Adelaide chief executive Tim Silvers has explained the Crows’ expectations of coach Matthew Nicks and the list he has spent two seasons rebuilding.
Nicks’ team won three of their first four games last season and conquered eventual premiers Melbourne in Round 10, but faded to finish with seven wins.
“It’s a tough one for us,” Silvers told SEN SA Breakfast.
“We’re all about improvement. We know we’ve come from three wins in 2020 to seven wins in 2021, so we’re all about continual improvement.
“It’s not just in terms of wins and losses, it’s in terms of getting games into our players who are in that mid-range, around that 20 to 40 mark.
“We want to continue to build them, to continue to invest in them and hopefully the wins will start to take care of themselves.”
Adelaide went into last season with the youngest squad in the competition, at an average age of 23.6.
Under Don Pyke, the Crows were characterised by silky movement, regularly turned defensive half intercepts into scores and looked good while they were at it.
By contrast, Nicks has emphasised balanced numbers around the contest, pressure and playing the game in their forward half.
Adelaide often swarmed their opponents early, but faded as fatigue set in; they lost the third term in each of their first 12 games.
Now, they will be younger again.
Veteran outside midfielder David Mackay retired after 14 seasons at West Lakes, while key defender Daniel Talia and roaming forward Tom Lynch were both tapped on the shoulder.
Defender Jake Kelly also departed after 110 games for Adelaide, having taken up an offer from Essendon.
The Crows did capture the signature of former Swan Jordan Dawson, who was a leading light in the league’s best-organised young team.
Adelaide also went back to the draft, and snapped up Victorian forward Josh Rachele with a top six selection among four draftees.
If the last two seasons are any guide, the Murray Bushrangers graduate will get opportunities at the top level, and without the pressure to perform right away.
Raw key defender Fischer McAsey penned a two-year extension early last season, while local lad Riley Thilthorpe booted five goals on debut, and finished with 14 games and 18 goals.
Chayce Jones and Ned McHenry impressed late in their third seasons with the Crows, while Harry Schoenberg, Lachlan Sholl and Will Hamill saw regular minutes throughout.
“We don’t want to put too much pressure on the list,” Silvers added.
“(Just) with some of the veterans who have come off the list last year, and we’ve brought in young draftees which makes us the youngest list in the competition.
“We think we’ve got some great talent at the club, but we now have to make them elite AFL talent.
“We’re confident our coaches can help craft them into elite AFL talent, and we’re going to be a team of the future.”
Even though the Crows will often field the younger team, they will be hardened by the return of Wayne Milera and Matt Crouch, neither of whom featured at senior level in 2021.
Milera, who was taken with Pick 11 in 2015, was a fixture at half-back for Adelaide in 2018 and 2019 before he missed the past two seasons with a stress fracture and a knee injury, respectively.
Crouch, a Crows’ best-and-fairest winner and an All-Australian in 2017, is set to return next season after multiple setbacks and surgeries on a groin injury.
“Both players are nearly in full contact training,” Silvers confirmed.
“Wayne is champing at the bit, he hasn’t played footy for two years. He looks really fit, he’s got great muscle definition.
“He featured in our match simulation on Wednesday before the players took four days off and he looked really good. He looked classy, composed … the Wayne Milera of old.
“Matt Crouch is in a similar space, looking terrific on the track and he’s not too far away.”