Adelaide Crows burning questions: Six key issues for the Crows in 2023

Izak Rankine will be one of the most-discussed players at Adelaide next year after the Crows handed over pick five to bring him home. So, how do they ensure the move is a success?

Adelaide is set to enter the fourth season of the rebuild at West Lakes.

The Crows fans have been patient so far, but can Matthew Nicks’ side give them the signs they are looking for in 2023?

Here are some of the key questions surrounding the Crows heading into next year.

1. Will Rory Sloane be captain?

The social team at the Crows haven’t been shy in promoting that Sloane has been putting in the hard work this off-season.

He has said he is aiming to get back to peak fitness despite suffering the ACL injury at age 32, and Sloane doesn’t look to be cutting any corners in his rehab.

Since he became the Crows sole captain in 2020 Sloane has only played 34 games for Adelaide.

It is expected Sloane will again lead the club in 2023, but some more candidates to be his eventual successor are emerging.

Tom Doedee has long been considered the Crows next captain but Jordan Dawson has made a quick impression and has been added to the leadership group.

He is looming as the dark horse in the Crows captaincy race, whenever that kicks off.

2. What is Matt Crouch’s role?

For the second year in a row Crouch looked for a move away from West Lakes.

For the second year in a row he couldn’t find a new suitor.

The former Crows club champion and 2017 All-Australian was dropped on three occasions by Matthew Nicks in 2022.

Despite Nicks and the Crows saying on multiple occasions that Crouch is a required player, it is unlikely the 27-year-old has a place in what they think is Adelaide’s best 22 or 23.

It leaves Crouch facing two years of what should be the prime of his career being wasted, after he missed the 2021 season through injury.

He can amass the possessions as well as any player in the league. But as midfielders such as Tom Mitchell and Jarryd Lyons have found out, the value of accumulators has seriously dropped in recent years.

Crouch showed in 2022 that he is way too good for the SANFL. But there is a real possibility that is where he plays most of his footy in 2023.

Crouch was dropped three times by the Crows. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

3. Can they challenge for finals?

The ‘F’ word.

Supporters want to hear it, but the key figures at the Crows don’t want to mention it.

Not since the devastating grand final loss in 2017 has Adelaide tasted finals football.

It is the longest streak in the club’s history without finals action.

Nicks has said his side can, and has, played a “finals brand of football”. But will this translate to the results required to secure a top eight spot?

Teams such as Port Adelaide and Carlton will be looking to break into the top eight after falling short in 2022. Can the Crows join them?

It does seem unlikely, unless there is a massive improvement by Nicks’ side.

But maybe they can at least make a challenge of it, which would go some way to satisfying fans frustrated by the finals drought.

4. What does Fischer McAsey’s future at the club look like?

McAsey is one of the most discussed players at the Crows. And he hasn’t played an AFL game since round 12, 2020.

When he was drafted with pick 6 in 2019, McAsey was the highest ever draftee in the Crows history.

Can McAsey turn his Crows career around? (The Advertiser/ Morgan Sette)

His career at West Lakes so far hasn’t played out the way the Crows would have thought it would.

He played 10 games in his debut season, and while he looked to struggle there were some bright moments at times.

But two interrupted pre-seasons in a row have been precursors to consecutive seasons in which McAsey hasn’t played a single minute of AFL action.

And, worryingly for Crows fans, he hasn’t been exactly tearing it up in the SANFL.

On the eve of the trade period McAsey, who is contracted for 2023, conceded that he had been in discussions regarding a move back to Victoria. But no move eventuated.

You get a sense that this pre-season could be vital for McAsey’s future at the Crows and whether he goes down as a draft bust or not.

Where will the Crows play Izak Rankine? Picture: Sarah Reed/Getty Images

5. How do they use Izak Rankine?

For the second straight off-season, the Crows have lured a gun South Australian back home.

After Jordan Dawson last year, Rankine has moved to the Crows from Gold Coast.

