Gary Buckenara analyses Adelaide’s list after the 2019 season

Adelaide lost six players during the trade and free agency period but list guru Gary Buckenara writes that the Crows actually haven't lost that much and there are reasons to be excited about season 2020.

Gary Buckenara analyses Adelaide's list.

There has been no team more disappointing than Adelaide over the past two seasons.

Since the 2017 Grand Final loss to Richmond, the Crows have been on a downward spiral and now find themselves with some really hard decisions to make. Already coach Don Pyke has departed, so 2020 will see a new era begin.

This free agency and trade period is huge for the Crows. The list is ageing and the club is committed to rejuvenating its list with the departures of Sam Jacobs (free agency), Cam Ellis-Yolmen (free agency), Eddie Betts, Hugh Greenwood, Alex Keath and Josh Jenkins to give its younger players more senior opportunities in 2020.

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When you look at the players that have gone out, while there are six of them, the Crows actually haven’t lost that much. Betts is at the end of his career and so is Jenkins, while Reilly O’Brien basically took over from Sam Jacobs as No.1 ruck this year and Ellis-Yolmen is a depth player given Brad and Matt Crouch are very similar players who do the grunt work. The ones they would have liked to have kept were Greenwood and  Keath — Keath more so — but again, with Tom Doedee coming back from a knee reconstruction next year, Daniel Talia and Kyle Hartigan in the key defensive roles as well as Will Kelly, there is enough there to cover his loss.

The Crows do have a number of very good developing players who I believe can be their next wave of superstars.

I rate Doedee really highly as an intercept defender, Darcy Fogarty is going to be a star, Chayce Jones has a lot of talent, Jordan Gallucci has shown good signs and so has Elliot Himmelberg as a developing key forward.

Darcy Fogarty needs to be playing regular senior football. Picture: Sarah Reed

So while Adelaide will be in a transition period over the next 1-3 years, the list management and recruiting team has done a good job in preparing the club for the future, it’s now all about giving those guys as many games at AFL level as possible.

The other element to Adelaide’s clean-out is that it’s building a war chest to chase elite free agency and trade targets, starting with the game’s No.1 ruckman Brodie Grundy.

While all signs pointed to Grundy staying at Collingwood next year, he becomes a free agent at the end of the season and the Crows will be ready with a mega big-money and long-term deal to bring him home to South Australia.

I would have gone to Collingwood on day one of the trade period this year with a huge trade offer to see if there’s any interest. I’d say we are very confident of landing Grundy as a free agent next year, so it’d be in your best interests to trade him to us now so you get more for him, rather than a compensation pick decided by the AFL.

I would have offered picks No.4 and 23 or picks 4, 23 and O’Brien to see if the Pies would have bitten.

Can the Crows convince Brodie Grundy to head home to South Australia? Picture: Michael Klein.

LIST NEEDS

Adelaide’s list is well balanced overall but with the departure of Jacobs, there is a need for another ruckman. Behind O’Brien at present, rookie Kieran Stachan is the only 200cm-plus player on the list and hasn’t played at senior level.

The midfield is too one-paced, so I’d be looking at players with leg speed who can roll through there or even across halfback.

The other need is to play the kids who have been drafted with top picks but haven’t had much exposure at senior level. Fogarty should be playing every week, Gallucci is another one, Poholke, Jones, Ned McHenry — get these guys into the senior team because that’s where the improvement is going to come from.

Rory Sloane leads the Adelaide midfield. Picture: Michael Klein

LIST BREAKDOWN

A: Rory Sloane

B+: Daniel Talia, Rory Laird, Tom Doedee

B: Nil

B-: Matt Crouch, Taylor Walker, Kyle Hartigan, Brodie Smith, Brad Crouch

C+: Riley Knight, Bryce Gibbs, Jake Kelly, Paul Seedsman, David Mackay, Rory Atkins, Tom Lynch, Wayne Milera, Reilly O’Brien

C: Luke Brown, Patrick Wilson, Shane McAdam

C-: Nil

Developing*: Jordan Gallucci, Myles Poholke, Darcy Fogarty, Elliot Himmelberg, Andrew McPherson, Chayce Jones, William Hamill

Developing: Ben Davis, Lachlan Murphy, Tyson Stengle, Ned McHenry, Lachlan Scholl, Jordon Butts

MORE NEWS:

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DRAFT STRATEGY

With three picks inside the top-30, the Crows can bring in some more nice players to add to the glut of young talent they already have in the likes of Fogarty, Jones, McHenry, Milera, Poholke and Stengle and help further set the club up for the future. Speed, speed and more speed is what I’d be looking at in players who combine that pace with classy ball use.

CRYSTAL BALL

The Crows should be optimistic about their prospects in the years to come despite a disappointing season in 2019. With Pyke moving on, we could see a sharp rise from Adelaide next year as the players move past the issues that have engulfed the club since the Grand Final loss.

What stands out is the depth — this list is capable of much more than its 10-12 win-loss season this year, even without the players that have been traded. This should be a team that makes finals and challenges for a top-four position. Doedee will replace Keath in the backline alongside Talia and Hartigan, while O’Brien will be No.1 ruck, Fogarty is going to be a star and will replace Jenkins.

Originally published as Gary Buckenara analyses Adelaide’s list after the 2019 season