Adelaide hero Josh Rachele reveals he nearly missed elimination final with bout of gastro

Adelaide hero Josh Rachele has revealed he was struck down by a bout of gastro in the lead-up to Saturday night’s elimination final win over the Western Bulldogs.

Rachele was “pretty crook” the night before the match and was only passed fit to play just hours before the opening ball-up.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Josh Rachele’s gutsy performance amid bout of gastro

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The star forward, who finished with three goals, admitted it was a struggle to get through the game.

“The lead-up wasn’t too good. Had gastro for a couple of days going into the game. So was pretty crook,” he told 7NEWS.

“Even the lead-up to the game, I felt I was touch and go to play. I don’t think many people knew that heading into the game.

“Thought I would just try to grit through and once you’re out there and the adrenalin rush.

“Half-time I felt pretty crook but was able to continue on and still play my role in the end, which I was proud of.”

Josh Rachele has revealed he was struggling with gastro in the lead-up to last week’s elimination final. Credit: Getty / Seven

Rachele added that his dehydration didn’t help the situation, but leant on the support from coaches and teammates, as well his mind to block it out and still contribute to the victory.

“I was pretty gassed, especially the first 5-10 minutes of every final, the intensity is crazy compared to the home and away season,” he said.

“I felt pretty exhausted, I was pretty dehydrated going into the game. The mind is a pretty crazy thing when you can put your mind to something you can get it done.

“A lof of belief from my coaches and teammate to kind of push me through, which helped a lot during the night.”

Meanwhile, Adelaide’s players aren’t subscribing to the theory they tossed the proverbial monkey off their back with their elimination final victory.

Key forward Darcy Fogarty says the win over the Bulldogs merely reinforced a belief that the Crows belong in the finals.

The 22-point triumph over the Dogs was Adelaide’s first finals win since 2017 and followed a straight-sets exit from last year’s series.

“We have always had the belief going in for the last 12 months,” Fogarty told reporters on Monday.

“We had the belief last year but things didn’t quite pan out.

“But in terms of a monkey off the back, I don’t think so.

“We’ve had really strong belief that we’re able to play this time of year and play some good football so it’s pleasing that we won a final, but it wasn’t really a scare for us.”

Adelaide’s players revelled in a win that eased pressure on coach Matthew Nicks, whose tenure reportedly hinged on downing the Bulldogs.

Nicks, with victory assured in the last minutes of the elimination final, was given a standing ovation from a raucous Adelaide Oval crowd.

“It was pretty special. I think the support that everyone showed for Nicksy was really warranted,” Fogarty said.

“And he’d had a stressful week leading into it and the way the boys played shows that we’re all behind him, we’re all on his side, and he’s doing an unreal job.

“That’s what is so impressive about Nicksy, he’s very calm and cool-headed and he doesn’t let those things get in the way.

“He’s got one job at focus and that’s playing good football.”

Fogarty said the Crows collectively had rapidly switched focus to playing the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba in a Saturday night semi-final.

The reigning premiers were thrashed by 53 points by Sydney in a qualifying final.

“We’ll obviously review them in the coming days and I’m sure there’s going to be some big takeaways from the Sydney game,” Fogarty said.

“But we match up against them a lot differently than Sydney do.

“We can read into a little bit of recent form, but at the end of the day it’s probably more important about how, one, we want to play our brand football and, two, how we match up against them.”

— with AAP