{"id":269259,"date":"2025-11-07T17:38:59","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T17:38:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/269259\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T17:38:59","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T17:38:59","slug":"2025-afl-draft-preview-adelaide-crows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/269259\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 AFL Draft Preview: Adelaide Crows"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                2025 AFL Draft Preview: Adelaide Crows<\/p>\n<p>                    <a class=\"article-meta\" href=\"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/author\/michael_alvaro\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n                        <img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762537137_26_07f3325770d830aa95fc030f8c8859b8dc20db6430c6fe6e0c4cc1365e6689cd\"  class=\"avatar avatar-32 photo lazy\" height=\"32\" width=\"32\" decoding=\"async\"\/>                        Michael Alvaro<br \/>\n                    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>                <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/SA-Harley-Barker-5.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Image Credit: Rookie Me Central<\/p>\n<p>AFTER rising to become this year\u2019s minor premiers, the Adelaide Crows crashed out of their first finals series since 2017 in straight sets. Now, they look forward towards the draft with a first round pick in tow, and the potential to strike while the iron is hot by trading in for another.<\/p>\n<p>&gt;&gt; FREE: <a href=\"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/2025-afl-draft-guide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">View the 2025 AFL Draft Guide<\/a><\/p>\n<p>2025 RECORD:\u00a01st (H&amp;A) | 18-5 | 139.3% | Eliminated: Semi-Finals<br \/>2025 PICKS:\u00a016, 48, 55, 64, 73, 75<br \/>FUTURE PICKS:\u00a0\u201926 R1, \u201926 R2, \u201926 R3 | \u201927 R1, \u201927 R2, \u201927 R3, \u201927 R4<br \/>POTENTIAL ACADEMY\/FATHER-SON PICKS:\u00a0Mitchell Stevens (F\/S)<\/p>\n<p>FIRST PICK:<br \/>Pick 16<\/p>\n<p>There have been murmurings of Adelaide looking to trade up into Carlton\u2019s pick 11, with a future first-round selection tabled. After early bids, it would essentially place the Crows in a similar position to pick 16. Although, it would also mean they likely bypass picking late in a draft which lacks in depth.<\/p>\n<p>With the likes of Matt Crouch and Brodie Smith retiring, perhaps midfield depth is an area to target \u2013 both inside and outside. Naturally, local talent will be linked to Adelaide but that cliche could well become a reality once again, given the South Australian products in the Crows\u2019 hitting zone.<\/p>\n<p>That being said, perhaps Woodville-West Torrens midfielder <a data-type=\"player\" data-id=\"136046\" class=\"_dc_spo\" href=\"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/player\/jevan-phillipou\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Jevan Phillipou<\/a> is a good fit. He\u2019s a hard runner who can impact in the air and on the scoreboard, potentially even starting forward to free up the likes of Izak Rankine and Josh Rachele to spend more time in midfield.<\/p>\n<p>Wingman <a data-type=\"player\" data-id=\"136010\" class=\"_dc_spo\" href=\"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/player\/harley-barker\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Harley Barker<\/a> is another local prospect heavily linked to the Crows. His selection would be more of a long-term one given he will miss much of \u2013 if not all \u2013 his first year with an ACL tear. That might lend to looking at <a data-type=\"player\" data-id=\"134540\" class=\"_dc_spo\" href=\"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/player\/josh-lindsay\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Josh Lindsay<\/a>, whose elite skills and footy IQ offer a future on the wing or in midfield.<\/p>\n<p>On the notion of freeing up forwards for more midfield minutes, a small like <a data-type=\"player\" data-id=\"134640\" class=\"_dc_spo\" href=\"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/player\/lachy-dovaston\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Lachy Dovaston<\/a> will be in high demand. Perhaps, then, <a data-type=\"player\" data-id=\"173123\" class=\"_dc_spo\" href=\"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/player\/cameron-nairn\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Cameron Nairn<\/a> is an likely candidate who can also play wing, while <a data-type=\"player\" data-id=\"173127\" class=\"_dc_spo\" href=\"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/player\/mitchell-marsh\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Mitchell Marsh<\/a> is another mobile marking target who could shape as long-term cover for Tex Walker.<\/p>\n<p>REMAINING CROP:<br \/>Picks 48, 55, 64, 73, 75 <\/p>\n<p>The Crows\u2019 draft hand survived trade period relatively unchanged, in part due to the Callum Ah Chee deal falling through. Although, the club remains committed to bringing him in via the pre-season draft. Father-son recruit Tyler Welsh was also among the delistings but will be relisted as a rookie.<\/p>\n<p>Set to make one or two live selections, Adelaide could well end up with both in the first round to maximise value in a shallow pool. The Crows can pick for needs in the range they sit and while some late picks would be handy, there may not necessarily be the talent remaining on their board.<\/p>\n<p>Midfielders and depth around the square, particularly when it comes to connecting the lines, should be in the Crows\u2019 thoughts. They have already accounted for ruck depth by trading in Finnbar Maley and landing highly touted basketball convert Indy Cotton as a Category B rookie. The only other consideration will be father-son hopeful <a href=\"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/player\/mitchell-stevens\/\" data-type=\"player\" data-id=\"154223\" class=\"_dc_spo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Mitchell Stevens<\/a>, who could be another rookie option.<\/p>\n<p>KEY QUESTIONS:<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Will Adelaide trade for a second first-round selection?<br \/>\u2013 Is midfield depth the main target for the Crows?<br \/>\u2013 Are local picks in the offing once again?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"2025 AFL Draft Preview: Adelaide Crows Michael Alvaro Image Credit: Rookie Me Central AFTER rising to become this&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":269260,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,147931,15699,89522,3459,19276,14477,156742,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-269259","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-cameron-nairn","14":"tag-harley-barker","15":"tag-jevan-phillipou","16":"tag-josh-lindsay","17":"tag-lachy-dovaston","18":"tag-mitchell-marsh","19":"tag-mitchell-stevens","20":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}