Wayne Milera Biography

Wayne Milera will miss the rest of the 2024 season after suffering a serious knee injury in the Crows' 35-point loss to Fremantle at Optus Stadium.

Scans revealed a ruptured patella tendon after Milera's knee buckled underneath him in a marking contest late in the game.

Adelaide announces an expanded leadership group, with Lachlan Murphy among four additions to support captain Jordan Dawson.

The 25-year-old Murphy joins Darcy Fogarty, Wayne Milera and Mitch Hinge as fresh faces with Brodie Smith, Ben Keays and Reilly O'Brien named as joint vice-captains.

Wayne Milera says it took time to again be comfortable around Taylor Walker following the key forward's racism ban.

Walker was suspended by the AFL for six games last August for making a racist comment when he was a spectator at a state league game.

"You take a long time to build a relationship and when something like that happens, it damages that relationship, so it's not going to be fixed all of a sudden," Milera said.

"He's done his apology and said sorry to us and said sorry to the club. It's just about him now acting on what actions he is going to do going forward and we have seen that.

"I am comfortable with him at the club. I can't tell you how long exactly it took but it definitely took some time to be comfortable."

Wayne Milera returns to full training after missing the entire 2021 season with a knee injury.

"I didn't have any real nerves and I'm pretty confident the knee is in really good shape at the moment, and all the rehab I've been doing has prepared me to be able to train. It was good to be back with the boys, and the boys got around me a little bit," he said.

Wayne Milera ruptures his patellar tendon during the Crows' practice match loss to Port Adelaide. He will undergo surgery to repair the damage and faces a long stint on the sidelines, putting his 2021 season in jeopardy.

Wayne Milera will miss at least two months after developing a stress fracture in his foot.

"Imaging has shown Wayne has a stress fracture of the fifth metatarsal that requires surgery to ensure the best possible outcome," Crows head of science and medicine Steve Saunders said.

Wayne Milera signs a five-year deal with Adelaide to remain at the Crows until the end of 2025.

"I'm absolutely pumped to get it out of the way before the season starts," Milera said.

"I opted for the longer deal (because of) the security and where the club's going, I'm happy with where it's all at. I'm really excited for the next five years."

Wayne Milera can look forward to more minutes in the Crows' midfield after tallying a career-high 27 disposals against Gold Coast last week.

"Myself, Smithers and Rory Atkins have been rolling through the midfield to change it up a little bit, in terms of an inside, outside balance," Milera said of his new role.

"We've got a lot of good, contested players, like the Crouch brothers, Hughie, Cam and Sloaney, so it's good to mix it up and adapt a different dimension to the midfield.

"The more options you can get in there and throw around, the better the team's going to be."

Wayne Milera has avoided surgery on his injured AC joint and could be back in the next three weeks.

"They're just trying to get him moving that shoulder again," Crows half-back Brodie Smith said.

"From what I've seen, they're trying a few things and it looks like he's going to avoid surgery, which is great news."

Wayne Milera is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with an AC joint injury after a collision with Suns defender Pearce Hanley.

A long-term injury to Brodie Smith has opened an opportunity for Wayne Milera to thrive in Adelaide's half-back line.

Since being moved to half-back for the round five win against Sydney, Milera has had 20 or more disposals in five of his 11 games, the highlight a career-high 33 touches against Gold Coast in round six.

"It was a bit of a shock, because I only played the one game (in under-18s at half-back)," Milera said.

"I knew 'Smithers' was out for a year, but I didn't think they were going to chuck me in there.

"They hadn't mentioned anything to me at all, then in the exit meeting (in October), they said we'll see how you go in the pre-season, just train there, see how you go."

Wayne Milera becomes the latest Crow to be diagnosed with a hamstring injury and will miss 1 to 2 weeks.

Wayne Milera plays his career-best game for the Crows, racking up a career-high 33 disposals at 84.8 per cent efficiency across half-back.

"He uses the ball really well and we want the ball in his hands because he's a smooth mover and finds a target," Crows teammate Rory Atkins said.

"For a young fella, he's very composed with the ball."

Milera acknowledges that consistency is an area he needs to improve on.

"I tend to come in and out of games," Milera said.

"I have quarters where I'm good, then I go quiet for a bit. That's something I've been working on since I've been at the club."

Wayne Milera will miss the Crows' first game of the JLT Community Series against Fremantle at Strathalbyn Oval on Sunday with knee tendinitis.