Dawson immediately became one of the Crows’ best players, if not their best player, and Rankine is set to have a similar impact.

But where will he play?

It is likely he starts as a small forward, creating what looks to be a potent offensive group alongside Taylor Walker, Darcy Fogarty, Riley Thilthorpe and Josh Rachele.

But part of Rankine’s desire to come to the Crows was fuelled by wanting to play more minutes in the midfield. This should happen, and he will add some class in the Crows engine room that they seem to be lacking.

But how much will this happen in his first year at West Lakes?

Some spurts in the midfield at times look to be on the cards in 2023 for Rankine.

When he does go on the ball it will be fascinating to watch.

Paul Seedsman chatting to Crows coach Matthew Nicks. Picture Mark Brake

6. Where to next for Paul Seedsman?

After a career-best season in 2021, Seedsman sat out the whole of the 2022 season due to concussion symptoms after being knocked out at training in pre-season.

So bad were the symptoms that Seedsman, who finished third in the Crows’ club champion award in 2021, suffered constant migraines and nausea.

Concentrating on simple daily tasks became a challenge, and Seedsman retreated from socialising. He made some progress in his recovery after a trip to visit a specialist in Melbourne, but was placed on the inactive list by the Crows.

Seedsman, 30, is contracted for 2023 and hasn’t given up hope that his footy career isn’t over, but says it is a real possibility he has played his last game.

Adelaide will give Seedsman every chance to continue his career. But his long-term health will have to be the priority.

WHY SLOANE CAN BE CROWS’ JOEL SELWOOD

Two-time Adelaide premiership skipper Mark Bickley has backed Rory Sloane to emulate Joel Selwood and captain the Crows until he retires.

Sloane played just four games last season after tearing his ACL against Richmond in round 5, with the club sharing the captaincy between Tom Doedee, Brodie Smith and Ben Keays.

Since Sloane became the Crows’ sole-captain after Taylor Walker stepped down, he has had to deal with hand and finger injuries as well as an eye issue, in addition to the torn ACL.

He has played 34 games in three years. The 32-year-old wants to return in career-best shape from the ACL injury.

Bickley, who handed over the Crows captaincy to Mark Ricciuto in 2000, said he believed Sloane didn’t need to relinquish the role to focus on his return.

“My situation was really different because I felt there was a guy underneath me that was ready to go, and champing at the bit to take on more responsibility, and that was Mark Ricciuto,” he said.

“So it was a really easy decision for me, I had four years in the role.

“I was keen to focus on my footy, but it was more that I had a brief chat with Roo and said would you be keen, he said ‘absolutely’, so once I knew that it was a really easy decision to go to Gary Ayres and say this is what I’m going to do.

“Everyone is different and for me the captaincy, it sits like a burden and others it sits really comfortably, and when I look at Rory I think it sits really comfortably with him.

“And while he is still playing, (he’s) a bit like Joel Selwood. Joel was captain right to the end and I think there are some players like that, and Rory in my eyes is that type of player. He just oozes leadership and care and what you want from your leader.

“So while he is still comfortable to do it, I think he continues to do it.”

Adelaide captain Rory Sloane rehabs from an ACL injury.

Doedee has been labelled the Crows’ next captain in waiting for some time, but Jordan Dawson has made such an impression since coming to West Lakes from Sydney that he looms as a smokey for the job.

Sloane’s role in the side will also come into focus when he returns to the field.

With the Crows looking to further progress their rebuild, Sloane could be deployed as more of a half-forward than in the midfield.

Bickley said patience will be required with Sloane in 2023.

“He brings something else to the ground other than just his kicks and his handballs,” Bickley said.

“People at some stage in 2023 I’m sure will question his output not being at what it was three or four years ago.

“But he brings leadership and direction to a young team, which you really can’t measure.

“It is probably unrealistic to think he comes back and slots back into being in Adelaide’s top five players.

“So I think some patience will be required as players need when they come back from knee reconstructions.”