Adelaide end of season review: How I’d fix the Crows
REPORT CARD: Adelaide fell short of its premiership goal this year but is still firmly in the window despite the loss to key defender Jake Lever.
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AFTER claiming the minor premiership, it was a flag or bust for Adelaide.
Yet, it saved its worst performance of the season for the biggest game of the year.
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Andrew Capel looks at what went right, wrong and what the Crows need to ensure they respond next year.
SEASON ROUND-UP
THE best team in the minor rounds saved its worst until last.
The Crows won just their second McClelland Trophy as minor premier but then stunk it up on the biggest stage of all.
Their insipid Grand Final performance, when they were upset by Richmond by eight goals, did not reflect the outstanding season they had, which included 15 wins and a draw and two stellar finals victories against Greater Western Sydney and Geelong.
Adelaide was lauded for playing the most attractive football in the competition, resulting in it averaging more points for (107.8) than any other team — a significant 10.2 more than the next-best scoring side Port Adelaide (97.6).
Sixteen times it scored 100 points or more.
But it saved its lowest score, 8.12 (60), for the Grand Final.
The Crows had a club-record eight All-Australian nominees and with their oldest player, Richard Douglas, being just 30, they are built to last.
But in the end they will have to live with a Grand Final performance that was, strangely, well below the standards they had set all year.
THE PROBLEM(S)
THE loss of standout key defender Jake Lever, who wants to join Melbourne, is significant.
Just 21, he is Adelaide’s best intercept defender, and will leave a massive hole in the Crows’ blue-collar back half.
Forward-midfield speedster Charlie Cameron could also be on the way out as he considers an offer to return to Queensland to join Brisbane.
Complicating matters in defence for Adelaide is that its best rebounding defender Brodie Smith - an All-Australian in 2014 - will miss most of next season after having his right knee reconstructed after he was hurt in the qualifying final win over the Giants.
His long-term absence means the Crows will need to find some more run and carry from defence.
Adelaide could do with an injection of pace, particularly if Cameron leaves, while it will again address its contested ball scenario - an area of strength in the minor rounds - after it was belted by Richmond in the Grand Final, losing the key statistic by 30.
THE SOLUTION
WITH Lever joining the long list of big-name departures from Adelaide in recent years - Patrick Dangerfield, Jack Gunston, Kurt Tippett, Phil Davis and Nathan Bock - Adelaide needs to hit back hard and make its own statement.
The fans, tired of losing so many high quality players, need to see one.
After failing to secure Carlton’s Bryce Gibbs in a trade last year, the Crows must make a strong attempt to get him this time.
He still has two years to go on his contract and would add extra polish to a midfield which improved greatly this year through the growth of the Crouch brothers, Matt and Brad.
If the Crows had won the premiership and Lever had stayed then Gibbs would not have been a priority signing, given the significant “organic growth’’ in its on-ball brigade.
But it has become statement time, although getting Gibbs has been made harder by the Blues’ failure to sign Brisbane free agent Tom Rockliff, who has nominated Port Adelaide as his preferred club.
The untried Tom Doedee — Adelaide’s controversial first-round pick in 2015 when it overlooked this year’s AFL Rising Star nominee Ryan Burton from its own backyard — looms as the prime contender to replace Smith while Lever’s spot could be taken by former first-class cricketer Alex Keath, who came on in leaps and bounds this season.
THE TARGET
GIBBS is the obvious one but another South Australian, Essendon’s Aaron Francis, is an intriguing possibility and should also be on the Crows’ radar.
The No.6 pick at the 2015 national draft has played just five AFL games for the Bombers, including two this year, as the club tries to build his endurance base but and he could be looking for greater opportunities.
He is under contract for two more years and Essendon has said he is not up for trade but the Crows need to explore the market, particularly given the go-home factor - something they are brutally aware of - could come into play.
Francis, 20, is highly regarded by Adelaide’s recruiting staff after he was initially a contender to be picked first overall and he could slot seamlessly into the Crows’ back half as Lever’s replacement.
THE DREAM
BRINGING home Gibbs and Francis would be a dream result for Adelaide.
Gibbs would add elite kicking skills to a largely blue-collar on-ball brigade while swingman Francis - a great talent who started the year as an AFL Rising Star favourite - would give the Crows options at either end.
Adelaide should have plenty of draft picks to play with, with the offer for Lever currently standing at Melbourne’s first and second-round selections.
Ideally the Crows would like the Demons’ first pick this year and next year, with the 2018 draft looming as a super draft and featuring some gun Croweaters, including Woodville-West Torrens’ Jack Lukosius and West Adelaide’s Izak Rankine.
THE COACH
DON Pyke was pipped for the AFLCA senior coach of the year award by eventual Richmond premiership coach Damien Hardwick after leading the Crows to their first minor premiership since 2005.
Since taking over in tough circumstances from the late Phil Walsh at the end of 2015, Pyke has done a superb job of getting the players to gel together both on and off the field.
The club has won 34 and drawn one of the 49 games it has played under his reign.
Renowned for being meticulous with his preparation, he has brought more flexibility with the Crows players but would be reflecting on the grand final with plenty of regret after his side didn’t bring its “A-game’’.
He also didn’t produce any game-changing moves against Richmond, with his only noticeable move being to put Andy Otten on star Tigers’ intercepting defender Alex Rance.
Pyke is tied to Adelaide for next year and the club is keen to offer him an extension in the off-season.
BUCKY SAYS
Do Adelaide pursue for the now and go for the ready-made player who will help immediately or look to the future?
THE PREDICTION
ADELAIDE is not going anywhere in a hurry.
While it will have to live with its disappointing grand final display for a long time and the loss of key defender Jake Lever is a blow, its list is young and built to last.
And ruckman Sam Jacobs insists the players will just be hungrier after their grand final nightmare.
The Crows should make the top four in 2018 and would love a crack at righting the wrongs of their final game this season.
andrew.capel@news.com.au
Originally published as Adelaide end of season review: How I’d fix the Crows
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