Jed Adcock is jumping out of his skin to feature in a grand final for Footscray in the VFL.
Adcock never had the chance to play on the biggest day of the AFL calendar during a long and distinguished career with the Brisbane Lions.
His first season with the Lions was in 2004, which brought the last of the club’s four consecutive grand final appearances during its golden era.
Adcock was raw at the time and did not feature in the grand final loss to Port Adelaide.
His time to shine on that last Saturday in September never eventuated because the Lions have not been back on football’s grandest stage.
After being delisted by Brisbane last season, Adcock was picked up by the Western Bulldogs in the rookie draft last summer to provide depth to their playing list.
The 30-year-old played an important role for the AFL side with seven games when injury struck the Dogs in mid-season. But with the senior side seemingly settled and Adcock announcing that 2016 will be his last in the AFL system, he now has plans to go out on a high with Footscray when it faces Casey Scorpions in the grand final on Sunday.
“I always thought it was the right decision to keep playing,” he told Star Weekly. “I felt like I had plenty of footy in me, whatever level that is. It’s exciting to play finals at whatever level, and to get to a grand final is a good feeling.”
Adcock will be a calming influence over his team.
Having a long-time AFL captain in the ranks will be a huge asset for Footscray in grand final week. While the youngsters were doing a victory jig in the rooms after the preliminary final thrashing of Collingwood, Adcock was quietly taking it all in and pondering what he can do to best prepare for the big game.
“We’re keeping it in a bit of perspective, enjoying this win for now, but the time will come when we’ve got to recover well and refocus. We’ve got an eight-day break, which is nice. Our boys play AFL on the Saturday as well, so it will be nice to get them boys over the line and into a granny as well.”
Adcock has been impressed with the set-up at the kennel. Both the AFL and VFL sides have a nice blend of youth and experience, he says, but, more importantly, they have the structure to allow the players to improve.
“It just shows the depth we’ve got through the group at both levels and the development the club has been able to get into not only the young players, but every player,” Adcock said.
“We’ve got a really good system that we all understand, trust and follow, but at the same time we’re able to go out, play footy and enjoy ourselves. It’s nice to see the rewards for that.”
