AFL 2022: All the news and analysis from the Adelaide Crows pre-season

Adelaide has revealed it will delay making a decision on captaincy for next season. The news comes as two players extended their contracts at the club until the end of 2025.

Adelaide won’t make a decision on who captains the Crows next season until the new year.

Rory Sloane has been the solo captain for the Crows since 2020 but a potential shift could come as early as next year at West Lakes.

Sloane is still recovering from an ACL tear he suffered in Round 5 against Richmond and at 32-years-old has one more year on his contract.

Publicly when asked about whether he will be captain in 2023, Sloane has been steadfast in his insistence that he wants the role.

But he has said he will do whatever is the best for the club.

“That chat is something I will always have with the footy club,” he said last month.

“It’s about what is best for the footy club and if it is me (as captain) going into next year that will be something I will love and cherish that role.

“If that is someone else then that is amazing too.

Rory Sloane has been steadfast in his insistence that he still wants the captaincy role.

“I’ve said this a million times, leadership isn’t about having a title and no matter what my title is at the footy club I’ll continue to lead the same.

“We are always trying to look to the future and develop someone to step into that role at some point.”

Tom Doedee was long considered the Crows next captain in waiting, evident by his addition to the leadership group in 2020 despite playing just 21 games.

But star recruit Jordan Dawson has made such an impression since arriving from Sydney that he is now looming as the one to watch in the Crows captaincy race.

The 25-year-old was added to the Crows leadership group in the middle of the season so impressed were Matthew Nicks and key Adelaide figures with him.

It has also not gone unnoticed that Dawson has been front and centre for the Crows of late.

He and Nicks delivered a guernsey to father-son draftee Max Michalanney after he was selected by the Crows.

Dawson was also the most senior player who visited Renmark and Waikerie to promote The Advertiser Foundation Christmas Kids Appeal.

Before Sloane was the sole captain he shared the role with Taylor Walker.

It is unclear whether the Crows would return to a co-captain model to help a transition from Sloane to the next leader of the club.

Nick Murray has 29 games under his belt and has already played on some of the competition’s best forwards.

Reliable pair extend contracts with club

Nick Murray and Kieran Strachan had low expectations when they joined Adelaide as rookies.

“Coming over, I just thought ‘hopefully I get on the list’,” Murray said.

Strachan added: “I was expecting one year at best.”

On Wednesday — two years on for Murray and four for Strachan — the duo signed contract extensions that tied them to the Crows until the end of 2025.

Those low expectations might have been because of how far they had come.

Murray played for Ganmain Grong Grong Matong in the Riverina Football League before trialling for an Adelaide list spot in early 2021, then signed during the supplementary selection period.

The 21-year-old key defender got his opportunity at AFL level when veteran Daniel Talia had a long-term injury.

Now Murray sits on 29 games and has played on some of the competition’s best forwards.

“To be able to play a fair bit of footy, it’s what I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid and to be able to live that out now is unbelievable,” Murray said.

Originally from the small New South Wales town of Henty, Murray was unsure if he would have been able to have coped with the lifestyle of bigger cities like Melbourne and Sydney.

He lives with teammate Ned McHenry, with whom he has about 600 Merino wethers sheep, and has a passion for agriculture.

Kieran Strachan says staying at Adelaide is a better option than looking to move clubs despite being trapped behind Reilly O’Brien.

“(Adelaide) definitely feels like home, although home is about 1000 people,” he said.

Murray hoped to play every game next season and said making the finals for the first time since 2017 was a team goal.

Strachan, who was rookie-listed at the end of 2018 and now had five AFL matches to his name, said it had been frustrating being behind ruckman Reilly O’Brien but believed staying at Adelaide was a better option than looking to move clubs.

The 204cm giant said O’Brien’s size — “his arms are like my legs” — and endurance were among reasons why he was ahead of him.

“I’ve been working hard with (fitness coach) Darren Burgess and I’m certainly closing that gap,” said Strachan, the winner of the past two Crows’ SANFL club champion awards.

The ex-Port Melbourne player considered his own strengths to be his ball use and his link-up play.

He said a quick look at his first-year statistics showed his improvement.

“I was playing forward, we had four of us in the ruck,” he said.

“I was down the pecking order, whereas now I have confidence at both levels that I can do it, even though I haven’t played that many games of AFL.”

Crows lock in rising stars in pre-season boost

Adelaide has re-signed defender Nick Murray and ruckman Kieran Strachan on two-year deals.

Both players had been set to come out of contract at the end of next season.

The Crows announced the extensions on Wednesday.

Murray, 21, has played 29 games in two seasons for the Crows since joining them as a rookie from Hently in New South Wales.

Strachan, 27, has featured five times at AFL level in four years at the club, having been a back-up for Reilly O’Brien.

Adelaide list manager Justin Reid said the club had been pleased by their progress.

“For Kieran and Nick to arrive as rookies and earn an opportunity at AFL level through hard work is testament to their attitude,” Reid said.

Kieran Strachan has played just five times in four years for the Crows AFL team but has been re-signed for another two as a backup to Reilly O’Brien. Picture: Sarah Reed

“But they have also grasped their opportunity and performed strongly, which shows they are more than capable at the top level.

“We look forward to their individual improvement and making our team better.”

Murray said he was grateful for the new contract.

“I obviously came in pretty raw so over the last few years to be able to learn how we play and learn the system, there’s still a long way to go, but I’m excited for what lies ahead,” Murray said.

“It feels like we are building a core group that has played a decent amount of footy together.

“Now adding Izak (Rankine) and the new draftees, I’m looking forward to being part of it.”

Strachan played twice in the AFL last season and won his second consecutive Crows’ SANFL club champion award.

“Rob (Reilly O’Brien) and I push each other at training, we have good healthy competition, he makes me better and I hope to push him along as well,” Strachan said.

“We’re an exciting group and everyone came back to pre-season training early, which shows the investment in the direction we want to go.”