Why the Adelaide Crows need to make Rory Sloane the (work)horse other players can hitch their cart to
INAUGURAL Crows captain Chris McDermott on why the Adelaide Crows need to make Rory Sloane the (work)horse other players can hitch their cart to at West Lakes.
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RETAIN Rory Sloane.
That must be the major focus for the Adelaide Football Club, not the trades for Jake Lever and Charlie Cameron.
Keep Rory and the rest will follow suit.
Lose Rory and the Crows will have a 10-year problem and their 19-year premiership drought will drag on a lot longer.
It’s time to work the numbers on Sloane now before a dollar is spent on other players that might compromise his future at West Lakes.
Dangerfield is locked in at Geelong.
Dusty is a Tiger for life and the door has been shut behind Josh Kelly at GWS for a few years.
It is time the Crows made Rory an offer he simply cannot refuse.
The Adelaide Football Club has got this trade period upside down. It is not the first time.
They are trying to hold players that do not want to stay and recruit players that are contracted and are not in an easy position to come.
Their recruiting strategies are poor.
Retention is better than recruitment. Always has been and always will be and the Crows’ recruiting must start with retaining Rory.
If Martin is worth $1.2 million a year for the next seven years, Rory is worth $5 million for the next five.
Pay him and don’t think twice.
Make him the man, the face, the brand of the Adelaide Football Club.
Make him work hard and work smart for his coin, but give it to him.
It is not a massive leap from deals the Crows have done with Josh Jenkins and Eddie Betts.
The numbers might be slightly different but the motivation is the same.
Sloane has played 165 games in nine seasons and is destined to be a 300 gamer.
The club’s policy of not paying overs must end now.
Players you want to keep must be made offers they cannot ignore and Sloane must be made an offer that says, we love what you do for the Adelaide Football Club and how you do it.
We want you to be a club great, a Hall of Famer and, most importantly, a premiership player.
We want you to put your flag in the ground, declare your loyalties to this club and be a key pillar in our premiership quest.
Make him co-captain at the same time.
I am not a fan of dual skippers but this is a vulnerable time for the Crows.
Taylor Walker’s last month hasn’t been his best but his captaincy has been outstanding for several years in very extreme times for his club.
He must not be a fall guy for a poor grand final but he can be helped.
Sloane is the man and he would blossom in the ultimate leadership role.
The Crows cannot put the cart before the horse. Sloane is the horse at West Lakes that others will hitch their cart to.
Sign Sloane and do it now. Lock him away for life and others will follow..
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