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Crouch not short of faith
July 18 2003
Unsung Swan Jared Crouch believes in himself as well as his religion, writes Jessica Halloran.
His good luck charm is a Miraculous Medal from the Vatican but he'll sinfully plunge a few dollars on the ponies. He only averages 9.6 touches of the footy a game, but he's tackled footballers to the ground 62 times this year.
And for a man who stands at "five-foot nothing" (actually 174 centimetres) he has one of the best leaps at the Swans. And he won the AFL sprint during half-time at the grand final last year.
Jared Crouch is a skilful, determined and athletic footballer. Around the club he's renowned for his strong sense of duty and commitment to the team on the field. He's a footballer who has drifted into a defensive role this year and in the process has snuffed out some the better small forwards in the game.
At his height it's a challenging role, and not a very glamorous one either.
"Every footballer loves running around and having 50 touches, but to be a successful side you can't [all] do that," Crouch says. "Last week I only got four kicks."
Yes, but he kept that St Kilda goalsneak Stephen Milne out of the game. Plus Crouch's tackle count this season is second only to Brett Kirk at the club and eighth best in the AFL.
"I'm still young, I'm 25," Crouch says. "Daryn Cresswell started as a run-with player and developed into a midfielder - I do hope that opportunity comes up."
He had that opportunity as a schoolboy footballer and was brilliant. He knows he is just going to have to be patient.
"I just love playing footy, being out there with the boys - I do whatever it takes to play," he says.
Crouch is a smart and opinionated man. So opinionated that going through his match video with midfield coach Steve Malaxos can be quite a task.
Without a strong, educated argument it's hard to convince "Crouchy" he's wrong.
"I like to persuade people and get my way," he says, laughing honestly.
"Coaches see certain things, coaches can have their opinion and you know how things sort of happen on the field [he pauses] I'm getting better.
"The point was made early on, and I want to have my opinions, I'm a person who always wants to be right.
"I have no doubt I'm pretty opinionated," he laughs again. "It's all for the great good of the game."
You imagine that after football, if he were to hang around the club he wouldn't be a coach. Heck no, he'd be the chairman.
He's a tough man with an enormous amount of dedication and commitment to his sport.
He will stay awake all night icing his sore limbs and has been playing football with a broken finger since round six.
He snapped the tendon completely off the bone and has a pain-killer punched into his right ring finger before each match. That's why he wears gloves.
"It's not a fashion statement," he says.
In his spare time he's a football good samaritan, running footy clinics for kids, something he really enjoys, watching their skills develop.
He has some great opinions on how the junior development of footy in NSW could be improved - but he'll save that for his crusade after football.
For a man that works so hard on the field - and even off - you would think he'd relax and have few beers every now and then.
But no, he only touched the stuff for the first time when he was 23. And he's still not that enamoured of it.
"There's a view that footballers like going after the game and drinking," he says. "I only drink red wine and that's in the off-season. I'm the only sober one after the game sometimes," he laughs.
"In my first year it was a big thing to drink . . . but I couldn't see how it was going to make me a better footballer."
Despite not ever overindulging on the vino, Crouch is right into viticulture, and has a nice collection of wine.
Another Crouch contradiction is that even though it's a game he loves to play he hates watching AFL footy.
"I don't mind watching local footy, but I hate watching seniors," he says. "I want to be out there playing - the last time I watching a senior game was 123 games ago."
And he's played 123 games straight because of the way he looks after his body. He leads by example in that department, he's one of the best at the club.
Back to that Miraculous Medal. Wait, he's got other ones too.
"I am religious, it was part of my upbringing," he says. "I've also got a St Christopher medal, the patron saint of travel."
He'll need it on the plane down to Melbourne today for the Swans' game against Carlton. And aside from a premiership medal, he's searching for another religious one.
"There's a patron saint of the Swans - I can't think of who it is. I need one of those."
July 18 2003
Unsung Swan Jared Crouch believes in himself as well as his religion, writes Jessica Halloran.
His good luck charm is a Miraculous Medal from the Vatican but he'll sinfully plunge a few dollars on the ponies. He only averages 9.6 touches of the footy a game, but he's tackled footballers to the ground 62 times this year.
And for a man who stands at "five-foot nothing" (actually 174 centimetres) he has one of the best leaps at the Swans. And he won the AFL sprint during half-time at the grand final last year.
Jared Crouch is a skilful, determined and athletic footballer. Around the club he's renowned for his strong sense of duty and commitment to the team on the field. He's a footballer who has drifted into a defensive role this year and in the process has snuffed out some the better small forwards in the game.
At his height it's a challenging role, and not a very glamorous one either.
"Every footballer loves running around and having 50 touches, but to be a successful side you can't [all] do that," Crouch says. "Last week I only got four kicks."
Yes, but he kept that St Kilda goalsneak Stephen Milne out of the game. Plus Crouch's tackle count this season is second only to Brett Kirk at the club and eighth best in the AFL.
"I'm still young, I'm 25," Crouch says. "Daryn Cresswell started as a run-with player and developed into a midfielder - I do hope that opportunity comes up."
He had that opportunity as a schoolboy footballer and was brilliant. He knows he is just going to have to be patient.
"I just love playing footy, being out there with the boys - I do whatever it takes to play," he says.
Crouch is a smart and opinionated man. So opinionated that going through his match video with midfield coach Steve Malaxos can be quite a task.
Without a strong, educated argument it's hard to convince "Crouchy" he's wrong.
"I like to persuade people and get my way," he says, laughing honestly.
"Coaches see certain things, coaches can have their opinion and you know how things sort of happen on the field [he pauses] I'm getting better.
"The point was made early on, and I want to have my opinions, I'm a person who always wants to be right.
"I have no doubt I'm pretty opinionated," he laughs again. "It's all for the great good of the game."
You imagine that after football, if he were to hang around the club he wouldn't be a coach. Heck no, he'd be the chairman.
He's a tough man with an enormous amount of dedication and commitment to his sport.
He will stay awake all night icing his sore limbs and has been playing football with a broken finger since round six.
He snapped the tendon completely off the bone and has a pain-killer punched into his right ring finger before each match. That's why he wears gloves.
"It's not a fashion statement," he says.
In his spare time he's a football good samaritan, running footy clinics for kids, something he really enjoys, watching their skills develop.
He has some great opinions on how the junior development of footy in NSW could be improved - but he'll save that for his crusade after football.
For a man that works so hard on the field - and even off - you would think he'd relax and have few beers every now and then.
But no, he only touched the stuff for the first time when he was 23. And he's still not that enamoured of it.
"There's a view that footballers like going after the game and drinking," he says. "I only drink red wine and that's in the off-season. I'm the only sober one after the game sometimes," he laughs.
"In my first year it was a big thing to drink . . . but I couldn't see how it was going to make me a better footballer."
Despite not ever overindulging on the vino, Crouch is right into viticulture, and has a nice collection of wine.
Another Crouch contradiction is that even though it's a game he loves to play he hates watching AFL footy.
"I don't mind watching local footy, but I hate watching seniors," he says. "I want to be out there playing - the last time I watching a senior game was 123 games ago."
And he's played 123 games straight because of the way he looks after his body. He leads by example in that department, he's one of the best at the club.
Back to that Miraculous Medal. Wait, he's got other ones too.
"I am religious, it was part of my upbringing," he says. "I've also got a St Christopher medal, the patron saint of travel."
He'll need it on the plane down to Melbourne today for the Swans' game against Carlton. And aside from a premiership medal, he's searching for another religious one.
"There's a patron saint of the Swans - I can't think of who it is. I need one of those."
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