AFL Draft 2023: Adelaide Crows could pounce on South Australian ruckman Taylor Goad, Hamish Ogilvie on a potential move up the order

It might not get up to pick 5, but Adelaide is still eyeing a pick up the draft order on Monday night. See what Hamish Ogilvie had to say, plus the latest on the Crows’ chase for Taylor Goad.

Adelaide has all but conceded it can’t trade up to pick No. 5 or 6 in the draft but the Crows remain keen to move up the order.

And Crows national recruiting boss Hamish Ogilvie says there is a good chance Adelaide will come away with at least one midfielder from its current hand of three picks in the first round on Monday night.

Adelaide has picks No. 10, 14 and 20 just days out of the draft.

Ogilvie said the three picks in the top 20 gave the Crows a variety of options.

While he said he would be happy if the Crows stayed where they were and used all three picks, Ogilvie said Adelaide had looked to move up the order.

Caleb Windsor might be off the board by Adelaide’s first call. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

“I think it is where the opportunities opens up as to how high, as it sits today I don’t think we can get into five or six,” he said.

“Reidy (list manager Justin Reid) has had those discussions and they haven’t opened up, so it is probably about how high we can get helps the decision to have two or three.

“I am satisfied if we take the three picks as they are because we are in a great position.”

Ogilvie said the Crows could also go back in the order.

“I don’t think there is a world where it is one (pick) but certainly three could become two,” he said.

“I probably was yesterday morning locked into working on about eight players and I thought our three picks would come from those eight but there is a fair bit still going on and we need to be just prepared for the scenario to go up, to go back and the guys have done a lot of work on that.

“If we do move back into the 40s we have some players that we have done plenty of work on there, if we hold we are in a great position and if the opportunity arises to go up we will be ready to move up the board as well.”

Ogilvie said the Crows would look to go with the best available player with their first two picks, and then “balance out” with their third pick.

One of these picks is likely to be a midfielder, while rival clubs expect Adelaide to pounce on athletic South Australian ruckman Taylor Goad with one of its selections.

“I think in this draft there is midfield speed, midfield utility. I think with our three picks there is a good likelihood one of them is going to be a midfielder,” Ogilvie said.

Ogilvie said Eastern Ranges midfielder Caleb Windsor had “great speed and movement” but “there are a lot of clubs even ahead of us that have him on their board” after he bolted into contention as a top pick in this year’s draft.

Connor O'Sullivan would help address Adelaide’s key defender issues. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos

Murray Bushrangers’ tall defender Connor O’Sullivan looms as arguably the best of the key position players that will be in the Crows range.

Ogilvie said the Crows would need to prepare for all potential scenarios.

“The fact we can trade up and back you don’t want to get too locked into any one player,” he said.

“Connor has had a terrific year and a great young man and we have done the work we have to do but I don’t want to get locked into one specific player because even if we move up three spots we might be out of his range.”

One player who the Crows are unlikely to pursue next week is Tasmanian Jack Callinan, despite Ogilvie drafting his dad and friend Ian in 2010.

“I love Jack as a kid, he has been around our club kicking balls since he was four years of age so I hope Jack gets a chance somewhere,” he said.

“I don’t think it will be us. I think we will be out of the draft by that range but I wish Jack all the best, he is a great fella.

“Yeah the romance is there but I don’t think it is going to happen for us on the Monday or the Tuesday but I wish him well.”

Crows expected to pounce on SA big man in draft’s first round

– Jordan Pinto and Simeon Thomas-Wilson

Rival clubs expect Adelaide to pounce on athletic South Australian ruckman Taylor Goad in Monday’s national draft, potentially as early as its second pick ahead of growing interest in the top 20.

The 207cm, whose rapid development at South Adelaide has caught the eye of recruiters across the country this season, appeals an ideal successor to Reilly O’Brien as Adelaide’s No.1 ruckman of the future.

Goad, 18, has rare athletic profile, clocking the eighth-quickest 20-metre sprint time of all players at the national combine last month, and his upside is as high as any prospect in this year’s pool.

South Adelaide ruckman Taylor Goad. Picture. Cory Sutton

Adelaide recruiting manager Hamish Ogilvie on Friday said the former basketballer had attributes that make attractive to a number of clubs, but at the same time put a lid on recent expectations.

“He is 207cm and a young ruckman, I don’t even think we are anywhere near where he is going to be,” Ogilvie said.

“He has had a year of improvement because it is his first year in the program so some of the expectations and talk around Taylor have perhaps been a bit unfair.

“He is his own man, his own person and he will be his own player and some of the comparisons I have found a bit amusing and unfair.

“But he is a great size and he is a terrific lad and he is working really hard on his game with the coaches at South Adelaide and South Australia and he has improved.

“He is a player clubs will have interest in … (but) he is far, far from the finished product.”

As it stands, the Crows hold picks 10, 14 and 20 but are still eyeing a move up the draft order on Monday night, with GWS’ pick 7 and Essendon’s pick 9 likely to be in their sights.

Goad in action for SA at the national under-18 carnival. Picture: Will Russell/AFL Photos

Adelaide has shown interest in athletic Tasmanian utility James Leake and Murray Bushrangers tall Connor O’Sullivan.

Explosive runner Darcy Wilson is another Adelaide is likely to consider at its first call, but rival clubs believe classy midfielder Caleb Windsor is Melbourne-bound at pick 6.

Even mid-season, pick 14 – before academy and father-son selections – would’ve been considered far too early for Goad, but the Crows would be aware of the interest the rare athlete has garnered in the first-round.

“It would be a dream come true to play for Adelaide,’’ Goad told The Advertiser this week.

“That’s the club I have grown up supporting and it would be great to stay in Adelaide and play for them.”