Adelaide risks losing Sam Durdin after trading pick 10 to Geelong

ADELAIDE’S decision to trade its first draft pick down four spots could cost it a shot at gun South Australian teenager Sam Durdin.

U18 Championship and West Adelaide player Sam Durdin Photo Sarah Reed.

ADELAIDE’S decision to trade down in the draft could cost it a shot at gun South Australian teenager Sam Durdin.

Athletic tall Durdin, 18 and 197cm, is almost certain to be the first Croweater selected at the November 27 draft and might have been available to Adelaide at No. 10.

But the Crows’ decision to trade pick 10 to Geelong to move down four spots in the first round and up 12 spots with their second pick (from No. 47 to 35) could see it trumped for the player SA under-18 coach Brenton Phillips describes as having the “wow-factor’’.

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Once thought to be a certain top-five selection, Durdin is now tipped to be picked in the 6-14 bracket at the draft after failing to set the under-18 national championships alight as he recovered from a thumb injury.

But he finished the season strongly, playing league football for West Adelaide and winning the Alan Stewart Medal as best afield in the Bloods’ under-18 grand final win against the Eagles.

Jake Johansen, Sam Durdin and Billy Stretch are all hoping to be drafted. Picture: Sarah Reed

Phillips says Durdin, whose game has been likened to Essendon’s Jake Carlisle, has unlimited potential and the tools to be an AFL star.

Able to play in the ruck and in attack, he appears best suited to defence and would be a perfect fit for Adelaide which is crying out for some support for All-Australian key backman Daniel Talia.

The Crows have identified drafting a key defender as a priority and like Durdin. But in a draft stocked with good talls they are prepared to lose him to grab a higher-ranked player with their second pick.

Head of football David Noble has assured fans Adelaide will still get the type of player it wants at 14 and won’t be adversely affected by dropping four places.

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“In years gone by the talent difference in moving from pick 10 to 14 might have been too great for us to move down,’’ Noble said.

“But our assessment this year is that the slight slide will not hurt because we are not jeopardising a key talent.

“We’ve made some clear strategic plans and my recruiting team tells me the player we want with our first pick will still be there at 14.’’

Three talls will be taken in the top nine selections, with Victorians Patrick McCartin and Peter Wright expected to be top five picks and Darcy Moore heading to Collingwood at pick nine under the father-son rule.

There is an outside chance Durdin could slip to the Crows at 14 but Fremantle, which owns pick 13, is understood to be very keen on drafting him because of its ageing key position brigade.

Originally published as Adelaide risks losing Sam Durdin after trading pick 10 to Geelong