Crows to bolster list with top-end talent as they rebuild with strong draft hand – but won’t rule out active trade period
Adelaide list manager Justin Reid has detailed the Crows’ strategy to reboot its team with top-end talent at this year’s draft. And a homegrown young gun could be in the mix as the No. 1 pick looms.
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Adelaide list manager Justin Reid says the Crows are in the middle of a four-year draft-led reboot and hasn’t ruled out going shopping for a marquee recruit at the end of the season.
The Crows are staring at the No. 1 draft pick while they remain anchored to the bottom of the ladder and could have as many as four picks inside the top 20 if Brad Crouch decides to leave at the end of the season.
Their current 2020 draft hand after Round 5 also includes Pick 13, which was part of a trade with GWS last year as well as Picks 20 and 30.
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“From the board to executive, to list management, we are really clear on the strategy and process in what we need to do; it can turn quickly and there will be a bit of inconsistency and pain along the way,” Reid said.
“But the guys are out there trying their best and we will continue debuting players to see what they can do and make the list better going forward.
“At the end of the last two years we were 22-22 (win/loss record) and probably not getting better, so therefore from a list strategy point of view the best way (forward) is to get games into the kids, which Nicksy (Matthew Nicks) is doing with Chayce (Jones), and Ned (McHenry), and Will Hamill, and Darcy Fogarty, and Fischer McAsey and there will be other guys who get an opportunity throughout the year.
“So that is a focus where you need to get 60-80 games into your core group as quick as you can, and from a draft point of view there is certainly a bit of work we’ve put into it over the last couple of years.
“Certainly, the ‘18, ‘19 draft and what we do in ‘20, ‘21, a lot of the clubs when they look to rejuvenate or rebuild they do it over a three to four year draft period, because what you’re looking at is getting games into those players where you get some cohesion and they learn their craft by playing at the highest level.
“We have a strong draft hand this year, albeit we’re still unaware of list sizes, salary caps, even soft cap.
“So, until you get all the information it’s hard to forecast too far ahead, but there will certainly be a draft, my understanding, in December and we haven’t shied away from the fact that we will go to the draft and Hamish (Ogilvie) has a great record of picking great talent.
“We are certainly inside the top 20 and we’ve just got to keep adding to our high-end talent.”
The Crows have never finished lower than 14th and their highest-ever draft pick was Fischer McAsey at No. 6 last year when they slid from Pick 4 after a trade with GWS, which netted them the Giants’ first-rounder this year.
Adelaide could use its top selection to land homegrown 200cm forward Riley Thilthorpe from West Adelaide.
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But the Crows did trade two first round draft picks for Carlton’s Bryce Gibbs at the end of 2017, when they believed they were in the ‘premiership window’.
Reid wouldn’t comment on the deal other than to say he wasn’t looking backwards and was only concerned with what was happening now.
“Bryce has a really good attitude, he’s been great up at the hub and has got clear communication with Nicksy,” Reid said.
“His attitude and how he’s conducting himself is just as important to how he handles the matter, but secondly how he treats those around him and works with the young players.
“He’s prioritising others which Nicksy has been really clear on and he’s done that from the day he got to the football club, from working with the young guys and on his own game to get better, that’s all you can ask of him.”
Adelaide may find itself with some salary cap space and another high draft pick if reigning club champion Crouch leaves via free agency or a trade at the end of this season.
Reid wouldn’t comment on Crouch, but Nicks on the weekend said the club and midfielder would make a decision on his future together, including if that meant parting ways.
“At this point in time he is a really important part of what we are doing and he’s super invested. It gets tougher when we are losing games, but we have stuck tight and the external noise is nothing like what is going on inside,” Nicks said.
Asked whether Adelaide would be in the market for a marquee recruit in the off-season, Reid said: “We’re always looking at ways to make the list better, whether that’s through the draft or free agency or trade”.
“Because of the unknown around list sizes and salary cap, it’s probably a little bit early, but we are at the start of the journey,” he added.
“So to fit that piece in you really want to be clear on what that piece is, and to do that you need to play a lot of the talent that’s on your list to see what the gaps are.”
Reid said he had conversations with Collingwood ruckman Brodie Grundy’s manager last year, but they never progressed to the point where Grundy seriously considered leaving the Magpies.
In January, he signed a seven-year deal to stay in Victoria.
HUB STAY BROUGHT CROWS CLOSER: O’BRIEN
– Liz Walsh
The Crows might be on a five-match losing streak and searching for an on-field formula to help them win their first game under new coach Matthew Nicks, but off-field the side has never been better, according to ruckman Reilly O’Brien.
O’Brien said in his five seasons at Adelaide he’d never seen the playing group as close, further strengthened by their two-week stint in the Gold Coast hub.
“Our bonding and getting tight knit as a group, our training standards have been through the roof the past couple of weeks, we’ve really been pushing each other, going hard at training and on top of that I think the group’s as well connected as it has been since I’ve been at the club,” O’Brien said.
“We’re really staying tight knit through this period, we’re not splintering at all even though we’re losing … and I think that will pay dividends soon, we’ll stick together, keep training really hard and hopefully the results will come really soon.”
The Crows are now firmly entrenched at the bottom of the AFL ladder after their 20-point loss to Fremantle on Sunday, despite coming within a point of the Dockers at three-quarter time.
O’Brien said the side’s finishing in front of goal – with set shots from dedicated forwards sprayed – probably cost them the win in the end, but the side could be bolstered by the return of small forward Tyson Stengle after a four-game club-imposed ban for drink driving during the COVID-19 lockdown.
“He’s a big chance to come back in,” he said.
“He’s been playing really well in the scratch matches and been training really hard and is in really good shape, so I can’t see why not.
“He’ll definitely be in the mix this week.
“(Stengle) will add a lot of flair up forward and that goal kicking finesse as well.”
O’Brien said new coach Nicks had introduced new terminologies and philosophies around the ball to the Crows’ playbook, which was taking some adjusting to.
“I feel like we’re getting more and more used to that and better with that … it does take a little bit of time, especially with a young group, to change and adapt after so many years playing under another philosophy,” he said.
“I feel like every week we’re getting more and more consistent in that and getting more understanding of how we play.”
The Crows flew home from the Gold Coast hub on Sunday evening and will train at their West Lakes facility this week before returning to Queensland either Friday or Saturday morning ahead of their Round 6 game against West Coast at The Gabba on Saturday afternoon.
Originally published as Crows to bolster list with top-end talent as they rebuild with strong draft hand – but won’t rule out active trade period