Adelaide wants Kangaroos ruckman Braydon Preuss to share duties with Sam Jacobs
ADELAIDE wants unsettled Kangaroos ruckman Braydon Preuss to share duties with Sam Jacobs in a strategic recruiting ploy for coach Don Pyke next season.
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ADELAIDE wants unsettled Kangaroos ruckman Braydon Preuss to share duties with Sam Jacobs in a strategic recruiting ploy for coach Don Pyke next season.
The Advertiser can confirm the Crows have determined the availability of Preuss — a 206cm behemoth who is agile for his size. Preuss, 23, extended his tenure to 2020 at Arden Street after playing eight games in his 2017 rookie season.
Preuss was frustrated at failing to crack a start behind Todd Goldstein and Majak Daw last season and is understood to have requested a trade.
Goldstein’s renaissance and coach Brad Scott’s preference to field a solitary specialist ruckman meant Queenslander Preuss was confined to North’s VFL side despite impressive form this year.
Preuss would be the ideal foil then heir to Jacobs who finished battered from an unforgiving 2018 campaign playing every game.
Pruess, compared to former GWS ruckman Shane Mumford due to his imposing frame, would provide a valuable addition and safety net in Pyke’s engine room should he hop to Adelaide. Jacobs, four games short of AFL’s 200 milestone, has carried a relentless workload since joining Adelaide from Carlton in 2011.
The Crows will have to pay overs to prise contracted Preuss but the ruckman could still prove a frugal acquisition given he appears surplus to North’s requirements.
However, Adelaide isn’t alone in interest for Preuss with Melbourne an attractive destination for the Townsville export despite the presence of Max Gawn.
Negotiations to make rugby league convert Preuss — pick No. 15 in the 2014 rookie draft — a Crow are at a preliminary stage. Adelaide is maintaining its stance against detailing specifics of any trade dialogue.
“We recognise and appreciate the interest in player movement and trade talks at this time of year but we prefer not to provide a running commentary on our recruiting or list management plans,” a Crows spokesman told The Advertiser.
Rival clubs are scrambling to firm up ruck stocks for next season. Port Adelaide is the front-runner to lure West Coast’s Scott Lycett home who had been the target of a $600,000 per season offer from St Kilda. Western Bulldogs premiership ruckman Jordan Roughead has been linked with the Eagles.
The Crows and Power will also be in the market for off-contract, 190cm Geelong half-forward/wingman Jordan Murdoch should he decide on a move home to South Australia.
Originally published as Adelaide wants Kangaroos ruckman Braydon Preuss to share duties with Sam Jacobs