion, fans will say, ‘what’s going on, do you want to be out there?’
“But when he’s showing too much, ‘don’t show too much mate’.
“When are we going to find the middle ground?”
Amidst what has been a frustrating season for Rachele and the Crows, Bickley recommended that the youngster reaches out to those closest to him.
“Listen to the people who are important,” he said.
“I know Josh is really close with his family, listen to mum and dad, they are going to be a great sounding board for him.
“Listen to your assistant coaches and your coaches.
“This is just part of his learning curve.”
The Crows are set to take on a struggling Richmond side at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday night.