The Crows’ decision to keep ignoring local players at the AFL draft continues to baffle
Norwood gun Dylan Stephens is now a Sydney Swan after being drafted on Wednesday night. He was one of many SA prospects overlooked by Adelaide, and the question is: Why?
Graham Cornes
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If there has been one basic flaw in the Adelaide Crows’ recruiting strategy over the years it is that they ignore local players at the AFL draft.
Unlike the highly successful West Coast Eagles who prioritise West Australian talent over players from the east, Adelaide’s recruiting team seem enamoured with players from Victoria.
Only one of the five players drafted by the Crows this week is from Adelaide.
Haven’t we learned by now that the risk of the player wanting to go home should weigh heavily against them?
When there is so much talent developing through the SANFL and its junior ranks, why gamble that an interstate recruit won’t abscond once his two, three or four years are up?
This is particularly relevant to the Crows who have lost so many players over the years. Fischer McAsey’s expression and the reaction of his family when his name was unexpectedly called with Adelaide’s first draft selection was hardly one of exuberance.
It gave the impression that a lot of work will need to be done to convince him that Adelaide is his long-term football future.
However, it wasn’t just where the player comes from that was the most puzzling aspect of Adelaide’s draft strategy.
It is true that there is an old adage that applies when your turn comes in the draft: “Pick the best player available!”
However, it’s a flawed strategy because it doesn’t always allow for a team’s particular needs.
This week’s draft is a classic example.
When analysing the Crows’ current deficiencies, most analysts seemed to agree.
They badly need speed through the midfield - a player who can burst from the stoppage and break the lines with pace and penetrating kicks.
A small forward to replace Eddie Betts would be also handy.
Then, they need a developing ruckman to cover the loss of Sam Jacobs (Reilly O’Brien is the only recognised ruckman in the squad).
So, what did they do?
First, they traded away pick number four, which could have guaranteed an elite midfielder. Perhaps they gambled that Dylan Stephens, Norwood’s midfield jet, would still be there at number six (which actually became number seven) but the Swans pounced before them.
But, given the team’s needs, it was the selection of McAsey with pick seven that was puzzling.
Sure, he was touted as the best key-position player in the draft.
Apparently he’ll be ready to step into Daniel Talia’s shoes in a couple of years.
However, with due respect to Talia, the easiest position to fill in an AFL team is that of the tall defender.
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You don’t waste a top-10 draft pick on a defender.
The best two tall defenders in the competition are Richmond’s Alex Rance and West Coast’s Jeremy McGovern.
Rance was taken at pick 18 in the 2007 national draft.
He was Richmond’s second pick in that draft after they took Trent Cotchin, their premiership midfielder/captain with pick two.
McGovern, as unlikely as it now seems, languished as a rookie before being elevated in 2013 with pick 74!
Richmond and West Coast have won the past three premierships and, tellingly, Richmond won it this year without the injured Rance.
While they are crucial to a team’s structure, tall defenders don’t win matches.
In the past 20 seasons the only tall defender to win the Norm Smith Medal has been Hawthorn’s Brian Lake, a player who had been originally drafted at pick 71 by the Western Bulldogs in 2001.
He had all but retired when Hawthorn rejuvenated his career.
There is no doubt that selecting players in the draft can be a lottery.
Of course it requires an eye for talent and an instinct for a player’s potential, but there is an enormous amount of luck involved.
However, the one thing that has disappointed me most about Adelaide’s list management is its rejection of local talent.
Eleven players from South Australia were drafted this year and the Crows took only one of them - Woodville-West Torrens’ Harry Schoenberg.
He’s an ‘inside’ midfielder and although the Crows have enough ‘inside’ midfielders, his leg speed may be a point of difference.
New Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks has a big job in front of him.
Not only does he have to construct a team, but he also has to rebuild the morale of a group of players who have been constantly maligned over the past two seasons.
The early signs are good as the new coach gathers the players around him and starts to develop the relationships that are so vital in a modern AFL team.
It’s the great time of the year as the team assembles and starts to prepare for a new season. Undoubtedly, Nicks has a charismatic, down-to-earth appeal that obviously helped him to win the job.
However, the pressure will come when he is judged by the win/loss statistics and at the moment most of the ‘experts’ are predicting a couple of tough years for the Crows.
FaceTime with Fish 🤳🤗 The boys get around our newest Crow after training earlier today #weflyasone pic.twitter.com/NSkUKYEMhM
— Adelaide Crows (@Adelaide_FC) November 28, 2019
At a media briefing last week, Nicks did give an insight to his coaching philosophy.
It starts with the contest, as it always does.
Win the ball in close, burst from the stoppage to give the forwards every chance.
Transition from defence is just as important as Richmond so obviously demonstrates with its frenetic run and carry.
Then, there is the ground-level pressure to hold the ball in the forward half, which the top teams are so good at doing.
Nicks has high expectations, but the question still remains after this week’s draft: Does he have the players and the talent at his disposal to fulfil those expectations?