Adelaide recruiters have completed preparations for Friday night’s NAB AFL Draft in Sydney.
The Crows will enter the draft at pick No.12, with their second selection currently sitting at No.39.
National Recruiting Manager Hamish Ogilvie and his team presented to the coaches and Adelaide’s List Management committee last week.
Ogilvie said the Club had settled on its talent order, and would now wait and see how the first 11 picks unfolded on the night.
“As of last Friday, we were pretty much locked (with our preparations),” Ogilvie said.
“There’ll be a couple of slight, little changes here and there but nothing major really.
“The gap between our picks means you’re a little unsure about what will get to pick 39.”
The 2017 draft pool is considered ‘open’, with a clear No.1 yet to emerge for the Brisbane Lions.
Ogilvie said the talent was grouped and that it wasn’t “really clear” who was the best overall prospect.
“They’ve all got their strengths. There’s not a lot separating those top three, four or five boys,” he said.
“There’s a group at the top, and then another group very even through that patch into the teens, and then through the 20s there are some very good players, who are also very even.”
Adelaide has available picks at Nos.75 and 94 in the National Draft, which starts at 7pm (AEDT).
However, the Club is likely to use only the first two selections (Nos.12 and 39).
The Crows will stay true to their talent order, which could mean picking players from across the country.
The ‘go-home’ factor has been a talking point since the AFL Trade Period where several players, including former Crows defender Jake Lever (Melbourne) and forward Charlie Cameron, who went to the Brisbane Lions on compassionate grounds, requested moves back to their native states.
Adelaide compiled a Grand Final-contending squad on the back of its current strategy, and Ogilvie said the Club couldn’t afford to overlook the best players based on proximity.
“We’ve always approached it that if it (the talent of two players) is equal, we’ll take the local but you can’t be dictated to by (location) and say, ‘We’re not going to pick any West Australians, Queenslanders or (players from) New South Wales’,” he said.
“Unfortunately, South Australia doesn’t have 10, 15 or 20 (draftable) players in the draft every year. Some years they will and that’ll be brilliant, but it doesn’t work that way.
“You can’t avoid talent, character, work ethic and great people – it doesn’t matter where they come from. We’ve got a good environment and we’ve kept plenty of players here over the years.”
Adelaide has made a commitment to secure father-son prospect, Jackson Edwards, in the Rookie Draft on Monday evening if he’s not selected by another club on Friday night.
Son of 300-gamer Tyson, Edwards could become the Club’s second-ever father-son selection behind his cousin Ben Jarman, who became a Crow in last year’s Rookie Draft.
“Jackson’s had a good year and played some senior footy,” Ogilvie said.
“He’s been in here (at the Club) a number of times. We’ve been in contact with his family and we're all very clear about how it sits.”