Number Crunch: Crows rise from the draft ashes to dream of flag glory

ADELAIDE has done it the hard way. In a finals series where clubs are poised to cash in on their top-10 draft picks the Crows are going it alone, reports Andrew Capel.

ADELAIDE has done it the hard way.

In a finals series where clubs are poised to cash in on their top-10 draft picks the Crows are going it alone.

While every rival will enter its major round campaign with at least three top-10 selections and five teams have five or more blue-chip picks, Adelaide has just one — superstar midfielder Patrick Dangerfield.

Selected at pick 10 at the 2007 national draft, Dangerfield is the only Crow who under the current model would be paraded on the stage at draft night as being a centrepiece of his team’s future.

In contrast, Richmond and West Coast are head into the finals with six top-10 draft picks — selections that are worth their weight in gold.

Two of the Eagles’ big guns — Josh Kennedy and Xavier Ellis — were drafted by rival clubs in 2005 before being traded west.

Reigning premier Hawthorn has five top-10 draft picks on its list, along with the Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne.

Minor premier Fremantle has four and Sydney three.

The Crows’ lack of prime picks illustrates just how well they have wheeled and dealed at the trade table and in the draft to make the finals.

Their 25-man squad to play the Bulldogs at the MCG tomorrow features 15 players taken in the national draft, seven in the rookie draft and one each via the pre-season draft, NSW scholarship scheme and zone incentive picks.

The AFL finalists’ top-10 draft picks.

Adelaide’s recruiting department — now led by national recruiting manager Hamish Ogilvie after the previous fine drafting record of Matt Rendell — deserves plenty of credit for finding some hidden gems amid some draft chaos.

The Crows were stripped of their first two selections at the 2012 and 2013 national drafts as part of their punishment for the Kurt Tippett salary cap blunder. They also received no draft compensation for Tippett, who joined Sydney via the pre-season draft.

Their last top-10 pick Phil Davis (2008) bolted for GWS at the end of 2011.

Prior to Dangerfield in 2007, Adelaide’s only previous top-10 picks were in 2000 (No. 7) and 2004 (No. 8).

Those picks were wasted on talls Laurence Angwin and John Meesen, who played just two games for the Crows between them.

Last year Adelaide smartly traded pick 10 to Geelong for selection 14 and a later pick (35) and still got the player it wanted in the first-round — key defender Jake Lever.

Western Bulldogs v Adelaide

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The lack of top draft picks in the past decade illustrates Adelaide has never bottomed out and taken the easy option of rebuilding through the draft.

Instead it has meticulously and expertly plotted its way back to the finals. The Crows have drafted astutely with late picks, expertly developed their players and traded well.

Five key players have been signed from other clubs — Sam Jacobs and Eddie Betts (Carlton), Scott Thompson (Melbourne), Tom Lynch (St Kilda) and Josh Jenkins (Essendon).

Captain Taylor Walker was spotted playing in Broken Hill and signed as a 16-year-old NSW scholarship player. Of the 25-man squad to play the Dogs, seven missed national draft selection and were first taken in the rookie draft.

Thompson said Adelaide’s rise to play finals with just one top-10 selection is a testament to the club’s recruiting and development staff.

“They deserve a lot of credit for being able to overcome the draft restrictions we’ve had to find and produce so many players who have been able to contribute so strongly to our team,’’ he said.