SANFL star Shane McAdam becomes a Crow as Mitch McGovern deal finalised
ADELAIDE Crows’ strong desire to add exciting SANFL forward Shane McAdam to their list have been realised. And they have also added another first-round pick as they prepare to plunder a draft stacked with high-quality South Australian talent.
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ADELAIDE has its man — and the Blues have Mitch McGovern.
The Crows’ strong desire to add exciting SANFL forward Shane McAdam to their list have been realised after they were on Wednesday able to work a deal with Carlton to recruit the gifted playmaker.
Key utility McGovern, who controversially walked out on Adelaide with two years left on his contract, was traded to the Blues, along with a future third-round selection, for McAdam, draft pick 13 and a future fifth-round selection.
The deal involved a third club, Sydney.
The Swans received picks 26 and 28 from Carlton and No. 40 from the Crows.
They gave up their first-round pick (No. 13) to add more selections.
“The top-end talent in this year’s draft is considered to be the best in a long time so to bring in pick 13, as well as a player like Shane McAdam who we and many others in the industry rate very highly, is a great result,” Adelaide list manager Justin Reid said.
“We believe Shane can have a real impact at AFL level and he complements what our other forwards already offer.
“We also head to the draft confident of bringing in some more elite young talent.”
The Crows currently hold picks 8, 13, 16, 21, 72 and 82 in next month’s national draft, which is stacked with high-quality South Australian talent.
They can either take four ace players with the top 21 picks or try to package some selections to move up to No. 2 or 3 in a bid to try to secure Woodville-West Torrens star Jack Lukosius or West Adelaide speed machine Izak Rankine.
It is debatable whether North Adelaide premiership utility Connor Rozee will still be on the draft board at No. 8.
McAdam is a prized pick-up.
Highly sought after following a standout first season in the SANFL where he kicked 31 goals in 17 games, he had been regarded as a top-30 draft pick.
But the Crows were able to grab him early in a shrewd move that saw Carlton claim him as one of its two mature-aged pre-draft access picks and trade him to Adelaide.
McAdam, 23, will link up with his Sturt coach Martin Mattner at West Lakes, with Mattner joining as an assistant coach.
Mattner is a massive fan of McAdam, who hails from Western Australia and last year moved to Adelaide to be close to some family and friends and played football with Scotch Old Collegians in division two of the Adelaide Footy League.
McAdam has lost 7kg this year after improving his diet and getting much fitter.
He last week told The Advertiserthat until Mattner had helped turn his life and football around he was eating 10 meat pies a week, including for breakfast and lunch and occasionally dinner.
“I’ve stopped eating them now and have a much better diet, which has made a difference,’’ he said.
McAdam expressed his desire to stay in Adelaide and play under Mattner.
“It would be great to be able to stay in Adelaide because I’ve got family and friends here and to be at the same club as Marty would help me a lot.’’
McGovern, 24 on Thursday, played four seasons at Adelaide after being taken at selection 43 in the 2014 national draft, playing 48 games and kicking 67 goals.