Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks is bullish on a few players in particular of his young squad.
The Crows have been on a period of rebuilding after falling away following the 2017 Grand Final.
Nicks feels pieces are starting to come together as they begin their 2023 campaign.
“I’ve said across the journey that it takes time. We’ve asked for some patience and we’re feeling like we’re starting to see some results and some more consistency and that’s the key from here,” Nicks told Sportsday SA.
“The performance we put out against West Coast was a really strong one. The challenge is to do that for 23 rounds. It’s not easy to do, but that is our goal and to produce a standard of footy that will challenge the best teams every week.”
In particular, the Crows coach is loving the development of Jake Soligo. The young midfielder played 16 games in his debut season, impressing at stoppages and through the wings.
“He’s been an amazing find considering where we’ve been able to pick him up in the draft,” Nicks said.
“Something jumped off the page. There’s just something there. There’s times where he’s just able to impact the game and he’s really balanced, he sees the game well and he plays the game with his eyes. He’s a really important player now.
“To top that off, his roommate is Josh Rachele and Luke Nankervis, so we’ve got a really tight knit group and we’d love these guys to become big names of the Adelaide Football Club like Rory Sloane and Scott Thompson and some of these names we’ve seen in the past.”
Soligo was selected with the 36th pick in the 2021 draft.
Another Nicks is excited by is Luke Pedlar, who was the 11th pick in the 2020 National Draft, but has only managed the five games to date.
The Adelaide coach believes Pedlar is getting through some early growing pains at AFL level.
“Luke, it was his body really, it took him some time to get to the level that is required to perform at AFL level and he’s struggled with some groin issues in the past,” Nicks said.
“A lot of that with fixing up the groins involves hard work off the field that doesn’t really get noticed. It’s not like getting in the gym and working on your biceps and everyone notices. It’s the inner core muscles.
“He’s really turned himself into a professional. If we can get his body right and he can perform, he’s quite a dangerous forward at the moment.
“Long term we see him as maybe getting in as a full-time midfielder.”
The Crows have also confirmed that father-son draftee Max Michalanney will debut in Round 1 against GWS.