Adelaide’s recruiting team utilised Friday afternoon’s rookie draft to address the Club’s most pressing list need – strengthening its ruck depth.

With their first rookie selection, pick No. 7, the Crows added 202cm Kieran Strachan from Port Melbourne and re-drafted mobile big man Paul Hunter with their second pick. 

“Two ruckmen was obviously a priority. We were always going to take ‘Hunts’ back and big ‘Strachanie’, he deserves a chance,” National Recruiting Manager Hamish Ogilvie told AFC Media. 

“We’ve tracked him (Strachan) hard for two years. He broke his ankle in the middle of the year, swapped from Essendon where he wasn’t getting a lot of ruck time, went to Port Melbourne, played a couple of pretty solid games and hurt his ankle again. 

“But we’d seen enough and fortunately Stephen McCrystal (Adelaide’s Eastern Recruiting Manager) has done a brilliant job with Strachanie.

“He’s tracked him hard for two-or-three years through VFL footy and Bendigo footy and met with him, interviewed him, so we’re pretty pleased to be able to get him and address that need in the rookie draft.”

 

Bringing Hunter back to West Lakes was always on the cards after he was granted permission to continue training with the Crows after being delisted in October.

Hunter will be striving for a maiden AFL appearance in 2019 after three years in the SANFL and will compete with Sam Jacobs and Reilly O’Brien for a senior berth. 

“We were confident we could’ve picked Hunts at any of the picks, but we needed to get him back and that was a big priority,” Ogilvie said.

“He has already been an AFL emergency, so he’s gotta push for senior selection (next year).”

READ: National Draft Wrap - Crows address need for speed

The Club’s final rookie selection was 18-year-old Jordon Butts, selected to add depth to Adelaide’s key defensive stocks.

Butts has split his time between attack and defence over the past two seasons and has impressed Crows recruiters through his form.

In particular, he produced two strong VFL appearances for Werribee this year, including 15 disposals, 10 marks and four inside 50s against the Hawthorn-aligned Box Hill Hawks.

“We thought with Daniel (Talia) getting a little bit older, key back was probably the next need,” Ogilvie said.

“Jordon Butts has played a lot of key back as a younger player, and then forward a bit the last two years; probably 50 per cent forward, 50 per cent back.

“Played really well in the VFL so we’re backing in his high-level 16, 17-year-old form into the end of this year where he played really well. His senior Grand Final for ‘Shepp’ Bears in the Goulburn Valley League was fantastic, kicked the winning goal. 

“He’s got a year to really make a name for himself, improve himself and hopefully keep going a bit further than that.”