Crows utility Darcy Fogarty says he’s made the most of his switch to the backlines this year, learning tactics from key forwards which he plans on implementing into his own game.
Traditionally a forward, Fogarty has played as a key defender for the first three games of the SANFL season, including Adelaide’s 23-point win over Woodville-West Torrens on Saturday.
He had six spoils in Round Three and impressed in the Crows’ Round One victory over Sturt with 10 rebound 50s.
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The 19-year-old believes his time in the backlines will help his game as a whole.
“It obviously helps because it gives me the exposure to play on good forwards,” Fogarty said.
“To be able to play on the key forwards and learn what is difficult to defend, I will hopefully be able to implement that into my game when I go back forward.
“It’s about learning what they do, how they lose me, how they lead and what they do in contests, it’s been good.”
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Fogarty has been training with the defenders and has enjoyed learning off several new faces.
“Being able to work with a different group of people like Marty Mattner and Brent Reilly has been unreal,” he said.
“Working closely with people like Tahls (Daniel Talia), Harto (Kyle Hartigan) and Keathy (Alex Keath), the other key backs… to learn off them, it’s a great experience.”
Last year, Fogarty played 10 games in the AFL and nine in the SANFL, enjoying one solitary win in the State League.
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This season, he has enjoyed doubling the number of wins after only three rounds.
“It’s unreal to have a lot of listed players to be able to play and push for spots,” Fogarty said.
“It makes it a lot easier to play with the same people each week and actually getting some confidence in the playing group.”
On Saturday, the SANFL Crows will play Central Districts at Elizabeth Oval at 1.10pm.