James Aish on the radar as Adelaide Crows vow to retain stars and pull off its own recruiting coup

ADELAIDE has hit back at rival clubs circling its stars, revealing it is preparing to make its own recruiting splash next year.

Round 19: Melbourne v Brisbane

ADELAIDE has hit back at rival clubs circling its stars, revealing it is preparing to make its own recruiting splash next year.

For the first time confirming their interest in Brisbane’s South Australian midfielder James Aish, the Crows say they are not only confident of retaining their best players but of strengthening their list via next year’s free agency or trade period.

Their wishlist includes dual Norwood premiership player Aish, who falls out of contract at the end of 2015 and is yet to put pen to paper on a new deal.

Asked about the chance of luring 19-year-old first-round draft pick Aish back to SA, Adelaide head of football David Noble said: “All the expats, we watch them all a little closer because of that aspect.

“The ‘come home’ factor for us is so intrinsic, to get some expats back home would be great.

“We’d certainly keep an eye on all of those guys, for sure.”

Aish — the son of former Redlegs midfielder Andrew Aish and nephew of 1981 Magarey Medallist Michael Aish — had a strong debut season for the Lions this year, averaging 17.6 disposals in 21 games.

Stressing Adelaide planned its recruiting strategy and total player payments two-to-three years in advance, Noble said the club is well placed to re-sign stars Patrick Dangerfield, Rory Sloane and Richard Douglas before their contracts expire at the end of next season and recruit another quality player.

“If the right fit happens to put our list in a better position to play successful finals obviously we would be silly not to consider it,’’ Noble said.

“But it would have to be well planned and well executed.’’

Having last month stitched up the long-term future of key forward Taylor Walker, Noble said the Crows were confident of retaining Victorians Dangerfield, Sloane and Douglas.

“I think we’ve said we won’t provide a running commentary but we’re comfortable with where those guys are at,’’ he said.

“Obviously we’d like to get them done sooner rather than later but we are comfortable with how things are.’’

While the futures of Dangerfield and Sloane have been grabbing the headlines, Noble said re-signing the “a little underrated’’ Douglas was a key part of the Crows’ future plans.

“Generally the top-end guys get the attention but we’ve got a host of guys we want to make sure we retain, Richard being one of those,’’ Noble said.

“It’s important internally that we don’t miss the opportunities to make sure all of our players are staying together to help our list grow.”

Originally published as James Aish on the radar as Adelaide Crows vow to retain stars and pull off its own recruiting coup