Wright was aware of Adelaide’s interest in the lead up to the 2010 NAB AFL Rookie Draft, but had learned not to get his expectations up after being overlooked in the previous two drafts.
He told the club of his plans to spend Christmas in the UK with his sister, but it didn’t deter recruiting manager Matt Rendell from calling his name with pick No.33 in the rookie draft.
Wright fronted the media for the obligatory draft-day press conference and was given a whirlwind tour of the Crows’ new facilities, before heading to the airport and boarding a plane to London.
The 20-year-old was given a strength and conditioning program to adhere to during his four-week trip and set about trying to maintain his fitness in the below-freezing conditions.
“I started out by trying to go for a few runs in London but it was actually quite dangerous because the ground was so icy and slippery, so I ended up taking out a gym membership over there,” Wright said.
“I’d go in the morning three or four times a week and get it out the way, so I could go sightseeing in the afternoons. I spoke to (physical performance manager) Stephen Schwerdt a couple of times about how I was going and he was really good.
“It was a nice holiday, but it was pretty full on with all the sightseeing and training. There certainly wasn’t too much down time, but I’m glad I did the work because I can’t imagine how underdone I would’ve been if I hadn’t done anything.”
Wright arrived back in Adelaide in mid-January only to discover his treadmill training failed to stack up against an AFL pre-season.
“I flew back on a Friday and was up at 6am the following day for a conditioning session. I was still fairly jetlagged and I discovered I was a fair bit behind the rest of the boys,” Wright said.
“I did quite a bit of training over there, but not at the intensity that you work at here with the group and I found it pretty hard to settle in.”
Wright, who had successful LARS surgery to repair a torn posterior cruciate ligament late last season, tried to do extra sessions to compensate for the work he’d missed but his body was unable to cope with the sudden increase in training.
He was placed on a modified program, leaving him unable to play until round one of the SANFL season.
“In the first couple of games I was doing enough to hold my spot in the team, but wasn’t at the standard where I wanted to be, but my form is starting to come along a bit now. It’s just taken a little bit longer than I would’ve liked,” he said.
Adelaide’s lengthy injury list has opened the door for three rookies Chris Schmidt, Ricky Henderson and Matthew Jaensch to make their AFL debuts this season and Wright said he was hopeful he would be the next in line.
“It was brilliant to see Schmidty, Rick and Jaenschy get an opportunity,” he said.
“Jaenschy put a few good games together in the SANFL and now he’s playing AFL football, so it makes you think that you can’t be too far off getting a game.”
