Crows swing axe for first time after finals series capitulation
The Adelaide Crows have swung the axe for the first time after the club’s finals series debacle with at least one player shown the door.
The Adelaide Crows have swung the axe for the first time after the club’s finals series flop.
With the club heading into a massive Trade Period, the club has told at least one player they are no longer needed.
Lachlan Murphy told reporters after completing his exit interview on Tuesday that he is moving on after getting the bad news he will not be offered a contract for 2026.
“No good,” the 26-year-old said, as first reported by Code Sports.
“People lose their jobs everyday so it’s not that big of a deal for me.
“We move on. There’s worse things happening in the world.”
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Murphy has played 120 games in the AFL, but was selected to play just five games during the 2025 season.
The Crows still have several other players with uncertain futures.
Taylor Walker is among those with the veteran forward giving little away on Tuesday.
“Nah not yet ... don’t really have a timeline on it,” Walker said when asked if he had made a call.
Asked whether the club was happy for him to play on, Walker replied: “We’ll just make that decision in due time.”
The Crows have a big off-season ahead with the club suddenly a desirable destination for players chasing premiership success.
While the Crows were swept aside without winning a single quarter of football in the 2025 finals series, the club finished on top of the ladder.
Adelaide has even been linked with Demons superstar Christian Petracca.
Code Sports reports Adelaide “will make a play” for Petracca as they seek to bolster a midfield lacking in star power after skipper Jordan Dawson.
“In the Crows favour ... is that leadership group member Alex Neal-Bullen is good friends with Petracca and head of high performance Darren Burgess worked with him at the Demons,” Simeon Thomas-Wilson reported.
However the Crows’ interest has cooled in his teammate Clayton Oliver.
Petracca, 29, was keen on an exit last year but Melbourne could not and would not trade him to his desired home of a big Victorian club.
That was especially hard given his lucrative contract which runs until the end of 2029, a deal peaking at $1.7 million a year and not falling below $1.2 million.
Former Crows captain and club legend Mark Bickley on Tuesday said the Crows should be chasing Brisbane’s Zac Bailey.
“If you had your choice, Zac Bailey would be on the top of the list,” Bickley said on SEN SA Breakfast.
“I’d be happy to part with the big money to get Zac Bailey because he’s just a dynamic player, he bursts out of stoppages, he’s damaging, he hits the scoreboard.
“On the weekend he only had 16 touches but kicked three goals. He brings other players into the game. He’s just starting to develop as a midfielder. He’s been behind Lachie Neale, Josh Dunkley, Hugh McCluggage, Will Ashcroft and all of those players.
“He’s proven he can go into the midfield, he’s got finals experience, all of that.”
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