Adelaide recruiting manager Hamish Ogilvie believes the Crows secured a real draft smoky when trading up to secure local boy Billy Dowling.
Dowling – taken at pick 42 - was one of three players the Crows brought in through the National Draft, behind father-son Max Michalanney at pick 17 and ahead of Hugh Bond, who was taken 50th overall.
It comes on top of the Crows’ recruitment of Izak Rankine through the trade period. While securing the talented small forward ultimately left Adelaide with a relatively poor draft hand, Ogilvie views the trade period and draft as an entire process.
“We always look at the end result,” he told SEN SA’s Saturdays in SA.
“Izak coming through the trade period was a great result, so therefore you don’t have a first rounder which does inhibit you a little bit.
“We were able to bring in Max through the father-son (system) with the bid from Sydney at pick 17, then Billy Dowling is a South Australian, highly talented, high character, high-level leader in the South Australian program, so we were able to trade in to get him.
“Then Hugh Bond we thought may have gone earlier, so he was a real bonus for us, we snapped him up with pick 50.
“Three South Australians and a Horsham/Ballarat boy.”
The Crows traded back into the third round via a pick swap with Gold Coast in order to snare Dowling, a hard-working midfielder.
The North Adelaide prospect averaged 31 disposals, seven marks, five tackles, six inside 50s and five clearances in the SANFL under-18s. But Ogilvie was particularly bullish on his character.
“We were really keen to add more to the midfield… you can never have too many good midfielders, so the fact Billy was a bit taller was a big pick for him,” Ogilvie explained.
“He shares his time between school footy, North Adelaide and the South Australian program, we think there’s a fair bit of upside there still to come once he gets settled in one program.
“He’s been a really good leader, a strong leader at school, the reports from his school were fantastic. He was a starting midfielder in a pretty good starting South Australian midfield.
“He’s got huge running power, he’s already produced some really big numbers through the GPS… he’s just so rapt to be at the club and he’s going to be a great teammate.”
The Crows have been criticised for fielding a smaller midfield in recent years, but Dowling – a 188cm prospect – adds a point of difference.
Adelaide also made two selections at Wednesday’s rookie draft when taking Andrew McPherson and re-selecting Paul Seedsman.