Mark Bickley: With 2018 now shot, Adelaide needs to add speed to its squad to improve next year
ADELAIDE’S hopes of making the finals in 2018 are now over, writes Mark Bickley, and it’s time to look at what is needed to help the team improve next season. And the first priority is speed.
- Crows still banking on back-up O’Brien
- Cornes: Crows need answer from Rory now
- Blight: Pyke’s great challenge to change
- Crows hopeful on Talia but Douglas in doubt
IT’S the second week of July and the Crows are done. Finals off the table.
Not something that is easy for Crows fans to swallow, particularly after the lofty expectations heading into the 2018 season.
While no one likes the disappointment associated with a failed season, the holes in Adelaide’s playing roster have been laid bare. It is now time to for the Crows’ list management team to go to work.
The first priority is speed. The loss of Charlie Cameron to Brisbane and an injury interrupted season from the ageing Eddie Betts has exposed Adelaide’s lack of potency and zip in attack as well as highlighting how little pressure is being applied when opposition teams are exiting the Crows forward 50.
Charlie Cameron may not have finished high up in the 2017 Crows Club Champion award, but his value to the team should not be understated. His chasing was elite. He also had a hunger for the physicality of tackling and, with a rugby background, had the technique to apply it effectively. The sight of Daniel Rioli running down the usually unflappable Rory Laird from behind last Friday night has rarely been seen by an Adelaide forward this year.
It’s not just the forward half of the ground that needs speed. Who is Adelaide’s quickest midfielder? I can’t tell you, but I can give you four names that I know who aren’t.
So often on Friday night after the ball had exited the stoppage, Richmond players were the first to get to the next contest. The Crows need some midfield running machines. Sloane at his best can do it, but he’s no certainty to be there next year, even if he is, they need more.
Andrew Gaff, Dylan Shiel, Isaac Smith, Lachie Whitfield, Dustin Martin, Shane Edwards, Jared Polec, Steele Sidebottom, the list goes on. Most teams have at least one, the good teams have two or three.
Riley Knight and Rory Atkins have shown glimpses, but neither have had any impact this year. If Sloane was to leave at season’s end, surely this creates an opportunity and the cap space required to bring in a ready-made, gold-standard replacement with the abovementioned qualities.
The collapse of Adelaide’s ball movement, particularly when transitioning from defence to attack, has been one of Don Pyke’s biggest issues this year. Losing your best and most attacking defender in Brodie Smith has clearly not helped.
It has also clearly illustrated the lack of elite kicking defenders on the Crows’ list. Wayne Milera has been parachuted in to try and fix the problem, but the stocks need more replenishment. I like what Port Adelaide has done with Riley Bonner and Dan Houston, both have been added to Port’s defence in the past year. Neither were high draft picks, but both have a size and skill set that suits the modern defence.
The ruck department is also a priority. With Sam Jacobs turning 31 early next year and Riley O’Brien injured, and having played just two games in four seasons, decisions need to be made.
Do you draft a young ruckman and develop him? Or take the easier path of trading in an understudy from another club with the promise of greater opportunities. Names like Scott Lycett from the West Coast Eagles and Braydon Preuss from North Melbourne are two that come to mind.
Finally on my talent wish list is leadership. Phil Davis had it when he was recruited, so did Jake Lever. At 23 Ollie Wines is Port’s next skipper, but at Adelaide the succession plan is far less obvious.
Matt Crouch has been introduced into the leadership group for the first time this year and has some time to develop, but Adelaide needs more. So a youngster with leadership capabilities is a must.
So there you have it: A small forward with lightning speed, a running machine in the midfield and a good-sized, elite-kicking defender. Not to mention a succession plan for the ruck department.
To make this all happen the Crows will need to be active and aggressive in the draft and at the trade table. They are well placed to have an impact, with a minimum of three picks inside the top 20 and depending on some comings and goings potentially up to five.
Will they bundle some picks to try and cherry pick an Izak Rankine or Jack Lukosius? Would you on-trade a first-round pick for a proven ready made player? Or use them all to access the most talented crop of South Australian youngsters in recent draft history?
One thing is for certain, in the absence of September action on-field, Crows fans will be expecting the Crows’ beleaguered football department to deliver results off-field.
Watch every match of every round of the 2018 Toyota AFL Premiership Season. SIGN UP NOW >