Adelaide coach Don Pyke is ‘confident’ of retaining stars Rory Sloane and Tom Lynch

ADELAIDE Crows coach Don Pyke reveals his confidence in keeping Rory Sloane and Tom Lynch at West Lakes despite interstate raids on the star duo.

• Bone’s beef: Crows in for lynching if they let linkman walk
• Impasse has hallmarks of blinking game
• Bickley: Why long-term deal won’t solve Sloane dilemma
• Weird and wacky world of Crows coaches
• Seedsman set for Giants return

BULLISH Adelaide will retain Rory Sloane and Tom Lynch if it desires - at the right price - positioned to pull the trigger on a Plan B assault at the 2018 AFL super draft.

Dual club champion Sloane is most likely to resist sweetheart offers from Victoria and recommit to Adelaide, which is reflected in coach Don Pyke revealing he’s “confident in that space”.

Lynch - captaining Adelaide in the absence of Taylor Walker and Sloane - is desperate to stay at West Lakes but will have to prioritise a flag over cash.

Respected team man Lynch, 27, and the Crows are not far apart on the contentious final year of a deal that would keep him at Adelaide until 2021. However, Adelaide will play hard ball at the negotiating table with just a 1.2 per cent salary cap increase this year.

Adelaide has invested heavily in defenders Brodie Smith and Rory Laird this year while requiring significant room for off-contract wingman Paul Seedsman.

Tom Lynch and Rory Sloane of the Crows face off with Geelong’s Mark Blicavs in the First Preliminary Final. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

Adelaide holds a strong hand in negotiations with Sloane and Lynch given the carrot of gaining additional first-round picks in November’s AFL “super’ draft”.

Four first-round picks could mean Adelaide won’t have to bottom out.

The Crows will ruthlessly prioritise midfield talent.

Victorian on-ballers Sam Walsh and Bailey Smith are all class. Adelaide is destined to miss out on touted No.1 draft pick Jack Lukosius but can eye Andrew McLeod-clone Izak Rankine, Central District ball magnet Jackson Hately and North Adelaide’s Connor Rozee

Adelaide was vulnerable when second ruckmen were en vogue and Brisbane threw cash at Josh Jenkins two years ago.

Jenkins was lavished with a five-year deal worth around $2.75 million but Adelaide has Mitch McGovern and rookie Darcy Fogarty as its future forward kingpins.

Pyke has warned against “jumping at shadows” whether it’s a 91-point loss to the Demons in Alice Springs or recontracting Sloane and Lynch. Pyke isn’t concerned at the prospect of another high-profile player succumbing to the go-home factor like Patrick Dangerfield, Jake Lever, Charlie Cameron, Jack Gunston and Kurt Tippett.

“I don’t look at it like that. I look at it from the simple fact we have to players we want to keep at the footy club and working towards suitable arrangements for both of them,” said Pyke of Sloane and Lynch.

Sloane’s Lisfranc injury has placed uncertainty over the vice-captain’s immediate future just as he covets the most lucrative and last long-term deal of his career.

“We continue to talk to Rory, I am not going to engage in a conversation about what ifs. I am confident in that space,” said Pyke.

>LIVE stream every match of every round of the 2018 Toyota AFL Premiership Season on FOX SPORTS. Get your free 2-week trial & start watching in minutes. SIGN UP NOW >