ADELAIDE coach Brenton Sanderson has confirmed the Crows are hoping to lure versatile Carlton star Bryce Gibbs at the end of this season.
Gibbs, who grew up in South Australia, is out of contract this year and will become a restricted free agent after being drafted in 2006.
The Crows and Port Adelaide have already made clear their desire to snare Gibbs, who played for SANFL club Glenelg as a teenager.
Sanderson told AFL.com.au his club was systematically planning to attract Gibbs and other marquee free agents to West Lakes.
"[Bryce will] be one of a lot we'll look at," Sanderson said.
"It would be great to get Bryce to our footy club at some point. He'll be one of a number of players we'll certainly do our homework on and make sure he's the right fit.
"We'll certainly look at players (who) immediately make us better and I'm sure he's going to be one we look at really closely."
Gibbs, 24, who mixes his time between the midfield and half-back for the Blues, has played 155 games for the club which selected him first overall at the 2006 NAB AFL Draft.
Last year, Blues coach Mick Malthouse branded Gibbs off-limits to any potential suitors.
Melbourne defender James Frawley is another player the Crows are likely to target.
The 25-year-old has been hesitant to re-sign with the Demons, preferring to wait until the club installs a successor to coach Paul Roos.
Roos, who signed a two-year term (with an option of a third) with the Demons in September last year, is yet to indicate whether he will continue in the role.
Sanderson also said clubs that were failing to project forward were in danger of falling behind the pack.
"We're doing some premiership profiling for 2015, 2016 and even 2017," he said.
"We're looking as far ahead as 2017 about where we can start to target some free agents and who actually are available during that window.
"We spend a lot of time behind the scenes making sure that the squad keeps growing and getting better and better each year."
Despite losing Kurt Tippett (to the Sydney Swans), Jack Gunston (Hawthorn), Phil Davis (Greater Western Sydney) and Nathan Bock (Gold Coast) in recent years, Sanderson is comfortable with the shape of the Crows' list.
Securing Gibbs - to add outside polish to complement the tough inside style of Patrick Dangerfield and Rory Sloane - as well as Frawley, to replace veteran Ben Rutten, would be a giant fillip for the Crows.
Regardless, the Crows' list is progressing nicely according to Sanderson.
Players such as Brad Crouch, Matt Crouch, Brodie Smith, Sam Kerridge, Rory Laird, Daniel Talia and Mitchell Grigg will form the core of the club's next premiership tilt.
Sanderson's job to nurture the club's emerging talent was made harder by the draft penalties imposed on the club after the Tippett contract saga at the end of 2012.
Those penalties resulted in the Crows being stripped of their first and second-round picks in the 2012 and 2013 drafts.
But Adelaide utilised the free agency and trade periods to advantage, as well as boosting resources to the club's development program.
"We have to ensure our development is better than every other club," Sanderson said.
"We've got a really good development program in place. We feel like we can improve players quickly and fast-track them in to the AFL system."
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