When Adelaide Captain Rory Sloane injured his ACL, the question many Crows fans would have asked was ‘Who will skipper our side for the remainder of the season?’

It was a reasonable question to ask given Sloane had been such an inspirational leader since becoming a co-captain with Taylor Walker in 2019, before taking over as solo skipper in 2020.

Last week, the Club decided that the side’s leadership group - Brodie Smith, Tom Doedee, Ben Keays and Reilly O’Brien - would share the duties and fill the on-field void Sloane leaves.

Speaking on this week’s episode of The Crows Show, Adelaide Leadership Development Manager Dan Jackson said having a Captain was important but it was equally vital to have a team full of leaders.

Jackson said the Club was working hard to help develop and build every players’ leadership qualities as that would create a strong Club both on and off the field.

“People get caught up in the Captain or the leader of an organisation (being) the sole piece of leadership,” Jackson said.

“We look at it more that we don’t need to replace a leader, we need to make sure we are driving leadership across the whole place.

“We’ve got four other guys in our leadership group who will step up on game day who will fill the void where Sloaney can’t.

“But we are also going to be leaning on the wider group to build that leadership capacity across the whole place.”

Jackson said he had full confidence in the leadership group to take care of the on-field duties this season while Sloane recovered.

“The four guys in the leadership group are all very different in the way they lead,” Jackson said.

“Smithers is amazing with his connection across the whole group. 

“He’s often the first guy players will go to when they’ve got a concern, when they need help with something or have a question.

“Ben Keays, no surprise, he leads through his hard work both on and off the training field and game day.

“Reilly O’Brien, he’s kind of everything. He’s loved by the boys, he lives our values above and beyond nearly anyone else with his hard work, his connection, his ability to prioritise others and he’s very clever.

“Doeds speaks very well, he sees things, he’s got an eye for detail. He’s an exceptional player and an exceptional human and also can connect with the whole group.

Also on the Crows Show, Jordon Butts tells Tom Doedee all about his Crows Whopper Moment and forward Elliott Himmelberg speaks about how he’s taken his game to another level.

The Crows Show airs on Channel 7 this Saturday at 1pm.