Andrew Capel: Time is right for Adelaide to bring Caleb Daniel and Harrison Petty home
Ambitious and cashed-up Adelaide should go all-in and try to lure these Croweaters and AFL premiership players back to South Australia, writes Andrew Capel.
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Go and get him. And bring his taller South Australian mate with him.
Having reportedly shown their ambition by swinging and missing on Sydney star Errol Gulden, the Crows’ list management team should go hard at a couple of Croweaters who seem very gettable – out of favour Western Bulldog Caleb Daniel and Melbourne key position player Harrison Petty.
Make no mistake, Adelaide has the money to sign both premiership men.
Daniel – the South Adelaide product who some AFL clubs thought was too small to make it in the big league when he slipped to pick 46 at the 2014 national draft – is on the outer at The Kennel.
He was dropped to the VFL on the weekend after starting the season as the Dogs’ AFL substitute and then being subbed out of their Gather Round clash against Geelong.
It is a huge slap in the face for one of the AFL’s classiest players and best ball users who was a key member of the Bulldogs’ drought-breaking 2016 premiership team and an All-Australian and best and fairest winner in 2020.
The 171cm Daniel is still only 27, finished fourth in club champion voting last season and should have at least another three-to-four years of good football left in him.
He still has two years of a four-year contract with the Dogs remaining but has fallen so far down the selection pecking order with Luke Beveridge’s outfit that they would likely be happy for another club to take on his hefty salary and not ask for a King’s ransom in trade return.
Despite his rough start to the season, Daniel would be a good pick-up for the Crows, who need to refine their list rather than rebuild it again.
He is an elite kick and decision-maker – two areas of need for Adelaide – and has the ability to play well in a variety of positions, including midfield, half-back, half-forward and wing, offering coach Matthew Nicks great selection flexibility.
With key backline playmaker Brodie Smith in the twilight of his career at age 32, Daniel, who has played 180 games since debuting for the Dogs in 2015, might make the perfect replacement, helping with the Crows’ sometimes stuttered ball movement from half-back.
Daniel’s fall from grace at the Whitten Oval has come at a good time for Adelaide, which has vowed to continue to be aggressive in the trade and free agency market after going to the draft for multiple years as they rebuilt their list under Nicks, who took over the coaching reins from Don Pyke in 2020.
After strategically building a financial “war chest’’, Adelaide signed midfielder Jordan Dawson from Sydney at the end of 2021 – and made him captain last year – and small forward Izak Rankine from Gold Coast at the end of 2022.
Both have proven to be astute acquisitions.
The Crows went hard at – and nearly got – another star South Australian, Essendon defender Mason Redman, last year before he re-signed with the Bombers.
They then tried to sign fellow Croweater Petty from Melbourne and while the versatile, 197cm key position player, a premiership winner in 2021 who can play back or forward, wanted to come home, the Demons had him tied on contract for another two years and refused to let him go.
Adelaide then flirted with the possibility of prying troubled midfield star Clayton Oliver out of the Dees before Melbourne took his name off the trade table.
Illustrating just how ambitious they are, the Crows are understood to have been the club that offered classy Gulden a 10-year deal to steal him from the Swans before he this month put pen to paper on a four-year contract extension.
Adelaide head of football Adam Kelly refused to confirm or deny an audacious approach for Gulden but told ABC radio on the weekend that his club would continue to be aggressive in the trade market as it looked to top up its list.
“There’s always speculation when it comes to player movement but we’re in April and a long way away from the trade period,’’ he said.
“We’re not in the business of confirming or denying any conversations we’re having with players at any club.
“But we’ve come through a period where we have primarily prioritised the draft and brought in a lot of top 30 selections over a number of years.
“We targeted Jordan Dawson and Izak Rankine and we have the capacity to be able to bring in some (more) high-end talent and that’s our focus.
“We are prepared to use draft capital to be able to do that and we certainly have the (financial) capacity to be able to bring in some players and that will be our focus as we move through the remainder of 2024.’’
While the Crows still need a powerful, big-bodied midfielder, Daniel and Petty, 24, would be good fits.
Adelaide’s list is nowhere near as bad as some of the commentary suggested last week after it shockingly slumped to 0-4 in a season where it was expected to snap its long finals drought.
Rankine, Josh Rachele, Jake Soligo and Co. reminded pundits of some of the high-end talent at their disposal when they upset previously unbeaten Carlton in Melbourne on Saturday.
But there is still list management work to do and signing a couple of established senior players like Daniel and Petty, who wouldn’t cost the world in terms of draft capital, makes sense.
NUMBERS GAME
6
Total points that decided three AFL games on Saturday, with GWS winning by one point, Adelaide by two and Port Adelaide by three.
1
Crows wins from their past seven games decided by six points or fewer, with the sole victory coming against Carlton on Saturday.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
“It’s amazing what one kick can do to a change room.’ – Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks after Sam Berry’s matchwinning goal against Carlton.
“Sometimes you can play well and not get the points and sometimes you can be outplayed around the ball and find a way to get the points and to our boys’ credit they found a way in the last quarter.’’ – Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley after the come-from-behind win against Fremantle.
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