Despite multiple club officials suggesting they would match St Kilda’s offer for Brad Crouch, Adelaide opted not to do so overnight.
This hands them pick 23 as compensation and allows the midfielder to walk to the Saints.
Kane Cornes believes the Crows made a mistake going early with their declarations.
“Regardless of their reasons behind it, it’s a lesson and a message to be careful with your words because right now if I’m an Adelaide fan, I don’t believe a word the Crows are telling me in terms of what they’re going to do in this trade period,” Cornes told AFL Trade Radio.
“They would have been wiser to just have said at the time; ‘we understand the pick has come through, we’ll take in all the information that we have and then make an informed decision at the point we’re ready’.
“Because right now, what they’re saying means nothing. St Kilda has absolutely bluffed their way through this beautifully and congratulations to the Saints for calling the Crows’ bluff, but the Crows look foolish.
“I don’t think Brad was absolutely the right fit for the Saints, but when you look at it holistically now, they’ve given up nothing to get him and they’re paying him probably market rate.”
Cornes believes the Saints have done well to add Crouch without overcommitting to him.
“They’re giving him one or two more seasons than I would have been comfortable giving Brad Crouch, but in the end they’re paying him $600,000 which is probably market rate. He’s got incentives, triggers, they’ve protected themselves there and it’s not like the Dan Hannebery deal where they went all in and guaranteed the money,” he said.
“Given they haven’t traded for him, (it was) probably a risk worth taking for the Saints.”