Adelaide livewire Josh Rachele has been omitted from the club's Round 24 line-up as they prepare for its clash against competition leaders Sydney.
Rachele has been part of the Showdown 56 fallout after going on the radio and quipping that Port Adelaide fans "don't have many teeth" leading up to the match.
Following his comments, the 21-year-old slotted a brilliant second-quarter goal and immediately ran to the crowd, signalling to his teeth to rile up the opposition's fans.
According toย The Advertiser, Rachele "ignored instructions" from the club, going against what was best for the side.
The axing is to hope that the Victorian develops a team-first attitude while damning footage from the Showdown saw Rachele shirking a 50-50 contest in a crucial moment of the game.
Adelaide Head of Football Adam Kelly spoke about the reasoning behind Rachele's demotion.
โWe love the energy Josh brings to our group, and he's going to be a very important player for us for a long period of time,โ Kelly said.
โCollectively, we must always prioritise the team-first focus, which is so central to our values and standards.
โAnd we have and will continue to work with Josh in this space, as we do with all of our players, coaches and staff.โ
Forward
Disposals
Marks
Goals
Rachele's form has been relatively consistent throughout 2024, resulting in 10 goals across the past five weeks.
So, it is safe to say the decision to exclude him from the final home and away match isn't performance-related.
Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks spoke on Friday morning about the decision to drop Rachele, saying it's not "isolated to recent events but something they're working on for a while".
Hereโs the first two minutes of Matthew Nicks presser on Josh Rachele:
Nicks also guaranteed that Mark Keane has not walked out on the club despite rife speculation this morning. Keane has flown home to Ireland for what the club says is personal reasons. @9NewsAdel @FootyonNine pic.twitter.com/WL7ogsRTYq
— Braden Ingram (@bradeningram) August 22, 2024
"There's never a good time with these sorts of decisions," Nicks said.
"In the end, you're dealing with values and there's no decision to be made.
"We want to be serious about those values that we've got to live up to those, so we got to go down the path we need to go down.
"And make sure that we're true to those otherwise, they're just words."
However, this isn't the first time Rachele has seemingly acted out of turn.
Earlier in the year, Rachele went on record withย Channel 9 to express his frustrations surrounding his lack of midfield minutes, forcing coach Matthew Nicks to address his outburst.
The young forward also came forward after two less-than-impressive moments in a clash against Essendon in April that proved to be costly.
Fair play to Crows young star Josh Rachele - didn't shy away from owning those marking errors against the Bombers.
Admits he wasn't "brave enough" going back with the flight and vows to learn and improve.
That exclusive chat coming up tonight @9NewsAdel@FootyonNine pic.twitter.com/Y6mytRmsXz
— Braden Ingram (@bradeningram) April 22, 2024
Rachele, as he did in the most recent Showdown, shirked two contests, admitting at the time he wasn't "brave enough".
Following Nicks' comments, the 21-year-old stood honestly on Friday morning, saying he is keen to help out the SANFL side.
โI'm disappointed with how last week turned out," Rachele said, according to journalist Braden Ingram.
"I'm very remorseful for what happened, but my job now is to help the SANFL team.
โOne of our main values as a club is prioritising others, and it was something that I didn't do last week and over a couple of other things, too.
Josh Rachele very impressive in short media doorstop, this is a portion:
โI'm disappointed with how last week turned out, I'm very remorseful for what happened, but my job now is to help the SANFL team.โ
โOne of our main values as a club is prioritizing others, and it wasโฆ
— Braden Ingram (@bradeningram) August 23, 2024
โNo, not at all. I absolutely love the club (in response to a question about his future)."
