- Aug 9, 2019
- 38,251
- 66,081
- AFL Club
- Adelaide
- Other Teams
- Panthers, GWV Rebels, Central Augusta
AFL pre-season news: Adelaide Crows young gun Fischer McAsey calls time
The second-highest draft pick in Crows history, Fischer McAsey, has quit in a huge pre-season shock at West Lakes. But the club is adamant it did everything possible to retain him.More than a year ago, Adelaide development boss Marco Bello called former Sandringham Dragons’ coach Josh Bourke about Fischer McAsey.
McAsey had played under Bourke in a Victorian primary schools state team then again at the Dragons in 2019, but after 10 games in a promising debut season at the Crows in 2020, the No. 6 draft pick’s progress had stalled.
“Marco knew he’d had a really good year when he was with us at the Dragons, (so asked) what were some things that helped and supported him,” Bourke told News Corp.
“They were trying to push and prod him to get the best out of him.
“It was about motivation, ‘how did you get him going?’
“Marco said the biggest thing is Fisch working out whether he wants to play footy or not.”
It turned out the answer was no.
As his teammates resumed pre-season training on Monday, McAsey quit the AFL, citing a lack of passion to make it at the elite level.
The 21-year-old swingman, who was granted personal leave from the Crows in November so he could be with his family in Melbourne, believed pursuing other interests was the best thing for his long-term future and wellbeing.
Bourke said McAsey was not a footy nut and never had been.
“He’s a different personality to a lot of the boys that go into the AFL where all they’re hellbent on doing is becoming an AFL player,” he said. “He’s a lovely bloke, a stand-up human and a great kid.
“There was no conflict, no issues, no one disliked him, he wasn’t a bad teammate or anything, but he wasn’t super close with a bunch of his teammates and you got a sense he viewed things a little bit differently.
“But how does the (AFL) system deal with players that function differently?”
Crows ruckman Reilly O’Brien could sense at times last season that McAsey’s passion for the game was waning.
He said McAsey’s decision to take personal leave before Christmas was a surprise but Monday’s call was not.
As a good friend, as well as a member of Adelaide’s leadership group, O’Brien questioned if the club had done all it could to support him.
He believed it had.
“Fisch has made it clear to us that the support he received was all he could’ve asked for and more,” O’Brien said.
“Our environment’s a really good spot but the AFL is not for everyone, it’s a pretty tough gig in terms of the training and expectation.