Midfielder Rory Sloane has laughed off speculation he could be used as trade bait by Adelaide in an attempt to get the Club back into the first or second round of November’s National Draft.
On Monday, Sloane followed coach Brenton Sanderson and football manager Phil Harper in dismissing the trade talk surrounding the popular 23-year-old. Sloane, who is contracted until the end of 2015, reaffirmed he wanted to be a one-club player with the Crows.
“I speak to ‘Nobes’ (General Manager List Development and Strategy, David Noble) a bit and I know how the Club feels about me. I think Nobes is pretty happy with me. I think he likes me … or I hope he likes me,” Sloane said with a laugh.
“I understand it (trading) is part of the football industry. Hopefully, it’s not me that gets forced out. I don’t think it will be. I think most players want to be one-club players. It’ll be my call (as to whether I stay or go), so I’ll stay.
“You build a relationship with people. You spend so much time with everyone at the club you’re drafted to and you grow together. I came in at a similar time to Patty Dangerfield, Matthew Wright, Jared Petrenko and Shaun McKernan and you become really good mates.
“It would be so hard to leave.”
The Crows were stripped of first and second-round draft picks in 2012 and 2013 for their role in the Kurt Tippett contract saga. The Club is permitted to trade back into the early rounds. Sanderson said Adelaide would try to trade back into the second round as a minimum, but not at the expense of a key player.
“We’ll try to be creative to get back into the first and/or second rounds if we can but we’re not going to be silly about it either. We’re not going to give up our A-grade players,” Sanderson said.
“Free Agency is an option for us as well. We want to try to get back into the second round at least.”