Adelaide has successfully targeted a combination of small forward and midfield talent by securing Victorian duo Jake Soligo and Zac Taylor in Thursday’s National Draft.
The Crows took Soligo at Pick No.36 before completing a live pick swap with Melbourne, with the Club offloading a future third-round selection in exchange for Pick No.44 which was used to secure Taylor.
Both played in the NAB League this year and won their respective club best-and-fairest awards – Soligo with the Eastern Ranges and Taylor with the Calder Cannons.
The hard-working and highly-skilled Soligo averaged 23 disposals a game and kicked six goals while Taylor was a prolific ball-winner who finished the season with 32, 34 and 37 disposals in his last three games.
In his final game against the Murray Bushrangers, 22 of Taylor’s 37 disposals were contested to go with his 11 clearances.
Crows National Recruiting Manager Hamish Ogilvie said the Club had both midfielders rated very highly in its talent order and the opportunity to select both was too good to pass up.
“Jake is a really well-rounded and well-performed player who played under-16s for Vic Metro so he’s been on our radar since then,” Ogilvie said.
“He played really well this year and it’s not often we all agree in the (recruiting) office, but he’s a player we all agreed on and he was pretty high on our talent order.
“He’s got some versatility but midfield is his number one spot.
“And Zac is a feisty little player, at that stage of the draft the two boys were just too good not to take so we stayed true to our talent order.
“Zac is a small forward, half-forward and midfielder, he played midfield with the Calder Cannons and senior footy with his local club (in Melbourne).
“He can get a lot of the ball and has real speed to get outside with his agility so it’s a speed/agility combo and again he was really high on our talent order so we are very pleased to bring the two boys in together.”
Soligo and Taylor join Josh Rachele at West Lakes after he was selected with Pick No.6 on the opening night of the draft.
The Club will now assess its options heading into Friday afternoon’s rookie draft.
Josh Rachele
Pick No.6
Age: 18
Height: 180cm
Weight: 78kg
Position: Midfielder/forward
From: Murray Bushrangers / Shepparton
Jake Soligo
Pick No.36
Age: 18
Height: 180cm
Weight: 78kg
Position: Midfielder
From: Eastern Ranges / Dromana
Zac Taylor
Pick No.44
Age: 18
Height: 180cm
Weight: 74kg
Position: Midfielder/forward
From: Calder Cannons / Oak Park
