Analysis: Tom Doedee compensation opens door for Crows to get aggressive in trade period

Tom Doedee is now a Brisbane player but his decision arms Adelaide with an arsenal of early draft picks, and the Crows have already signalled they plan to get aggressive.

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA – JULY 29: Matthew Nicks, Senior Coach of the Crows during the 2023 AFL Round 20 match between the Adelaide Crows and the Port Adelaide Power at Adelaide Oval on July 29, 2023 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Tom Doedee has been a very good player for Adelaide but his departure has given the club a variety of options.

The Crows’ latest offer to the intercept defender was a discounted two-year deal and it was never matching Brisbane’s deal of four seasons plus a trigger, so to receive an end-of-first-round draft selection (No.19) as compensation on Monday was a coup.

One that sets the table for Adelaide to possibly get aggressive or creative this trade period, now that it has four picks inside the top 25 of next month’s national draft.

Fresh off a campaign in which they narrowly missed the top eight and convinced they could do finals damage in 2024, the Crows showed their intent last week by pushing near the front of the queue to land Melbourne superstar Clayton Oliver.

Nothing came of it because Oliver and the Demons ultimately committed to him staying for 2024.

But the fact Adelaide wanted to move a lot of its chips in to trade for a player of that ilk on a massive seven-year contract was further proof the rebuild was well and truly over at West Lakes.

Tom Doedee is off to Brisbane. Picture: Michael Klein

The Crows have regenerated their list in a calculated fashion since Matthew Nicks’s first season as coach in 2020, initially investing in youth then targeting emerging players who filled particular needs.

In came Jordan Dawson at the end of 2021 as an elite-kicking defender who had since gone on to strengthen the club’s midfield and leadership ranks.

Then, crying out for more class, Adelaide recruited matchwinner Izak Rankine last October.

The chance to return to South Australia was an extra carrot to dangle at the two homegrown products when Sydney pushed hard to keep Dawson and Essendon and Gold Coast tried to get Rankine’s signature.

Now, the Crows’ rise up the ladder and exciting playing style as the competition’s highest scoring team will give them reason to believe they can lure stars who are not locals.

Oliver was reportedly open to moving to West Lakes if he left Melbourne, which was significant in itself for a club that had long struggled to bring in non-South Australian guns.

Whether another player of Oliver’s calibre is out there for Adelaide to go hard at this trade period remains to be seen.

The beauty of the four-time best-and-fairest-winning Demon was not simply his status as one of the best players in the competition.

He filled a need as a big, ball-winning midfielder and was in the right age bracket (26) for a team in Adelaide’s position, desperate to end its finals drought next season.

Jordan Dawson has been a spectacular addition for the Crows. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

Like Dawson and Rankine, he fit the jigsaw of what the club was piecing together.

Armed with picks 9, 19, 22 and 25, plus whatever it can get for Shane McAdam and potentially Elliott Himmelberg, the Crows will not suddenly pivot to the next big name that gets raised in trade talks, just because the club has the capacity to get a deal done.

Expect them to continue to be targeted in their approach, which may mean being aggressive in other ways.

Adelaide is trying to move up the draft order into the top 10.

It may also look to improve its 2024 hand to give it points to match bids on father-son forward Tyler Welsh.

Either way, the Crows have some appealing options.

Doedee had been the club’s acting captain at times in recent seasons, one of its most consistent performers and best defenders.

Adelaide’s tall defensive stocks are certainly dented and look lean without him, even if Suns swingman Chris Burgess arrives this trade period.

But getting pick 19 for a player the club has been reluctant to offer a long-term deal to – because of a second knee reconstruction in four years – has left the Crows well placed to fast-track their push up the ladder.

Originally published as Analysis: Tom Doedee compensation opens door for Crows to get aggressive in trade period