Adelaide says it remains positive about the launch of its SANFL side and has not been surprised by the standard of competition.
The new SANFL team has lost its first two games to North Adelaide and Sturt but Crows general manager football administration Phil Harper said the team was a “work in progress” and was a long-term strategy for the success of the Club.
“We always knew it would be a challenge for our team to play in what is a really strong competition,” he said.
“We have been able to expose a group of young players to senior football – and we’ve had ten players make their league debut including a few of our development squad players.
“Coach Heath Younie and his assistants have done a great job with the group. It will take some time to get the chemistry right and when we get some senior players back from injury it will help strengthen the team but it has still been great to see our young players together, representing the Crows.
“It is an important long-term strategy for the Club and we have been genuinely excited about getting the team up and running.
“Other teams from interstate are jealous of the quality of competition that our players are exposed to.”
Crows fans are being urged to get behind the new SANFL team as it searches for its first win in the competition.
Harper said the Club was pleased with the attendance at both games.
“They had 4200 at Prospect Oval for the first game and 3500 at Unley on Saturday – and that’s above average for those grounds,” he said.
“At times this season we think we will attract larger crowds and there will be other times when we get less. But our modelling for our entry as presented to the SANFL clubs last year was based on average crowds of 3000 and we also did the financial numbers based on a very conservative average crowd of 2000.
“We do want more Crows fans to come along and experience the SANFL though. Our ticketed AFL members get free entry to our SANFL games so that’s a great opportunity for them to watch our players, at suburban venues. It’s a great way to spend a day. ”
