Head of Football David Noble says Adelaide has addressed its most pressing needs during what was a busy Trade Period for the Crows.
The Club added four players in Dean Gore, Curtly Hampton, Paul Seedsman and Troy Menzel and also secured two picks inside the first round of October’s National Draft.
Hampton and Seedsman improve Adelaide’s depth and dash across half-back and the wings, while left-footer Menzel is a fleet-footed forward who has already flagged his desire to move into the midfield.
The untried Gore returns home to South Australia and was Adelaide’s youngest Trade Period recruit at just 19 years of age.
“I think it’s been a really positive result for us,” Noble said after the Trade Period deadline on Thursday.
“I think what we targeted, we got.
“We’re really satisfied. I think the planning and the execution’s been really well handled by the whole group I think overall.”
Adelaide’s recruiting team, headed up by Hamish Ogilvie, worked closely with Noble and GM of List Management Justin Reid to ensure the Club not only fulfilled its immediate strategy at the trade table, but also positioned itself strongly in the lead up to the National Draft on November 24.
“There’s a lot of work that has to go into the actual assessment of the draft,” Noble said.
“Hamish has to bring that to the table, ‘Reidy’ has to work out where our list numbers (are), and collectively we work out the strategy.
“We’ve always said that you trade for needs and you draft for talent. To be able to pull together what we did was a terrific result.”
Adelaide traded out Patrick Dangerfield due to the midfielder’s desire to be closer to his family in Moggs Creek.
Replacing Dangerfield with a player of similar ilk was always out of the question, according to Noble. He said the Club instead looked at the lead of American sports clubs and their ‘Moneyball’ style strategy to address specific requirements.
“They’ve helped us understand that what you lose you don’t necessarily bring back in in one piece,” he said.
“We were never going to try and replace Patrick Dangerfield with another (player).
“You have to pull it apart and you have to then work around what that looks like to be able to bring some speed in that you miss out with a Dangerfield, and maybe some execution you bring in with someone else. You actually pull apart the pieces that are exiting, but you bring them back in a different format.
“We believe that the components that we’ve lost (we were) able to bring in.”
Adelaide now holds two selections inside the first round at this year’s draft meet – Nos. 9 and 13 – for the first time in Club history.
While acknowledging key talls and ruckmen as two areas that remain a focus, Noble said the Crows would still look for the best talent available with their early picks rather than targeting particular positions.
He also said the Club would have no hesitations in drafting talent from interstate despite Dangerfield’s decision to return home.
“If the SA talent fits in that top bracket, that’s a bonus,” he said.
“But we’re a national competition. For every one that goes home, we’ve got a number of interstate guys that stay.”
Rory Sloane, Tom Lynch, Josh Jenkins, Jake Lever and Charlie Cameron were among a number of Crows to re-commit to the Club this year and forgo a return to their home state.
“We can pick all SA guys – as any of the interstate clubs can – but at the end of the day, you’re assessed on your wins and losses,” Noble said.
“You’ve got to make sure that there’s good talent in there for Don (Pyke) to come in and do his job.”
