Adelaide forward Riley Thilthorpe opens up on his lingering mental demons: ‘It can mess with you’

Adelaide Crows forward Riley Thilthorpe has opened up about his ongoing battle with self-confidence issues since being drafted into the AFL.

The key forward made the All-Australian team last year with 60 goals but kicked just 37 this time out, saying he’s finally getting the mental demons off his back after a challenging season.

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“I’ve always struggled with sort of confidence and self-confidence stuff ever since I got drafted,” Thilthorpe told 7NEWS Adelaide.

“I’ve come a long way but, you know, no one’s perfect and there’s still a long way to go.”

Those struggles were magnified this year by a lingering back issue that affected his performance on the field.

“Yeah, it’s a bit hard when you can’t quite move how you want to move. You do second guess yourself a bit naturally, I think,” he said.

“It’s a bit harder — you’re not doing things that you know you can do and it just can mess with you at times, but I think I took a lot of growth and a lot of learning from this year.”

The popular forward said he now has strategies in place to prevent falling into the same mental trap again.

Thilthorpe is hoping to bounce back to his All-Australian best next season, with a focus on physical rehabilitation.

“Take the first couple of weeks off and then get back into my prehab and strengthening my back and make sure my glutes and everything are firing so that I don’t have the same issues next year,” he said.

Thilthorpe is full of admiration for Matthew Nicks, who has been backed in by the club for the last year of his contract.

“He’s very good at staying level,” Thilthorpe said.

“You wouldn’t have been able to tell (that he was under pressure) ... the focus was never on him.

“It was about us and doing what we do well and the results take care of itself, so I think he did that really well.

“It’s obviously great to know that he’s gonna be the coach next year and we’ve backed him in the whole time.”