“Significant void of talent”: King and Cornes discuss Adelaide’s glaring issue amidst winless start
Many are stunned by Adelaide’s poor start to the 2024 season after they slumped to 0-4 following their 63-78 defeat to Melbourne to open Gather Round.
The Crows narrowly missed out on finals in 2023 and even kicked the most points of any side last campaign with their attack firing on all cylinders.
None of that offensive power has shone through in 2024 though and SEN’s David King thinks that their issue is simply a lack of on-field talent.
He thinks that coach Matthew Nicks got the most out of the club’s list in 2023 and is being found out in 2024 with several of their top-liners playing below their best, which has pointed out the glaring issue with their overall squad.
Kane Cornes pondered whether the Crows were in “real trouble” with where their list is at given that the likes of Taylor Walker, Rory Laird and Brodie Smith are nearing the ends of their careers.
The duo discussed Adelaide’s predicament on SEN Breakfast.
King: “To me, they lack talent. They're short on talent.”
Cornes: “I agree, that's what it looks like when you're watching (this year).
“But it didn't look like that last year when they were nearly the highest-scoring team in the league. Where's that gone?”
King: “I said that last year. I said that they've got a great coach (but not a great list).
“This is where I get smashed, right, because I'd say one thing about (Justin) Longmuir and I'd say one thing about Nicks and they'd say, ‘Well, how can you compare the two and one is 3-0 and one is 0-3 prior to last night?’.
“But I think there's a bit of Ross Lyon about this guy. He gets the most out of the group, but the group's not good enough and it's a hard pill for them to swallow that. This group's not good enough.”
Cornes: “There's no doubt they've made significant recruiting errors. But if you watch them last year … six or seven months later, they are a shell of what they delivered last year.”
King: “They've got some top-liners that are out of form and not kicking the ball well or making the right decisions.”
Cornes: “You speak of their lack of talent. Are they in real trouble then?
“Walker kicks 70 (last year), but Taylor Walker is not Taylor Walker (of old) anymore … that spells trouble, and I'm not sure who's going to replace him.
“(Darcy) Fogarty's not probably the player they thought they'd recruited. (Riley) Thilthorpe there's a question mark on.
“Then you look through the experience … like if (Rory) Laird goes out and (Brodie) Smith goes out (they struggle).
“Are Adelaide in real trouble then?”
King: “In real trouble, absolutely. Their recruiting over the last decade has recruited a black hole.
“There's a significant void of talent on this list.
“Lucky, they got (Izak) Rankine and lucky they got Dawson, imagine if they didn’t have those two? What would it look like? “I called them vanilla, and I still think they're vanilla.”
The Crows will be desperate to win their first game of the season when they face Carlton at Marvel Stadium next Saturday.
