Crows declare they won’t give up everything for young guns Jack Lukosius or Izak Rankine
ADELAIDE has declared it “won’t sell the farm’’ to move up the draft order for South Australian stars Jack Lukosius and Izak Rankine after securing another first-round pick in the Mitch McGovern trade and re-signing two players.
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ADELAIDE has declared it “won’t sell the farm’’ to move up the draft order for South Australian stars Jack Lukosius and Izak Rankine.
While the Crows would love to get their hands on one of the gun duo — and has spoken extensively to them — list manager Justin Reid says “we've got to be careful of managing expectations there’’.
“Obviously we do hold a very strong (draft) hand with picks 8, 13, 16 and 21, so we’re not ruling anything out and are certainly open minded,’’ he said after Adelaide on Wednesday effectively sent walkout forward Mitch McGovern to Carlton for pick 13 and SANFL star Shane McAdam.
“But at the same time it’s very rare that high end picks move, whether that’s top three, top five or even top eight. You can ask the question but it doesn’t mean it’s going to facilitate a result.
“We obviously rate that South Australian talent (Lukosius and Rankine) highly but at the same time we’re not going to sell the farm to get to that position.
“And I think it will be unlikely that those clubs will release those picks anyway.’’
The Blues are almost certain to take Victorian midfielder Sam Walsh at pick one, with Gold Coast understood to be sold on Lukosius at two and tossing up between Rankine and fellow Croweater Connor Rozee with selection three.
Victoria’s King brothers, Max and Ben, Sydney academy prospect Nick Blakey and Victorian onballer Bailey Smith are the other favourites to go in the top eight.
St Kilda currently has pick four, Brisbane selection five, Fremantle six and the Western Bulldogs seven.
“There’s a lot happening with those clubs (in terms of trades) so we’ll sit back and see what happens,’’ Reid told AFL Trade Radio.
Under new AFL rules, draft picks can this year be exchanged at the draft.
While Adelaide loves the high-end SA talent available this year, the Croweater talent pool runs deep, which has come into the Crows thinking.
They would be happy to take four quality players inside the first 21 and then try to trade for Lukosius or Rankine, or possibly Rozee, when they fall out of contract in two years.
Rozee could fall to Adelaide at pick eight this year and if the Suns overlook Rankine he could slide into pick eight territory.
Other SA boys certain to be on the Crows’ radar are midfielders Jackson Hately (Central District), Tom Sparrow (South Adelaide) and Luke Valente (Norwood), along with Dogs’ rebounding half-back Jez McLennan and Redlegs wingman Jacob Kennerley.
Adelaide, which made the grand final in 2017 and is in the premiership window, believes it can set up its future in this draft.
“With the draft hand we have we think it can help us short term and also long term,’’ Reid said.
Adelaide has a strong record with recent top-23 selections, picking Matt Crouch (No. 23 in 2013), Jake Lever (14 in 2014), Wayne Milera (11 in 2015), Tom Doedee (17 in 2015), Jordan Gallucci (15 in 2016) and Darcy Fogarty (12 in 2017).
The Crows on Wednesday afternoon also announced the re-signing of Andy Otten and Cam Ellis-Yolmen on one-year contract extensions.
Swingman Otten will head into his 12th season while big-bodied midfielder Ellis-Yolmen will remain on the Crows’ list as a rookie.
“Both Andy and Cam are valuable contributors on and off the field and over the years have overcome adversity with injury, which is a testament to their character and resilience,” Reid said.
“We see them both playing a meaningful role going forward.”
andrew.capel@news.com.au