Brad Crouch displays “love” for Crows but says a new deal is not imminent
Star midfielder Brad Crouch has declared he “absolutely loves” Adelaide and wants to stay at the club – but is in no rush to sign a new deal.
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Crows club champion Brad Crouch has reiterated that he wants to stay at the club but that a new deal was not imminent.
Denying he had put a $1m-a-season figure on his head, Crouch – a free agent at the end of next year – said he was happy at Adelaide but was in no hurry to ink a new deal, saying it would “probably be a long process’’.
The Victorian had offers from Gold Coast and St Kilda in the trade period but the Crows were unwilling to let the midfield ball magnet go after he won his first club champion award this year.
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“100 per cent I want to stay here, I love it here, absolutely love it here,’’ said Crouch, 25.
“I love the footy club and am just hoping I can get a deal that works for both me and the footy club.
“I’ve been talking to the club, have started negotiations with them, but it will probably be a long process. I’ve got no idea when it will be done.
“If the deal was what we both wanted I would love to re-sign before round one, but I’m not sure that will happen.’’
Crouch, who has a history of injury problems, including miss the entire 2018 season with a groin injury, did not miss a game this year.
He averaged a career-best 30.2 disposals (ranked eighth in the AFL) and finished second at the Crows for clearances (117) and tackles (111).
After his career-best season, Crouch has put the heat on Adelaide to make him a big-money, long-term offer by saying that sometimes offers from rival clubs can be too hard to ignore.
And he said he was prepared to deal with intense speculation over his future until he had re-signed.
“When you are dealing with free agency things can change so much,’’ Crouch told FIVEaa.
“It can get to a stage where, we saw this year, we lost a few boys where the difference in what they got offered to leave, to go somewhere else, to what they get offered to stay at the footy club, it can sometimes be too much.
“It was frustrating this year because we lost some really good players.’’
Crouch said some of the speculation about his future during the trade period “frustrated’’ him but that he had learnt to deal with it.
“It can be frustrating at times but it didn’t affect me too much,’’ he said.
“When people say that I’ve put a $1m price tag on my head, which is not true, that makes me frustrated, but I got through it all right and I'm hoping it doesn’t affect me too much next season.’’