Lack of youth and speed at AFL level means list management issues ahead for Adelaide
Adelaide’s belief in the strength of its playing list has led to decisions that have pushed its selection and development of youth into the future, but that could be about to change, writes Mark Bickley.
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With twenty of Adelaide’s 2017 Grand Final team still on the list, and all available for selection, it’s hard to comprehend how the side could look so listless in such a short space of time.
Fans accept that players get older and performances drop off. Nobody was expecting Sam Jacobs, Richard Douglas and Andy Otten to be the mainstays in 2019.
Eddie Betts’s remarkably high standard and consistency had to end sometime. Those occurrences are predictable and, while not seamless, you can see a succession plan for those positions.
The area that has let Adelaide down is the loss speed, particularly from the front half through the exit of Charlie Cameron and then Mitch McGovern, who both hurried up opposition defences.
Cameron has electrifying pace and uses it to great effect, his 35 goals for the Lions so far this year, would see him leading Adelaide’s goal tally.
That is without factoring in the opportunities his pressure and defensive efforts create for the team. It’s been impossible for Crows fans to watch Brisbane this year without lamenting his loss.
McGovern is the more recent departure and, while the impact at his new club Carlton hasn’t been to his or the Blues expectation, he did take some attributes that the Crows have been unable to replace: Most notably his ability to take a contested mark, or at the very least crash the pack and bring the ball to ground.
This has been sorely missed, and has fallen to Taylor Walker and Josh Jenkins, whose contested pack marking is not their strong suit in comparison.
McGovern’s speed also allowed the Crows to play an extra marking target without losing their ability to apply pressure in the front half.
Jake Lever’s departure has proved much more manageable, with Tom Doedee a ready-made replacement, until injured, then Alex Keath in 2019.
Why the history lesson on who the Crows have lost in recent years?
Well, when you lose players with genuine X-factor as they are approaching the prime of their careers — two of them under contract — you can expect to be well compensated.
Here is a summary of what was received and how it was used. (Apologies to all the devotees of the draft, that I won’t include the numerous pick-swaps and third parties that were involved in many of the picks to try and keep it as understandable as possible).
Let’s start with Charlie Cameron because that is the simplest: Cameron to Brisbane, pick 12 back to Adelaide.
That doesn’t look great in hindsight but, to be fair, most Crows fans were comfortable with the deal (including myself) and most were very happy when local product Darcy Fogarty was still on the table and selected by Adelaide.
Clearly this is yet to pay dividends for Adelaide but let’s not forget Fogarty is still a teenager and progress is never in a straight line.
Honing your craft at state league level and on the training track has been the path for many a young AFL player, particularly key position types.
Todd Marshall is another first rounder treading a similar path at Port Adelaide. Fogarty still appears to be the logical long-term replacement for skipper Taylor Walker.
Lever provided Adelaide with two first round picks, one for the 2017 national draft and the other for 2018.
The first, pick 10, would go to Carlton as part of the Bryce Gibbs deal which again in hindsight is not looking so good for Adelaide. The 2018 pick from Melbourne would start as pick 16 and also end up going to Carlton as part of the live first round pick swap involving Liam Stocker.
The deal saw Adelaide give up pick 19 in this year’s draft and swap first round picks with the Blues for next year. At one stage that was looking likely to be pick one for the Crows but it now sits at three with Carton sitting on Adelaide’s pick 11. It’s in the Crows favour, but their 2018 first round pick has now been pushed back by a year.
The final play is McGovern, for which the Crows received pick 13, used to select Ned McHenry, along with mature aged SANFL recruit Shane McAdam who has enormous talent but was always going to take some time to adjust to the AFL system. Both are yet to debut at AFL level.
The point of this exercise is to show how the decline of the Crows list has surprised everyone, including those looking after Adelaide’s list management. Of the four first-round picks received by Adelaide for losing Cameron, Lever and McGovern only one was used towards gaining an experienced player in return.
The rest were used on long-term future prospects, and in some cases pushed out to next year. All totally understandable when your list is mature and you are challenging for the premiership.
Unfortunately for Crows fans, unless something changes, Adelaide isn’t challenging for the premiership. And none of the four first-round picks or players received as compensation are going to be the short-term answer.
I get the feeling the lack of urgency at the draft and trade table of previous years is about to change.