Mitch Hinge says finals are a “bare minimum” for the Adelaide Crows in 2023.
The Crows finished last season in 14th position with eight wins following four years of no finals since their 2017 Grand Final appearance.
There has been incremental growth under Matthew Nicks across three seasons and according to Hinge, the time is now to really step up and play finals footy.
Defender/midfielder Hinge indicated that honourable losses are getting old and believes the youthful Crows have enough quality to make their presence felt this season.
“I would think, to be completely honest, that finals definitely shouldn’t be out of the question,” Hinge said on SEN SA Breakfast when asked about the expectations of the club.
“It should be our bare minimum of what we’re pushing for.
“Coming out of last year, we did play some good footy and although we are young, we’ve got some really good talent.
“Going forward it’s not just acceptable to keep pushing teams to the end, it doesn’t matter how good they are. We want to be pushing every game and looking to win every game.
“Last year, especially myself, I finished the year just being unsatisfied to be completely honest. I reckon there were a lot of boys in that boat as well.
“We want to be playing finals and we want to be pushing to win every single game. I think that’s going to be the expectation this year.”
Hinge identified where the improvement will come from for the Crows in 2023, identifying a group of youngsters who will help push the club forward.
“There’s a lot of emergent talent coming through,” Hinge added.
“You’ve probably heard that we’ve seen a fit Luke Pedlar and he’s smashing it on the track at the moment. He’s looking really good at half-forward.
“Jake Soligo has been really good. There’s been a really big push from boys through the midfield as well. (Harry) Schoenberg looks like he’s coming through quite well and ‘Bez’ (Sam Berry) again.
“This time every year everyone is a bit worried about spots and there is always going to be a big push. It’s very exciting because there is such good talent coming through now.
“I think the supporters will be quite excited and we’ll definitely be pushing be challenging be every week this year.”
The Crows will play an intra-club match on February 17 before two practice matches in Western Australia against Fremantle (February 24) and West Coast (March 3).
The 2023 season proper kicks off for Adelaide against GWS at Giants Stadium on March 19.
