Discounting GWS and Gold Coast, which have become 'feeder clubs' in a sense, has there ever been this much fallout in the space of such a short time frame for a club?
I want to preface this by saying, this is in no way a slight against the fans or the Adelaide players, but against the management that has been heavily criticized in recent times.
While losing Dangerfield and Tippett stung in past years, trading by Adelaide was very much in their favour given the talent they brought in. In no particular order, players like Seedsman, Jacobs, Jenkins, Lynch and Betts, were all 'wins' for the club. These players were brought in for a decent price and were part of the push towards a GF in 2017 (a year Adelaide finished minor premiers and favourites for the cup).
It is since the fated 'pre-season camp' that everything has gone to hell. With rumours abound, Adelaide has fallen from one of the dominant teams of the comp, to back amongst the pack. With the list they have, and the talent acquired, they were expected to push back into Top 4 calculations this year, or at the very least, finals. Alas, this did not happen and the fallout this trade period is going to be even greater than years gone by. Now while there are some players that aren't required - Jacobs, Betts, Jenkins - players like Keath, Greenwood, Ellis-Yolmen, Brad Crouch, are still in their prime and worthy of staying on. Why is it then, that all these players are either:
a) requesting trades away due to Adelaide not meeting contractual demands?
or
b) being delisted due to not being part of the clubs's plans moving forward?
Speaking to a fair few Adelaide supporters and seeing the sentiment on their board, the fault seems to lie with senior management - in particular Ricciuto, Camporeale and Rob Chapman. Pyke is already gone, and Walker has stepped down as captain. 3 Indigenous players will be leaving/have left - Betts, Ellis-Yolmen and Cameron - and the fallout from this camp still continues to show itself.
To further demonstrate this, here is the Adelaide 22 from the 2017 Grand Final -
Laird, Hartigan, Lever
Seedsman, Talia, Brown
Mackay, Sloane, Atkins
Jacobs, B. Crouch, M. Crouch
Cameron, Jenkins, Betts
Lynch, Walker, Douglas
Knight, Kelly, Greenwood, Otten
Now here is the Adelaide 22, without the players being rumoured as leaving/already left/retired:
Hartigan,
Seedsman, Talia, Brown
Mackay, Sloane, Atkins
M. Crouch
Lynch, Walker,
Knight, Kelly,
Including McGovern in there as an emergency who failed to get up in time (who has also left), Ellis-Yolmen as a very decent fringe player and Keath as Best 22, is this list mismanagement, fall out from the camp, arrogance from their board and coaches in not offering players good enough contracts, or a combination of all of the above? This is probably the biggest list change I can ever recall, in recent years. Such is the differential between sides from 2017 to now. This is while still bizarrely offering players like Mackay, Knight and Hartigan to an extent, further contracts (Mackay just got offered his a few hours ago, which is just baffling to me).
This is the total sum of players lost since 2017 (including the proposed players this year). Bolded are the players I think will go/are gone, and underlined are the rumours:
Greenwood
B. Crouch
Laird
Jacobs
Betts
Jenkins
Keath
C. Cameron
M. McGovern
Ellis-Yolmen
Jacobs
Jenkins
Lever
I don't give much credence to the Smith and M. Crouch rumours, but the jungle fires are pretty strong on B. Crouch and Laird. I still think Laird will stay, but the fact his name is even being floated, is crazy to me.
What do people think? Is this smart management? Is this an acknowledgement of past mistakes, or more of the same? By re-signing Mackay and pushing out Greenwood and Keath, it certainly seems like there's some odd decisions still being made. Losing 12 best 22 players, alongside Otten and Douglas retiring, is very interesting to me. This is 2 seasons after recruiting Gibbs as the 'missing ingredient' for a Premiership.
Has there ever been a list fallout like this, from a contender just 3 seasons ago?
Discuss.
I want to preface this by saying, this is in no way a slight against the fans or the Adelaide players, but against the management that has been heavily criticized in recent times.
While losing Dangerfield and Tippett stung in past years, trading by Adelaide was very much in their favour given the talent they brought in. In no particular order, players like Seedsman, Jacobs, Jenkins, Lynch and Betts, were all 'wins' for the club. These players were brought in for a decent price and were part of the push towards a GF in 2017 (a year Adelaide finished minor premiers and favourites for the cup).
It is since the fated 'pre-season camp' that everything has gone to hell. With rumours abound, Adelaide has fallen from one of the dominant teams of the comp, to back amongst the pack. With the list they have, and the talent acquired, they were expected to push back into Top 4 calculations this year, or at the very least, finals. Alas, this did not happen and the fallout this trade period is going to be even greater than years gone by. Now while there are some players that aren't required - Jacobs, Betts, Jenkins - players like Keath, Greenwood, Ellis-Yolmen, Brad Crouch, are still in their prime and worthy of staying on. Why is it then, that all these players are either:
a) requesting trades away due to Adelaide not meeting contractual demands?
or
b) being delisted due to not being part of the clubs's plans moving forward?
Speaking to a fair few Adelaide supporters and seeing the sentiment on their board, the fault seems to lie with senior management - in particular Ricciuto, Camporeale and Rob Chapman. Pyke is already gone, and Walker has stepped down as captain. 3 Indigenous players will be leaving/have left - Betts, Ellis-Yolmen and Cameron - and the fallout from this camp still continues to show itself.
To further demonstrate this, here is the Adelaide 22 from the 2017 Grand Final -
Laird, Hartigan, Lever
Seedsman, Talia, Brown
Mackay, Sloane, Atkins
Jacobs, B. Crouch, M. Crouch
Cameron, Jenkins, Betts
Lynch, Walker, Douglas
Knight, Kelly, Greenwood, Otten
Now here is the Adelaide 22, without the players being rumoured as leaving/already left/retired:
Hartigan,
Seedsman, Talia, Brown
Mackay, Sloane, Atkins
M. Crouch
Lynch, Walker,
Knight, Kelly,
Including McGovern in there as an emergency who failed to get up in time (who has also left), Ellis-Yolmen as a very decent fringe player and Keath as Best 22, is this list mismanagement, fall out from the camp, arrogance from their board and coaches in not offering players good enough contracts, or a combination of all of the above? This is probably the biggest list change I can ever recall, in recent years. Such is the differential between sides from 2017 to now. This is while still bizarrely offering players like Mackay, Knight and Hartigan to an extent, further contracts (Mackay just got offered his a few hours ago, which is just baffling to me).
This is the total sum of players lost since 2017 (including the proposed players this year). Bolded are the players I think will go/are gone, and underlined are the rumours:
Greenwood
B. Crouch
Laird
Jacobs
Betts
Jenkins
Keath
C. Cameron
M. McGovern
Ellis-Yolmen
Jacobs
Jenkins
Lever
I don't give much credence to the Smith and M. Crouch rumours, but the jungle fires are pretty strong on B. Crouch and Laird. I still think Laird will stay, but the fact his name is even being floated, is crazy to me.
What do people think? Is this smart management? Is this an acknowledgement of past mistakes, or more of the same? By re-signing Mackay and pushing out Greenwood and Keath, it certainly seems like there's some odd decisions still being made. Losing 12 best 22 players, alongside Otten and Douglas retiring, is very interesting to me. This is 2 seasons after recruiting Gibbs as the 'missing ingredient' for a Premiership.
Has there ever been a list fallout like this, from a contender just 3 seasons ago?
Discuss.