Josh Jenkins has revealed a “robust discussion” was had with Adelaide coach Don Pyke last week.
Jenkins was dropped for last weekend’s meeting with Gold Coast after a run of poor form up forward for the Crows.
Despite finishing 2018 as leading goal kicker and placing third in the Best and Fairest, a couple of subpar performances lead to the axing which Jenkins admits was hard to take.
“I got the phone call from Don and clearly it wasn’t the news I was after,” he said on SEN SA Breakfast.
“We had a robust discussion, that’s true. I was pretty strong in my thoughts and what I thought I can offer the team but ultimately, it’s his and the match committee’s decision.
“I was pretty dirty for a while but I had to take my medicine and go back and play at Noarlunga (for the Crows in the SANFL) on Saturday afternoon and that’s what I did.”
Asked specifically about the reasons for his omission for a game the AFL Crows eventually won by 73 points, Jenkins added: “It was just consistency of performance.
“He’s (Pyke) been happy with certain patches of my game and other periods of my game he hasn’t been happy enough (with).
“The form of the team suggests that some changes needed to be made.
“That’s what I was most upset about is I felt like I would, as a member of the leadership group, would have loved the opportunity to turn my form around alongside the team.
“But as I said, that wasn’t a view shared by the match committee.”
He added further: “I was pretty dirty, let’s be frank.
“I certainly made that clear to Don when I spoke to him. We certainly disagreed about a few things.
“I took four hours but that’s the beauty of having a young baby these days, I was able to throw myself into her needs and sort of forget about footy quickly.
“It’s difficult but not the end of the world, that’s for sure.”
Jenkins picked up 11 possessions and took three marks as the Crows drew with South Adelaide in the SANFL and admits it may not be enough to warrant a recall for the Round 6 clash with St Kilda at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.
“It was a difficult day to play ahead of the ball,” Jenkins said.
“The only opportunities where I felt really in the game was when I got to go into the ruck, so perhaps I should have gone in there a bit more.
“Forwards at both ends of the ground really struggled on the day. It was a bit of a midfielder’s day out.
“Personally, certainly I’ve had bigger days. I created a few goals early but there were a couple of other guys who set the world alight and hopefully they can get their chance.
“You would imagine it would be difficult to see too many changes aside from (Wayne) Milera’s shoulder.”
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