Malcolm Blight says Crows need to go to the draft and trading stars might be the way forward
Two-time Adelaide premiership coach Malcolm Blight says the Crows have fallen off the edge. And he’s suggested a way his old club might be able to land the first three picks at the national draft.
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Two-time Adelaide premiership coach Malcolm Blight has suggested a left-field trade option he thinks could quickly return the Crows to an AFL power.
Blight, the AFL Legend who guided Adelaide to back-to-back flags in 1997 and 1998, said the club had misjudged its playing list after making the grand final two years ago.
And with some ageing stars nearing the end, Blight said an injection of fresh young talent was required.
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And he’s come up with a hypothetical way in which Adelaide might be able to take a dominant hand in this year’s national draft and quicken their list makeover.
“They’re going to have to go to the draft early,” he said.
“They’ve got that extra pick from Carlton (for Liam Stocker pick exchange) which might be (pick) three or whatever.
“I’d be trading out some players ... if you actually add some youth — just like Port Adelaide have and some other teams have — if you can keep that youth, you won’t bottom out.”
Blight said out-of-contract Crows Alex Keath and Hugh Greenwood, whose futures remain the centre of speculation, were two players with currency his old club might consider moving on after the season.
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Midfielder Brad Crouch has come under the eye of rivals, and Blight suggested he too might be a live trade option despite his superb form.
“The other two I find interesting (aside from Keath and Greenwood) — and people might be a bit surprised by this as they’re two very good players — is Brad Crouch and Matty Crouch,” Blight told SEN.
“They find a lot of the ball but they’re very similar.
“Do you split those boys up or do they go as a package? This is just purely hypothetical — they go to the Gold Coast for picks one and two.
“So that means Adelaide would have picks one, two and three ... some people have got to agree to all that. I don’t say they’re bad players but I know the Gold Coast Suns would take two quality midfielders in a heartbeat rather than kids.”
Blight said while the likes of Rory Sloane remained at the Crows the club would remain competitive, but some radical thinking might be needed to fast-track the process to again becoming a genuine contender.
“I don’t think anyone in Adelaide wants to see the Crouch brothers go, but if it unfurled that way, that would be the way Adelaide could come back up, if they get some really good youth.”
Don Pyke’s team remains in the eight but has lost four of its past five matches, with Saturday’s loss to Carlton turning the blowtorch on the 2017 runners-up.
And Blight believes their efforts two seasons ago might have painted a false picture for those at West Lakes.
“By getting a (Bryce) Gibbes to the club, they thought they were in the grand final opportunity again — and probably rightly so after 2017,” Blight said.
“They had a shocker on the day ... that was pretty hard to put a finger on.
“Now, it’s plainly obvious that maybe the group’s not good enough now. They have fallen off the edge, and they’re going to have eight or nine players in the next two years fall away.
“They’re going to have to do some fancy footwork with their list and getting some youth back into the team.”