After numerous years of ups and downs since the 2012 prelim it finally seemed like the Crows year in 2017. We obviously all know that it went horribly wrong in the grand final.
Did they blow their chance to win a flag with this list?
We've seen in the past teams lose in grand finals and never get back there with that list. Fremantle and St Kilda being recent examples.
They've now got the 2nd oldest list in the AFL so they would really want to hope that they're still better than the likes of GWS, Geelong and Sydney in the next year or two.
Gibbs, Sloane, Betts, Jacobs and Jenkins are all 28 or older. Walker is almost 28. Obviously they're not all going to turn to s**t the moment they turn 30, but you'd have to imagine their best footy has already been played or they're close to beginning their declines. A player like Gibbs may last well into his 30s but in a different role.
They've also lost two young talents in Lever and Cameron which certainly will hurt them going forward. In the case of Lever the loss of Brodie Smith for the year will hurt them even more this season.
Looking at their youngsters, outside of Wayne Milera and Matt Crouch where does the improvement come from to go one better? Do we think the addition of Bryce Gibbs was enough to put them over the top this year?
Gibbs came at a high cost so Adelaide would really want to be winning a flag while he's still playing good footy. Otherwise that trade could really come back to hurt them.
I think the Crows will be right in the hunt this year, but I can't help but wonder if that was their best chance last season.
Thoughts?
Did they blow their chance to win a flag with this list?
We've seen in the past teams lose in grand finals and never get back there with that list. Fremantle and St Kilda being recent examples.
They've now got the 2nd oldest list in the AFL so they would really want to hope that they're still better than the likes of GWS, Geelong and Sydney in the next year or two.
Gibbs, Sloane, Betts, Jacobs and Jenkins are all 28 or older. Walker is almost 28. Obviously they're not all going to turn to s**t the moment they turn 30, but you'd have to imagine their best footy has already been played or they're close to beginning their declines. A player like Gibbs may last well into his 30s but in a different role.
They've also lost two young talents in Lever and Cameron which certainly will hurt them going forward. In the case of Lever the loss of Brodie Smith for the year will hurt them even more this season.
Looking at their youngsters, outside of Wayne Milera and Matt Crouch where does the improvement come from to go one better? Do we think the addition of Bryce Gibbs was enough to put them over the top this year?
Gibbs came at a high cost so Adelaide would really want to be winning a flag while he's still playing good footy. Otherwise that trade could really come back to hurt them.
I think the Crows will be right in the hunt this year, but I can't help but wonder if that was their best chance last season.
Thoughts?