This is the first of my previews for the 2015 AFL season, which will roll out over the coming weeks.
The draft this year doesn’t shape as a big game changer, except for the Saints.
They will bring in a host of top 20 picks to be put into the paddock and fatten up to be ready for trade in four or five years.
A few delisted players may find new homes and the odd 28-year-old SANFL player might get a chance.
Last season
The Crows had an awful 2013 after missing the big dance in 2012 by one kick. They assured us this was just a season to write off and all would be restored in 2014.
Sure enough the Crows came out and dished up woeful football, assuring us all would be restored once their focal point Taylor Walker returned. The Big Texan came back and things did slightly improve, with the Crows sitting in the pack fighting for eighth before falling short and missing the finals for the second successive season.
The off-season
In one of the biggest shocks of the off-season, the Crows sacked Brenton Sanderson bringing in Phil Walsh as his replacement. Rumours surrounded Patrick Dangerfield being up for trade but they managed to keep hold of him.
They added Luke Lowden and one-time Melbourne reject Kyle Cheney to their squad in an attempt to strengthen their defence following the retirement of Ben Rutten, but in a stranger move delisted tall defender Luke Thompson.
Next season
The Crows will be aiming to reassure the restless Adelaide faithful that they are still a genuine finals contender but the reality is they are in rebuild mode. I expect Adelaide to once again fill the ninth to 13th gap, perhaps winning a game or two they shouldn’t along the way.
Their biggest test will be grabbing the signature of Patrick Dangerfield, who will fall under free agency at the end of the season.
Who to look out for
For the second time in three years ruckman Sam Jacobs came agonisingly close to securing an All Australian spot. Failing to receive a cap in 2014 left statisticians and a large percentage of the football world in shock.
A proven big game player, expect him to settle the score in 2015. Dangerfield will also be looking to build on 2014 after having a poor year by previous standards but still giving the Brownlow a shake. The spotlight will be on him this year with all the free agency talk, so at the very least a big year will bump up his salary.
Of the younger crowd Matt Crouch looks like the one to watch. An injury-interrupted 2014 kept the spotlight off but when he was fully fit he got a lot of the ball.
Best 22
FB: Cheney, Talia, Brown
HB: Smith, Shaw, Jaensch
W: Van Berlo, Thompson, Sloane
HF: Douglas, Jenkins, Kerridge
FF: Betts, Walker, Podsiadly
RU: Jacobs, Dangerfield, B. Crouch
I: M. Crouch, Mackay, Otten, Lynch
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