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<\/p>\n\n Adelaide Captain Jordan Dawson speaks after the Christmas break\n <\/p>\n
Crows Captain Jordan Dawson knows how tough it can be to train consistently at a high level during the pre-season period.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s gruelling match-simulation drills, relentless amounts of running, gym and skills sessions where players push for personal bests, all while often in scorching summer conditions.<\/p>\n
But despite these challenges, according to Dawson, there\u2019s one young Crow who has stepped up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think someone who\u2019s going to be a really good player is Luke Nankervis,\u201d Dawson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s always been competitive, but his training standards have just gone to another level.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHis ability to train consistently at such a high level, he\u2019s been doing it for five weeks now, is really impressive and I am pretty excited to see him get into games soon and make a spot down back his own.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of running and a lot of endurance drills during pre-season and you can\u2019t come in and coast through. You have to come in with a real urgency and intent and backing that up every session is always hard, but you know it will pay dividends in the season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dawson is in the midst of an 11th AFL pre-season – his fifth at the Crows after six at Sydney – and although he has claimed the past three Club Champion awards, he says there\u2019s still a lot he wants to improve on.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am always looking to get better, so working on repeat efforts and being that more explosive, I am just trying to get some marginal gains in that area, so that\u2019s something I am working on,\u201d Dawson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom a leadership and teammate perspective, I am just looking to empower others and come in and have my own impact when I can, and use my voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am definitely finding the sessions pretty gruelling at times, but luckily we have such a great group that helps you get through it and grit through it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The 28-year-old midfielder led the Crows to a top-of-the-ladder finish in the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season, and a return to the finals for the first time since 2017.<\/p>\n
Despite bowing out with a semi-final loss to Hawthorn, Dawson is confident the team\u2019s best is good enough to challenge again this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are really hungry as a group and there\u2019s a really good buzz around the Club to be here and train and want to be a part of it,\u201d Dawson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we look back at this time last year, there wasn\u2019t any evidence to say the way we played stacked up against the best teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow I think we\u2019ve got a lot more confidence in the way we play and our game style, we know it can stack up because we have evidence from last season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that gives us a lot more confidence in that we know what we are doing and the way we are training works. We want to get back to where we were last year and perform, but I think we know our best footy is some of the best in the comp, so that\u2019s really exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n