Adelaide ruckman Reilly O’Brien lifts lid on the ‘clarity’ that led to his new deal, plus playing finals after 11 seasons

O’Brien inked a three-year extension last week, while unrestricted free agent Draper remained without a deal for next season.

Adelaide had been in the mix for the South Australian Bomber, but Brisbane was now reportedly the frontrunner to land him if he left Essendon.

O’Brien told this masthead chats with the club put him at ease ahead of his new deal.

“I got good clarity on how I’m valued going forward and my role in the team,” O’Brien said.

“I’m really comfortable with that and how it would work if another guy comes in, who might be able to play forward/ruck.

“We’ll see how it (the off-season) plays out.

“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.

“I love this place and am looking forward to being here for the next few years.”

O’Brien had the second-highest Champion Data rankings points on the ground (131), as well as a season-high 18 disposals, in Adelaide’s 14-point home win over Hawthorn on Friday night.

The 2020 best-and-fairest winner said focusing on more than quelling opponents had been crucial to his consistent campaign.

“I’ve probably had more of a focus on imposing myself on the game and not just being a nullifier, which you can fall into when your confidence is down,” he said.

“I’m feeling really strong in that.

“I know I can match it with every ruck in the comp and beat them as well.”

Eleven seasons and 141 games into his career, the 2014 rookie pick is preparing to play in his first finals series.

O’Brien did not feature during the club’s September stretch from 2015-17, culminating in a premiership-decider loss eight seasons ago when he was an emergency.

“It’s a long time,” the 29-year-old said of his wait for finals.

“It’s certainly an exciting prospect.

“Coming in, you probably take for granted that you’ll (the club) play finals a fair bit.

“It’s certainly been a slow grind since 2020 (wooden spoon) to build the club and list, and team back up.

“But I feel like we’re reaping the rewards of a lot of hard work over those years.”

O’Brien said beating finals contender Hawthorn in front of a sellout crowd was a great dress rehearsal for the major round.

He praised the Crows’ ability to wrestle momentum back so quickly after conceding the first five goals of the game.

“In previous years, we wouldn’t be able to do that,” he said.

“We’d probably roll over, start panicking and trying too hard.

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“There’s so much calmness and composure out there, and so much great leadership around the ball.

“We’ve done a lot of work on being composed.

“It’s probably the natural growth of the group.”