Adelaide mid-season draftee Hugo Hall-Kahan will make his AFL debut against Geelong on Thursday night, just seven days after officially joining the club. Hall-Kahan was selected with pick No.10 in the mid-season rookie draft last Tuesday after an impressive first half of the season with VFL side Williamstown.
The 22-year-old has mainly been used as a running defender, averaging over 27 touches and six marks a game. Coach Matthew Nicks made the announcement at a team lunch with Hall-Kahan, who was working in retail before joining Adelaide, left completely stunned. He could be seen shaking his head in disbelief before shedding a few tears as he realised his AFL dream was about to become a reality.
Coach Nicks Praises New Recruit
“He’s a guy that we have been watching very closely and has been absolutely destroying it,” Nicks could be heard saying. “He’s been playing across half back and when we showed you his highlights when he arrived at the club, I don’t reckon we showed you his highlights. There are a lot of goals in there but this guy has dominated in the VFL.
“There’s a reason that we’re very excited about bringing him in to the club for joining you guys. We’re really fond of the opportunity for him to play this first game of AFL football. He’s not going to let you down because he’s a good player for us. We couldn’t be more pleased for Hugo Hall-Kahan.”
Teammates quickly embraced Hall-Kahan before Nicks came over and gave the player a big hug. Hall-Kahan previously spent time at Sydney after being selected in the 2022 mid-season rookie draft, but failed to make any AFL appearances.
Multiple Changes for Crows
Coming off the bye, Adelaide will be forced into multiple changes from the side that lost to Hawthorn two weeks ago. Izak Rankine is out with a calf injury, while Riley Thilthorpe is suspended. There are also doubts over Callum Ah Chee after suffering a thumb injury against the Hawks. Isaac Cumming is also unlikely to return after failing to finish training on Monday night with a fresh hamstring concern.
Taylor Walker Poised for Recall
Taylor Walker’s match-winning performance in the SANFL has him poised for an AFL recall. Playing his first SANFL game since 2014, Walker kicked five goals two weekends ago as the Crows upset last season’s grand finalists Glenelg by seven points. Coach Nicks said provided there are no problems through the week at training, the veteran key forward will return to their senior side to face the Cats. Walker has been out of the AFL team since suffering a hamstring injury in the Round 9 Showdown win.
“To his credit, he led extraordinarily well,” Nicks said before Monday training. “It’s amazing when we get reports back from our young players on things they experience, and how they talk about his leadership, you know, on field, even leading into the game. If he’s good to go after training, he’ll come in.”
Team Outlook
The Crows and their SANFL team are coming off the bye. Adelaide are eighth in the AFL with a 6-5 record, while the Cats are fourth on 8-4. Adelaide lost to Hawthorn in Launceston before the bye and fell to Geelong away in round four.
“It may be that you’re not seeing a product that’s exactly where we want to be, and we openly talk about that,” Nicks said. “We’d like to get a little bit more attack and a little bit more zing off half-back in our game, and off intercept. That’s something we’ve been working on for months now, and we’ll continue to work through that. We know that we’re going to have to be better than what we were in the first half of the year. We also have confidence in what we’re doing, we believe in our game plan.”
— with AAP
