Brodie Smith dismissed concerns about any lingering effects from his recent concussion with a near-best on ground performance in Adelaide’s Elimination Final win on Saturday night.
Smith, 24, missed the Club’s last home and away game of the season after receiving an accidental boot to the head in the first half of the Round 22 Showdown. The introduction of a bye before the start of finals meant the 24-year-old’s stint on the sidelines stretched to three weeks.
Smith said both he and teammate Rory Sloane, who was suspended for Adelaide’s Round 23 loss to West Coast, were raring to go for the knockout clash with North Melbourne.
“I think I’d played a quarter of footy in a month, so I was jumping out of my skin to get out there,” Smith said after his team’s win over the Kangaroos.
“Me and Sloaney trained really hard over the break. We were both pumped to get out there and all the boys got around us.
“It was an unbelievable feeling the way we played tonight and how were able to get that win.”
Smith’s head knock against Port Adelaide was his third in the last 18 months.
The All-Australian defender missed three weeks after suffering two concussions in the space of two months last season, and took time to regain confidence and form.
He had no such issue on Saturday night, amassing 29 possessions, eight inside 50ms and two goals. The line-breaking Crow also gained an incredible 927 metres – 200 more than the next-best player in the first week of finals.
Smith said he was confident leading into the game that he could put the concussion behind him.
“I wasn’t too far off playing (against West Coast). If it had been a couple of days later, I probably would’ve been okay,” he said.
“In the end, I was able to have a couple of solid weeks of training and had no symptoms at all.
“Last year, it took me a little bit to come back into form. Probably having two (concussions) so close together set me back a little bit. I thought I had some good form leading into this one and was playing well on the night (against Port Adelaide) before it happened.
“They’ve all been pretty unlucky. It’s not the way I’m playing (that’s contributed to the concussions).
“Hopefully, that’s the last of them and it’s all behind me.”
Adelaide led from start to finish in the sometimes spiteful contest against North Melbourne.
The Roos trailed the inaccurate Crows by only 12 points at the main change. But the home team pulled away in the second half, kicking 15 goals to seven to set up a 62-point win.
Smith said it was a strong response to the lacklustre performance against the Eagles.
“West Coast played their way and we were really disappointed with that,” he said.
“Tonight, we kicked a goal in the first couple of minutes and for the rest of the night, we played our way. The Kangaroos have been known this year for a few spot fires and that was no different tonight.
“We stood up for ourselves well and the main thing was that we got them on the scoreboard.”
Rivalling Smith for best-afield honours was brilliant forward Eddie Betts.
In the absence of his regular match-up in Roo Scott Thompson, Betts ran amok.
The two-time All Australian kicked six goals and took two brilliant marks – one high in the air and the other at ground level after falling over, finding his feet and outpointing two opponents.
“Eddie is just unbelievable. There are no real words to describe him,” Smith said.
“The way he took that mark in the goal square … he was out of position and somehow marked it. ‘Lairdy’ (Rory Laird) and I just looked at each other and laughed.
“The way he is around the change rooms with the boys as well, everyone loves him and the crowd loves him.”
Saturday night’s Elimination Final was the Club’s last AFL game at Adelaide Oval this season.
A crowd of 49,007 turned out to watch the home side overrun the Roos. Smith thanked the Crows faithful, who regained the record for the highest home game attendance in the AFL this season.
“They (our fans) come out every week and are probably the loudest crowd in the League, I reckon. It feels like there’s 100,000 out there,” he said.
“They get around us and you can’t beat that ‘Eddie’ chant. I even heard a ‘U Crows’ chant tonight and I loved that. Thanks for all their support throughout the year and, hopefully, see as many as we can in Sydney next week.”
The Crows will now travel to the SCG to play minor premiers the Sydney Swans, who were upstaged by cross-town rivals Greater Western Sydney by 36 points in the Qualifying Final.
The Crows and Swans have only met once this season – at Adelaide Oval in Round Four when the home side held on to win by 10 points in a thriller.
“We know that if we play our way and play our best footy, we can beat anyone,” Smith said of the match-up.
“They’re going to be disappointed (with their loss) and come out firing.
“We’ve just got to match them.”