Kane Cornes: AFL Draft misses has Adelaide Crows at their lowest point since 1991
The Crows are in a world of pain, currently last on the AFL ladder, and the road back to the top looks a long one. And a number of recruiting missteps are to blame, says Kane Cornes.
Kane Cornes
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The Adelaide Football Club is at its most dire state in the club’s proud 29-year history, and there isn’t going to be a quick fix.
Former Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd made the damning claim the Crows are playing as poorly as GWS and Gold Coast did when they first entered the AFL.
“It’s actually quite sad, and I don’t use that (term) very often about an AFL team”, Lloyd told Footy Classified on Monday night.
First-time coach Matthew Nicks has inherited a sub-standard playing list that is the result of significant list management and recruiting failures over the past three years.
To understand how significant the playing problems are at Adelaide, you need to go back and look at the recruiting missteps made in recent drafts and at the trade table.
AFL premierships are not won on game day or the training track. They are won on draft night. Getting the selections right is the difference between finals appearances and premierships or years of misery.
Every AFL club and recruiter would love some of their selections again with the benefit of hindsight. None more so than Adelaide’s head recruiter Hamish Ogilvie.
In 2016, Adelaide overlooked Todd Marshall (pick 16) who was touted as the most talented key forward in the draft.
Marshall, 21, is starting to dominate at AFL level, and it would hurt Adelaide fans to know that they could have had a ready-made replacement for former captain Taylor Walker.
Adelaide instead opted for Jordan Galluci at pick 16.
Galluci has failed to establish himself at AFL level and had fallen out of favour at the club before rupturing his Achilles in a training drill last week.
It wasn’t just Marshall that Ogilvie ignored in 2016. Brilliant Brisbane midfielder Jarryd Berry (pick 17), Port Adelaide’s Sam Powell-Pepper (18), outstanding Western Bulldogs ruckman Tim English (19) and clever South Australian forward Will Hayward who was drafted to Sydney at pick 21. All of whom would currently sit in Adelaide’s best 10 players.
The following year Crows list manager Justin Reid sent draft picks 10 and 16 to Carlton in exchange for veteran midfielder Bryce Gibbs who signed a lucrative four-year deal at West Lakes.
Gibbs’ career has been in freefall ever since - former Crows coach Graham Cornes suggested this week that Adelaide had ruined Gibbs’ career.
In that same period, Adelaide selected homegrown product Darcy Fogarty with pick 12 in the 2017 draft.
While Fogarty has undeniable talent, his lack of agility and endurance are going to make it hard for him to succeed as a key forward in the modern game.
The list management mistakes continued in 2018 with Adelaide not capitalising on what was a prized draft hand which saw them hold two first-round selections.
With pick nine they chose Tasmanian Chayce Jones, and at selection 16 they snared small forward Ned McHenry.
It’s early days into the careers of the pair, and both players have experienced AFL football.
Jones looks more comfortable at the level, but he doesn’t find enough of the ball, and his kick is questionable.
McHenry isn’t ready for the opportunities which have been presented to him due to Adelaide’s determination to gift games to younger players.
The same 2018 draft was jam-packed with talent and Adelaide’s future would look a lot brighter had they selected Port Adelaide’s Zak Butters (pick 12) and Xavier Duursma (pick 18).
For Adelaide to begin crawling out of the abyss, the mistakes of the past three years can’t be repeated.
They currently hold four selections inside the first two rounds of this year’s draft and also a pair of third-round picks and also have priority access to 2020 prospects James Borlase (Next Generation Academy) and Luke Edwards (son of Tyson) should he nominate the Crows under the father-son rule.
Making things challenging for Adelaide is the lack of football being played by these draft hopefuls due to the coronavirus.
Ogilvie recently told AFL Media recruiters would need to rely on past form, primarily what prospects were able to do in 2019 when assessing where each individual sit on their draft boards.
Adelaide, currently 18th, look more than likely to receive the coveted first pick in the 2020 draft, which is likely to be Jamara Ugle-Hagan.
Ugle-Hagan has been compared to Lance Franklin, but because he’s an academy prospect with links to the Western Bulldogs, he can be snared by the Dogs even if Adelaide call his name at pick one.
The future of Adelaide’s list looks bleak due to these past mistakes. These errors cannot be repeated during the trade period and draft this year or the results will be catastrophic.