Adelaide Crows ruckman Sam Jacobs believes the team runs deeper this season

WHY the Crows have more back-up this year.

Sam Jacobs and Toby Nankervis contest the ball in the 2017 grand final. Picture: Julian Smith/AAP

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ADELAIDE ruckman Sam Jacobs believes the Crows have added another layer of depth after introducing new players during last year’s grand final season and trading in former Carlton star Bryce Gibbs.

The Crows was last year boosted by the debuts of top draft pick Jordan Gallucci, who has been impressive during the pre-season, former basketballer Hugh Greenwood and former Victorian cricketer Alex Keath.

None of them looked out of place in the side in their first year and are likely to get a gallop in the club’s two pre-season matches.

Then there’s Cam Ellis-Yolmen, who missed all of last year to knee reconstruction but impressed in the AFLX and looks set for a good year.

“I think you’ll see a lot of guys get their opportunity over pre-season,” Jacobs said. “We’re a really deep squad; we’ve got a lot of guys who are AFL ready.

“When guys have strong seasons ... I think it’s important to give them an opportunity.

“We’ve got a lot of flexible players.

“I think that’s a big part of our game. You’ll probably see them get a chance over the next couple of weeks.

“And in off-season we’ve been able to get Bryce Gibbs in who’s going to give us amazing depth.”

Jacobs said the Crows would carry a truckload of confidence and momentum from last season and continue to build its game from the same cornerstones.

Jacobs, who was an All-Australian nominee last year, warned knockers not to forget how well the Crows had played last season despite everybody hurting from the lacklustre performance in the grand final.

He predicted some minor tweaks to be made the way the Crows play but the bulk of what worked well to be replicated.

“I think you need to continue on,” Jacobs said.

“There’s a lot of positives.

“I reckon in this game a lot of people look at the negatives and what needs to be improved, but I thought last year we got a lot right.

Former cricketer Alex Keath was impressive for the Crows last season. Picture: Sarah Reed

“Obviously we played in a grand final and we didn’t get the result we wanted but before that we had two fantastic finals, which is important to play well in big games and I think you will see a Crows team that’s going to build on what we did last year.”

Jacobs said a natural evolution to the list, with trades and the maturing of younger players, would make sure the club would not go stale.

There is also the addition of star ex-Carlton midfielder Gibbs, who will add both class and depth around the ball.

“We just need to finetune a few things and there are going to be a few personnel changes, which has already been spoken about,” Jacobs said.

“I think there’s enough there to keep us fresh and enough will change to give us every chance.”