General Manager of List Development and Strategy David Noble says Adelaide won’t part with star players to get back into the first round of next month’s AFL National Draft.

As it stands, the Club’s first selection in the draft is in the third round, likely to be in the 40s.

Noble said the Crows were keen to secure an earlier pick, but said the second round was most likely.

“I think the value in terms of what (player) is needed to get into that first round, we wouldn’t be prepared to give up,” Noble told AFL Trade Week Radio.

“You’re talking about your rising stars, like Patrick Dangerfield, Brad Crouch and Rory Sloane – I don’t know how many times poor old Rory’s been mentioned as a possible trade and he’s not going anywhere. It (the first round) is a real stretch for us.

“The second round seems to be a more realistic approach for us. It depends how active we are and the interest other clubs may have in some guys on our list.”

The Crows have made a positive start to the trade/draft period, with Carlton livewire Eddie Betts expressing an interest to join the Club via Free Agency.

Adelaide intends to lodge an offer with the AFL on Friday at the commencement of the Free Agency period. At that point, the Carlton Football Club will have the right to match the offer to Betts, who is a Restricted Free Agent.

“We’ve got to go through the remaining part of the Free Agency process tomorrow and, hopefully, get that all ticked off,” Noble said.

If the deal is successful, Noble said it would help offset the loss of early draft picks.

“In this case, for us, Free Agency has worked in our favour,” he said.

“We’ve tried to secure our key young guys over the last two years and we think the timing is pretty right for us to explore the new Free Agency market.

“We’ve been hunting around a bit (for a small forward) because of that lack of firepower at that end of the ground. We think our midfield is in pretty good shape and Sando (coach Brenton Sanderson) has done a really good job refurbishing the back end.

“With no Tippett and then Taylor Walker with an injury this year … we thought we could use Betts.”