Adelaide needs a goalkicking small forward and Carlton free agent Eddie Betts fits the bill
ADELAIDE needs to bite the bullet, splash the cash and sign Carlton's Eddie Betts.
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ADELAIDE needs to bite the bullet, splash the cash and sign Carlton's Eddie Betts.
Two million dollars over four years, I hear you say! That's big bucks in anyone's language.
But it's what the Crows are said to have offered the Blues goalsneak - one of the few remaining free agents left on the market - to pack his bags and head to Adelaide.
It's a lot of money but the Crows are cashed up and desperately in need a crumbing, goalkicking forward.
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And they don't come much more qualified than Betts.
For six years the 26-year-old has been one of the best small goalkicking forwards in the game.
An All-Australian nominee in 2011 and 2012, Betts kicked 38 goals in a breakout 2009 season.
He then proceeded to boot 42 goals in 2010, 50 in 2011 and 48 in 2012 before battling for 22 goals in an injury and suspension interrupted 2013 campaign.
Overall, he has kicked 285 goals in 182 games.
But it is his average of 40 goals a season in the past five years which has grabbed the Crows' attention.
And so it should.
Adelaide - which has bucketloads of money left in its salary cap after losing Kurt Tippett to Sydney last year - has plenty of key forward options.
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Taylor Walker and Josh Jenkins will return from serious leg injuries next year while Tom Lynch was a surprise winner of its goalkicking award this season, with a modest 33.
Lewis Johnston came on in leaps and bounds late in the season, bagging six goals against Melbourne and four against Port Adelaide.
But Adelaide had a distinct lack of crumbing options.
Thirty-year-old veteran Ian Callinan, who kicked 39 goals in 2012, played only six games for eight goals because of injury and poor form, although he finished the year strongly.
The popular Jason Porplyzia kicked only 13 goals in 16 games, finding himself finishing the season in the SANFL with West Adelaide.
Shoulder injuries have taken their toll on his body and coach Brenton Sanderson appears to have lost faith with his defensive ability.
Jared Petrenko has proven more of a body breaker than a goalkicker. He kicked only 12 goals in 12 games this season.
So where is the future?
Betts is the logical answer.
After missing out on a bid for West Coast goalsneak Mark LeCras, who re-signed with the Eagles, Sanderson did not try to hide his desire to lure Betts - a restricted free agent - across the border.
After the round 21 defeat to the Western Bulldogs virtually knocked the Crows out of finals contention, Sanderson declared: "Betts would be a great player for us if we could get him''.
"But as it stands now he's a Carlton player,'' Sanderson said.
"But we'll look at trading and free agency opportunities and to move higher up in the draft.''
Adelaide's inability to get goals from its small forwards this season has seen it slump from being ranked No. 1 in percentage of goals from inside 50s last year (29.8 per cent) to a poor 12th this year (25.3 per cent).
Betts - with his pace, footy smarts, goal sense and fierce tackling pressure - would be a more than handy acquisition.
Put him at the feet of Walker, Jenkins and Co and the Crows would be a lot harder to stop.
Now they have to seal the deal.
Carlton - which has two other classy small forwards in Jeff Garlett and Chris Yarran - is understood to have offered Betts $350,000 a season to stay.
That's why Adelaide has to offer so much more to get him to move.
Paying Betts $500,000 a year is a big risk but high quality small forwards do not fall off trees.
For a team in desperate need of one, this is a gamble worth taking.
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