Wayne Milera earns the round 10 NAB AFL Rising Star nomination after kicking three goals from 16 disposals at 88 per cent efficiency.

"I came back a bit fitter and built a bit of a base I could work with over the pre-season," Milera said of his improvement in the 2017 season.

"It definitely helped (having one AFL pre-season under my belt), because I knew what to expect.

"Playing eight games last year was good and gave me a bit of exposure to it and I've built my body up a bit more and my running has got better."

Wayne Milera signs a three-year contract extension with the Crows, tying him to the club until at least the end of 2020.

"It's just a really welcoming club ever since I got drafted," Milera said.

"They are a great bunch of boys (and the) coaching staff is great.

"It's a great club to be a part of and it looks like we're heading in a good direction."

Eddie Betts reveals that Adelaide teammate Wayne Milera has had an interrupted pre-season due to a knee injury.

"Wayne's still off the track at the moment and he's doing some running on the sidelines," Betts said.

"He's had a slight setback with his knee, but he's coming back into drills."

Eddie Betts has outlined his "vision" for speeding up the Adelaide midfield, declaring Charlie Cameron and Wayne Milera be given a licence to "run wild" on the wings.

"Having Charlie Cameron and Wayne Milera on each wing … we should do that next year and let them run wild," Betts said.

"Looking at the group we have and the youth we have down there – we've got some things to look forward to next year."

Wayne Milera will miss the Crows' clash against Hawthorn after experiencing quad soreness during the last quarter of Adelaide's 10-point win over the Sydney Swans.

Milera will have scans to determine the severity of the quad complaint.

Wayne Milera makes his AFL debut for Adelaide at Docklands Stadium with 7 disposals (4 kicks and 3 handballs), 2 marks and 2 tackles in a 10-point loss to North Melbourne.

Scott Thompson says young Adelaide teammate Wayne Milera reminds him of Crows champion Andrew McLeod.

"He covers the ground really well, moves well, very agile on his feet, uses the ball well so you could say there are a few traits that are similar," Thompson said.

"He excites me.

"He's done a lot of work through the midfield but he can definitely go forward. He's got some tricks."

Josh Jenkins says Crows draftee and teammate Wayne Milera has impressed on the training track in his first pre-season at the club.

"Wayne's come in as an 18-year-old and I can't speak highly enough of how he's training and how he just eats up the work," Jenkins said.

"He's not afraid to back himself and that's why we picked him."

Adelaide select Wayne Milera with pick No.11 in the 2015 NAB AFL Draft.

"A player who can carry the ball with some speed and had a really solid season at both under-18 and then played some senior [SANFL] footy at the end of the year," Adelaide coach Don Pyke said.

"We really believe that Wayne can grow into a really good player for us not only as a forward but as a mid as well."

Already a Crows fan, the nephew of Swans champion Michael O'Loughlin was understandably thrilled to be able to stay in his home state.

"Considering that there's only two clubs here in SA it was a bit of slim chance but I'm glad I got through," Milera said.

"Mum and dad are Crows supporters so they're over the moon as well.

"I was shocked from that [heart scare in August], to have heart surgery and finally be on an AFL list is just unreal.

"You dream of it since you're a little kid and for your dream to come true, I'm sure I'll be pinching myself in a couple of days."

First-round draft prospect Wayne Milera says he was anxious about his draft chances when recently told he had been living with a heart condition his whole life.

"I was a bit frightened, but it was more about how it could have hurt my draft hopes," Milera said.

"I was pretty worried and shocked when I found out, because I had never had any problems with it."

Milera, a classy half-forward from South Australia set to be a first-round pick at November's NAB AFL Draft, was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome in the middle of the year.

As part of the under-18 championships program with his state team, he underwent an ECG medical test that detects cardiac abnormalities. He had never had any problems with his heart, but when the team doctor called him back to look over his results, Milera was informed he had been living with the complication.

Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome causes an increased heartbeat through an extra electrical pathway inside the heart, meaning there isn't a big enough break between beats.

Milera's specialist told him it had to be fixed if he was to pursue an AFL career. If it wasn't corrected, there was a chance Milera could collapse on the field.

"We booked a day to have an electrophysiology study and a cardiac operation if I needed it," Milera said.

"The specialist could have left it if there was no danger, but he saw there could be some problems so did the cardiac operation that day at the end of August.

"They did keyhole surgery through a vein in my groin and burnt out the electrical pathway. It's all fine now, but at the time I was worried about what clubs might think."