Adelaide key defender Daniel Talia has praised youngster Tom Doedee and thrown a little barb at Jake Lever.
Lever left the club to join the Demons in the trade period and Doedee has filled his role in the Adelaide side.
“I think Tom has been great these first four or five weeks and has fitted in and I think he’s done better than Lever,” Talia told SEN’s Crunch Time.
“We’re not feeling the loss of Jake at the moment and Tom is putting his hand up and has played some awesome footy in the first five weeks so it’s been a credit to him.
“He’s intercepting everything back there and fitting that role and really dominating.”
Talia clarified that he more meant the club was able to replace Lever better than those on the outside thought they could.
“I didn’t say he’d be better than him, but he’s played a role these first five weeks and we haven’t felt the loss as much as people would’ve thought,” he said.
Bob Murphy reflected on the interview and said he thought Talia was taking a small swipe at his former teammate.
“It was a good little shiv to the kidneys,” Murphy said.
“Will he be better than Lever, well we need a bigger sample size than five weeks.”
The Crows face Gold Coast at Adelaide Oval next weekend.