Kane Cornes believes Adelaide should look at bringing in a veteran leader to help the young group through its rebuild, mentioning GWS’ Phil Davis as a possible option.
This comes on the back of comments from Luke Hodge on SEN’s Whateley on Tuesday, where the four-time premiership Hawk revealed he was approached by the Crows to join them before he ultimately signed with Brisbane to complete his career.
“What a sliding doors moment. How much of an impact would (Luke Hodge) have had at Adelaide to make sure they wouldn’t fall off a cliff like they since have,” Cornes said on SEN SA Breakfast.
“Would the stuff have happened with the camp? Would he have been a strong enough leader to keep the playing group together?”
Davis, 30, spent the first three years of his career at the Crows before joining the Giants and captaining the side.
“Is there a player out there now that they should be targeting like a Luke Hodge?” Cornes asked.
“I don’t think there’s many obvious ones. The one that I thought would be great to get back to the club is Phil Davis.
“I think Phil Davis, to get him back to Adelaide, it’s a big if, but I would have thought at his stage of his career, for him to work with Fischer McAsey, to play 10 to 12 games as that key defender and the impact he could have from a cultural point of view.
“Would Crows fans accept him back in? Probably not.
“There’s Davis, there’s also Heath Shaw, but he’s probably a touch too old. The other one would be a Ben Stratton type.”
Davis is currently contracted with GWS for 2021. Shaw was delisted by the club and Hawthorn captain Stratton retired.