Emerging Crows player Jarryd Lyons. Picture: Sarah Reed. Source: Sarah Reed / News Corp Australia
JARRYD Lyons answers questions like a pro. A veteran. Which is something of a surprise given that, in his three-and-a-half years at West Lakes, he's been interviewed — wait for it — once.
Offered up for the cameras and tape recorders that single time, the Monday following his AFL debut in Showdown XXXII, two whole years ago.
And since then ... Nothing.
"Never really get asked — I suppose that's the thing," he shrugs.
"This is the first interview I've been asked to do."
Somehow, in a city where we know more about Patrick Dangerfield and Taylor Walker than our next-door neighbours, a fringe Adelaide midfielder has remained more anonymous than a police line-up.
So who the bloody hell is Jarryd Lyons? This 21-year-old kid from Bentleigh East, with just 14 games in his fourth year with the Crows and who, maybe, is just slightly more recognisable than the bloke under the Claude the Crow costume at home games.
"I'm a pretty reserved kinda guy, just go about my business and don't like to get in the spotlight too much," Lyons says.
Right, well, let's see about that.
Jarryd Lyons proving his speed at th AFL Draft Combine.
We could mention cricket, Lyons' first team-sport passion, how it soaked up his summers as a youngster and early teenager, eating into footy pre-seasons and contributing to his "late bloomer'' status.
Perhaps could've pushed on to state cricket if he put his mind to it, he says, but it came down to that old story about 700 AFL contracts, 11 Test spots.
Then his rise from junior suburban footy battler to underage and TAC Cup star, winning three grade best and fairests in the four seasons from under-15s to under-18s before Adelaide grabbed him with pick 61 in 2010.
Or golf, the game he's loved since before he can even remember, and how he's so good at chasing that little white pill around a park he's playing off a seven-handicap in his two or three rounds a week at The Grange.
So competitive at anything involving a scoreboard that even a game of backyard ping-pong with housemate Matt Crouch and the pair's host brother can quickly become Wimbledon with wooden bats, all John McEnroe versus Jimmy Connors.
And if those all-round talents and One Direction looks weren't enough to make you sick, Lyons was also cluey enough in Year 12 that his university score had him considering physiotherapy had the AFL draft not worked out.
Then, proving his handy family bloodlines, there's his younger brother, Corey, now in the under-16s Vic Metro system and some chance of hitting the big league a few years' down the track.
Not to mention Lyons senior, dad Marty, who played 27 games for Melbourne back in the mid-70s, under coach Bob Skilton and alongside the likes of Robbie Flower and Carl Ditterich.
Jarryd Lyons training on Adelaide Oval. Picture: Sarah Reed.
"Yeah, but Dad's a premiership player at Sandy (Sandringham), so I think he was almost more proud when I played two games there in under-18s as a top-up than when I played my first AFL game," Lyons says.
"He played 150 games there and was part of the team of the century, so he loved that.
"Dad's very down to earth and because he played as well, he's really easy to talk to about any problems.
"But he understands that footy is a lot bigger now that it was then — everyone worked when he played then got paid with a bit of change and an all-day bus pass.
"He was massive in terms of his sport growing up so I followed in his footsteps a bit there — actually, in his debut game for Melbourne he kicked four at the 'G, and then in my first game at the 'G I kicked four as well, so we have a bit of a laugh about that."
That haul for Lyons junior was against Collingwood in round nine last year, during a stretch of nine games straight that he played before falling victim at selection following the Crows' loss in AAMI Stadium's heart-stopping final Showdown.
It was a glimpse of the talent he showed for Glenelg — the type of tough, get-the-bloody-thing spirit that left Tigers fans and anyone who's seen a Crows reserves game this year wondering why he was stuck back in the SANFL for so long.
Lyons was pursued by Melbourne as a trade option at the end of last season but, with his contract running to the end of this year and no "go home" pull to Victoria, elected to stay at West Lakes.
He was rewarded with the faith of coach Brenton Sanderson in Adelaide's season-opener against Geelong but was chopped after the 38-point loss.
Lyons was finally back last Sunday, albeit in the green sub's vest for the first three quarters for the horror show against Carlton, and responded with seven touches and two clearances.
And while that contract that had a year to run last October hasn't yet been renewed, Lyons is hoping to string together enough games in the second half of this season to extend his stay at West Lakes.
"No, nothing at the moment," he says.
"I have to play a few games and prove my worth before they'll re-sign me.
"I've made home here and I've been loving it, really. I've got mates over here and I don't miss home much at all.
"Sando tells me my inside stuff is good, it's at AFL standard, I just need to keep working on outside run — that's the big step up from SANFL to AFL footy.
"It's that ability to run and carry and break the lines, break out of stoppages. That's what I've been working on most in the last six to eight weeks and that's what got me back in the side.
"It's a pretty tough midfield to crack into with the likes of Dangerfield, Thompson, Sloaney. This year I was disappointed after round one to miss out for so long but I've been improving each year, which is the key.
"Now I've just got to cement my spot in the side and try to hang on to it. I hope Sando will give me another crack and I'll hopefully get a full game in and try to prove myself."
